How to Ask a Physics/Astro Department for Job: Tips & Advice

[quadraphonics]

It's great to hear that there is a community college somewhere doing its job well. However, our experience covered a number of community colleges in four different states.

Given that there are 50 states containing literally thousands of community colleges, I'm not convinced that adds up to the authority to make general blanket statements about the quality of community college education.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

Given that there are 50 states containing literally thousands of community colleges, I'm not convinced that adds up to the authority to make general blanket statements about the quality of community college education.

Good point, but there are good reasons that many (public and private) institutions are reluctant to accept transfer credit in Physics from community colleges. Usually, public 4 year schools only accept CC transfer credit in Physics if the legislature (or other governmental authority) forces them to or if they can be convinced that a specific CC is doing a good job.

Of course, most four year schools will grant credit for a 4 or 5 on the appropriate AP Physics test. However, I have never seen a CC transfer student who would have a snowball's chance in hell of earning a 4 or 5 on the appropriate AP Physics test.

Michael Courtney

 

[quadraphonics]

Good point, but there are good reasons that many (public and private) institutions are reluctant to accept transfer credit in Physics from community colleges. Usually, public 4 year schools only accept CC transfer credit in Physics if the legislature (or other governmental authority) forces them to or if they can be convinced that a specific CC is doing a good job.

Well, in California (btw, the California Community College system is the largest system of higher education in the world), the lower-divison cirriculum is developed jointly by UC, CSU and the CCs to ensure uniform high standards across the board, and so make credits transferrable. As it turns out, the CC versions of these classes are typically much harder than the UC versions.

However, I have never seen a CC transfer student who would have a snowball's chance in hell of earning a 4 or 5 on the appropriate AP Physics test.

Can't comment on the AP test, but I personally know transfer students (one of whom was a high school dropout) that have PhD's in physics, control systems, EE and other "difficult" fields. The fact is that the level of engagement of the student with the material is much more important to academic success than the quality of the school, and there are a considerable number of people who do not find their drive and interest until a bit later in life, and so end up in CCs as prospective transfer students. It may well be that there are a lot of doofuses sitting in CC classrooms across the nation, but to suggest that the instructors there aren't doing a good job, or that transfer students aren't up to par, is ridiculous. In my experience, transfer students have a much better attitude and work ethic than 4-year university students, as they've typically had to work much harder to get where they are, compared to the blase, entitled attitude you'll see among 4-year students.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

Good point, but there are good reasons that many (public and private) institutions are reluctant to accept transfer credit in Physics from community colleges. Usually, public 4 year schools only accept CC transfer credit in Physics if the legislature (or other governmental authority) forces them to or if they can be convinced that a specific CC is doing a good job.

Of course, most four year schools will grant credit for a 4 or 5 on the appropriate AP Physics test. However, I have never seen a CC transfer student who would have a snowball's chance in hell of earning a 4 or 5 on the appropriate AP Physics test.

Michael Courtney

You might also have a look at my final exam (below) from an algebra-based physics course. Could you pass this final? If not, you'd have a hard time passing subsequent courses at most big state schools.

Many community colleges simply do not tolerate requiring this level of rigor to pass a physics course, because too many students fail due to poor work habits and inadaquate math backgrounds. Student complaints result in administrative pressure on the instructors to make the course easier to pass.

Michael Courtney

1. A 1500 kg car travels northward at 15 m/s, and a 3000 kg truck travels east at 10 m/s. The vehicles collide and stick together. What is the velocity of the cars immediately after the collision?
2. A stone thrown off a bridge 15 m over a river has an initial velocity of 15 m/s at an angle of 45 degrees above the horizontal. A) What is the range of the stone? B) At what velocity does the stone strike the water?
3. A 2.5 m long board has a mass of 30 kg and is supported on each ends by two vertical ropes. A 90 kg window washer stands 0.75 m from the left end of the board. What is the tension in each of the ropes?
4. A girl pushes a 35 kg lawn mower on a level surface with a force of 20N. The handle of the mower makes a 30 degree angle with the horizontal. A) What is the acceleration of the mower? B) What is the normal force exerted on the mower by the lawn?
5. A cylinder (I = ½ mR*R) starts at rest and rolls without slipping down a 25 degree inclined plane a distance of 20m. A) What is the velocity of the cylinder when it reaches the bottom? B) How much time did the cylinder take to reach the bottom? C) What was the acceleration of the center of mass of the cylinder?
6. A merry-go-round accelerating uniformly from rest achieves its operating speed of 2.5 rpm in five revolutions. What is the magnitude of its angular acceleration?
7. What is the pressure on an aluminum cylinder 10,000 m deep in water?
8. 100 ml of hot water at 100 deg C is added to a 0.1 kg aluminum cup containing a 0.03 kg steel spoon, both initially at 20 deg C. The water, cup, and spoon can be considered a closed system and reach an equilibrium temperature of 84.7 deg C. a) Compute the entropy change of the water. b) Compute the entropy change of the spoon. c) Compute the total entropy change of the closed system.

 

[cristo]

You might also have a look at my final exam (below) from an algebra-based physics course.

What is that though? A high school, community college or university exam? If it's the latter, then I can't see how any student entering university to take a Physics degree has any chance if he can't answer those questions!

Anyway... last thing I read, this thread was about finding a job, not entering university

 

[mal4mac]

Not all IT jobs are crappy. Look closely at what's on offer. For instance, you might get to design computer aided learning packages for physics, or help physics students/researchers in advanced programming projects...

 

[Moonbear]

Not all IT jobs are crappy. Look closely at what's on offer. For instance, you might get to design computer aided learning packages for physics, or help physics students/researchers in advanced programming projects...

This thread is old enough that the decision would have already been made (residencies start in July). Though, I'd be curious to know if the OP is still with us and has found a satisfactory position.