Continuing my education to get a physics degree

[patric44]

hello guys

i have a degree in science and education in chemistry and physics and i am currently working as a physics teacher , but
i recently found that i could continue my education in the faculty of Science (the special physics department ) in my university and get a degree in special physics and that's frankly that i want , actually it been my dream since i was so young to become a physicist .
i recently left my job to continue my education ( it will take 2 years as i will become a 3rd year student )
( i will present my application request in the faculty of Science a month from now )
i thought that i search about the topics that i need to learn before getting into it which was ( linear algebra - differential equations ...) some others
i never had these courses before but i am trying to take them in youtube ( linear algebra by (Princeton university ) linear algebra , i found gilbert strang lectures relatively hard to follow , and i am taking the differential equation course by professor leonard )

so i have two questions :
1 - is these two courses are enough for a 3rd year college student to build my mathematical knowledge that i will need ?
2 - i looked at the previous exams for the 3rd year physics department students and it seems rally intimidating to me ( start questing my self about leaving my job and if this step would become really hard for me and if could do well in it ) take a look :

is that level is a high level in quantum mechanics or molecular physics by looking at the exam questions ?
or it could be reached by a self thought person ? i mean can i study with my self and master these subjects before getting into the collage
to get a good start and a familiarity with these subjects ? and what book do you recommend for each of these topics based on the exam questions level ?

 

[Vanadium 50]

What university is this? What country is this? What's the difference between "special physics" and regular physics?

 

[patric44]

What university is this? What country is this? What's the difference between "special physics" and regular physics?

its Egypt , Cairo university . there's no difference between "regular " and " special" physics i guess its just the name of the department .

 

[Dr.AbeNikIanEdL]

I have never heard of special physics either, but I will assume this is just a quirky translation to english.

1 - is these two courses are enough for a 3rd year college student to build my mathematical knowledge that i will need ?

If you can get your hands on past exam papers, maybe you can get final exams from your university in these subjects (i.e. the ones that 2nd year students would have taken), or maybe their course material. This would give you a better idea what you specific institution expects you to know.

2 - i looked at the previous exams for the 3rd year physics department students and it seems rally intimidating to me

But you are only going to be a 3rd year student, right? So this is the stuff you will be expected to know by the end of the year? I frankly don't understand why you feel the need to master these subjects before even starting to go to college.

 

[patric44]

But you are only going to be a 3rd year student, right? So this is the stuff you will be expected to know by the end of the year? I frankly don't understand why you feel the need to master these subjects before even starting to go to college.

i just want to get familiar with the subjects because my knowledge will be less that the people that actually were
2nd year at the department and now getting into the 3rd year , so i want to build some basis so i don't feel like a weak link or something , maybe i could even do better than them . i don't know if that make sense to you

i got my hands on couple of 2nd year exams just the first term but most of then are written in Arabic but i guess my present degree in physics is somehow close to that of a 2nd year "special physics student " its really called special physics not a quirky translation to English, but have no idea why .
what my question is about :
based on these exams that i provided what is the level of math that i will need to know ? ( because i am planing to start studying these subjects now on my own before i enter ) ?
- what books would be useful for QM and molecular physics or the other branches based on an aproximation of the hardness of the exams ??

 

[Dr.AbeNikIanEdL]

I do understand what you are saying, it is just that I think it is more important to have a strong foundation than to get ahead of your courses. So I would say the better preparation would be to brush up on the prerequisites, in particular if you have been out for a while.

 

[patric44]

I do understand what you are saying, it is just that I think it is more important to have a strong foundation than to get ahead of your courses. So I would say the better preparation would be to brush up on the prerequisites, in particular if you have been out for a while.

thank you for the advise , but i would like if some one even consider answering my questions if possible .
it wouldn't hurt anyone if i brushed my math and physics skills + getting a head start above every one else in the class , i don't know why don't see that as more useful than only brushing the prerequisites ?
i would appreciate it a lot if someone suggested a book , a course or something that could be useful based on
the previous exams .