Can I become a physics major after starting late in my college career?

[realfuzzhead]

Hello! I am new to this site as you can see but I plan on being here for a while. I am just finishing my freshman year of college, and I have 20 unites with between a 3.4-3.7 GPA. This year I did not want to declare a major because I was to scared to commit to one..

Ive known my whole life I want to go get into physics, but It was not until the last 6 months where I've basically only been doing school work/ reading the greats. (from Darwin to Sagan to hawking etc.) This first year i took no science classes and no math classes, only social sciences, electives etc.

I am wondering if in my next year of school, I take intro to physics and take all maths up to calculus.. will I be prepared to enter UC Santa Cruz as a physics major the fall after?

I am planning on having at least a 3.5+ when applying.. I am wanting to get involved in their astrophysics program with a minor in programming to increase work opportunities in the future.

I eventually plan on entering graduate school but I need to know how hard it is to get into a Top science school out of CC

 

[mege]

I am wondering if in my next year of school, I take intro to physics and take all maths up to calculus.. will I be prepared to enter UC Santa Cruz as a physics major the fall after?

While I cannot speak to UC-SC specifically, do I presume correctly that you do not have any college level math? I would talk with your school's advisor to get a plan together, and make sure you're taking the appropriate physics classes (Calculus based). As such, you generally want to complete Calc I before Physics I, and complete Calc II before Physics II. Some schools are paced to where you can take them coincidentally, but I highly suggest completing Calc I before taking Physics I.

Don't skimp on your math progression, it can only hurt you in the long run.

Hope this helps!

 

[realfuzzhead]

Yeah one of the worst decisions I've ever made is to stop taking math junior year in high School because I technically didn't "have to"

I have been studying algebra and geometry like a mad man on my own time, and I think I will end up taking Trig and Pre Calc, and at least one physics class before I try to transfer.

how hard is it to teach yourself calculus?

 

[ohnoesawolf]

Hello, if you check the ASSIST.org page for UCSC's physics program they require having the standard introductory calculus based physics series and Calculus 1-3 completed. Their physics program will actually take 3 years because the senior year consists of mostly thesis work. If you don't complete the basic requirements, it could take 4 years which would decrease the likelihood of acceptance.


Calculus itself is pretty easy, most students' hang ups come from bad habits that carried over from previous algebra and trig classes. I would recommend getting a solid ground on Precalculus material and Trig as Calculus I-III and the Intro Calculus based Physics classes are probably THE most important classes of your undergraduate studies. My advice is to not rush too quickly and miss important key concepts. I would also recommend waiting on taking your first physics course until after you've done Calculus I. Ultimately, you can do anything if you are dedicated enough.

As mege said, you should schedule an appointment with a college counselor to set up a plan and figure out your time frame as each school has different course availabilities for summer, spring, fall, and winter.

 

[realfuzzhead]

ok.. well I really do not care how long this takes to complete... this is my dream and way to happiness so time really isn't an issue.

Would it be smarter to stay a 3rd year at my community college and take all the calculus and calculus based physics classes needed and then transfer after? **** man I feel so behind... Cause by the time I get to UCSC Ill basically have all my general Ed done so I will be taking only core classes related to the major.


**** man. WHY DID I SCREW AROUND IN HIGHSCHOOL?!@?!?

 

[General_Sax]

ok.. well I really do not care how long this takes to complete... this is my dream and way to happiness so time really isn't an issue.

Yeah, reading some of Hawking's works is really inspiring.


trollface.jpg

 

[epsilon>0]

Spend another year at Junior College...for three total. Boost your GPA a little, and make your way through calculus and linear. Take at least the first two semester of Calc based physics. Where I transferred, about half of the best students went to Junior College.

supplement your calculus with the problem sets found at MIT, and their lectures.

Try and take precalc this summer, then your schedule would look like this

PreCalc summer

Fall
Calc 1
Computer Programming (Java or a C language

Spring
Calc 2
Gen 1

Fall
Calc 3
Gen 2

Spring
modern physics
linear
dif e q

The advantage to transferring is that you would be able to get a applied math course in your schedule, but if you have all your electives done, your first year at univeristy would look like...

Fall
Mechanics 1
EM 1
Optics
Spring
Mech2
EM 2
Thermo

You could double in mathematics, or take more programming...you will basically be able to devote all your effort to physics and studying for the GREs. You will prob be able to get some research into depending on the school. Your last year, you would be able to take a couple sememsters of QM, and maybe a grad level course or 2. Good grades, research, and getting to know your prof's will make you a competitive applicant. You can take almost every physics couse offered at the UG level, just by taking your time at junior college and getting all those basics done. I did this and I completed a double major and a masters in 2.5 yrs.

Best of Luck!

 

[autodidude]

I just wanted to say I'm in the same shoes as you right now...didn't take any math/physics in my final years of secondary education and completely fudged my final exams cause I didn't study. And since I never finished 9th OR 10th grade, I don't have a solid foundation in basic algebra.

Good luck

 

[realfuzzhead]

thanks guys for the help. I just went to the library and got 2 algebra books and a trig book. Going to try and learn those over the summer, I havnt taken the math placement yet because I didnt take a math class my last 2 years of high school.

 

[ohnoesawolf]

You may also want to check out the Khan Academy (do a quick google search if you aren't already familiar). He has many youtube videos doing very brief, easy to understand lectures on most math classes up to Differential Equations. Not only that, but his website now has a problem set generator where you can actually work on problems and track your progress, I believe the problem sets go up to Calculus I right now. The MIT open courseware videos are pretty much amazing and you can even download example exams and homework questions for some of the classes.

If you work really hard on getting a good fundamental understanding of algebra and trig, you should be able to easily place in Pre-Calculus and Calculus for the math placement. Good luck.

 

[realfuzzhead]

Thanks man will do, I've been catching up via youtube these last few days. I recently emailed the physics councilor at UCSC and he said as long as i have a 2.7 gpa and complete physics 5ABC Ill be admitted.

I think I am going to play it safe and take two more years of Community college then transfer.

thanks again guys