Is Taking Physics II and Intro. to Electrical Science Concurrently a Good Idea?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the feasibility of taking Physics II and Introduction to Electrical Science concurrently, particularly in the context of a Mechanical Engineering student's summer class schedule. Participants explore the implications of course prerequisites and the intensity of summer sessions.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses hesitation about taking Physics II concurrently with Introduction to Electrical Science due to the compressed nature of summer classes and the potential workload.
  • Another participant suggests consulting an Academic Advisor for personalized advice, emphasizing that the specifics of the courses may vary by institution.
  • A different participant recommends speaking with the instructor of Introduction to Electrical Science to understand the necessity of Physics II knowledge for that course.
  • Some participants note that registration systems may enforce prerequisites strictly, requiring instructor permission to enroll if prerequisites are not met.
  • The original poster acknowledges the importance of discussing the course requirements with the instructor while also seeking general opinions on the overlap of content between the two courses.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that consulting with academic advisors and instructors is important, but there is no consensus on whether taking the two courses concurrently is advisable due to varying opinions on workload and course content.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the lack of specific knowledge about the course content and structure at the original poster's institution, as well as the potential variability in course prerequisites and their enforcement.

mindheavy
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For Mechanical Engineering, I'm thinking about my summer class schedule, enrollment opens soon. I am almost certainly taking Statics, and am considering Physics II.

My hesitation is that I could delay Physics II until the Fall semester and just focus on Statics this summer. This would also allow more time to study Physics instead of compressing the class to eight weeks. The only problem with that is one class I will be taking in the Fall (Introduction to Electrical Science) has Physics II as a prerequisite. Does anyone know if taking Physics II and Intro. to Electrical Science concurrently is doable? Bad idea?

Here are the course descriptions from the catalog:

Physics II
A continuation of Physics I dealing with magnetism, electricity, and light. (Prerequisites: Physics I and Calculus II)

Introduction to Electrical Science
Elements of electrical engineering; AC and DC Circuits, mesh and nodal formulation of network equations, steady-state response to sinusoids and step function, energy, power, power factor, Thevenin and Norton analysis, Laplace transforms. Introduction to PSPICE. (Prerequisites: Physics II and Calculus II)

Additional note: I have had a semester of both "AC & DC Circuit Analysis" so I have had some experience with at least electrical circuits, neither of these classes were Calculus based, however AC Circuits was a pretty challenging class.

My Fall semester, with Physics II as a possibility also includes:
Introduction to Electrical Science
Calculus III (multivariable / vector calculus)
Elementary Dynamics
 
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See, this is exactly the type of question that you should be asking your Academic Advisor. I mean, practically all of us here have no clue on the nature of these classes since they are specific to your school. Your advisor does! He/she also has information on your ability and grades so far and can figure out what you can and cannot handle.

You should also keep in mind that a summer session is a semester compressed into just a few weeks! Do you really want to take more than one classes during the summer? Can you handle the intensive workload?

Zz.
 
Last edited:
mindheavy said:
The only problem with that is one class I will be taking in the Fall (Introduction to Electrical Science) has Physics II as a prerequisite. Does anyone know if taking Physics II and Intro. to Electrical Science concurrently is doable? Bad idea?

You should talk to the person who will be teaching Intro to Electrical Science, or at least someone who has taught it before. At the college where I work, the registration system won't let you register yourself for a course if you don't have all the official prerequisites. You have to get permission from the instructor, and the instructor has to e-mail the registrar and ask her to add the student to the class "by hand", overriding the prerequisite.
 
ZapperZ said:
See, this is exactly the type of question that you should be asking your Academic Advisor. I mean, practically all of us here have no clue on the nature of these classes since they are specific to your school.

jtbell said:
You should talk to the person who will be teaching Intro to Electrical Science...

Thanks, I do plan to speak with the instructor in the coming week if possible. I was hoping someone possibly had an idea of how much from Physics II might be needed given the course description of Electrical Science, but you're right, I don't expect anyone to know exactly what this one course at one college is made of, was just open to opinions.
 

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