Liberal Arts College Physics Student Struggles

[slam7211]

Hey,
So idk if this is in the right section but it might be so if it needs to be moved mods go ahead and move it my apologies in advance.

I go to a liberal arts college, with a small physics department (great, short of 1 prof faculty) mostly lack of any serious funding, I did not transfer for a variety of reasons mostly money and timing. I am a junior and have a good physics GPA 3.6-3.7ish haven't checked recently, thing is I have this annoying inferiority complex when it comes to comparing myself to other imaginary physics students that go to better funded schools, how justified is this/anyone ever de\al with this/am I crazy (hoping its this one)

 

[Obis]

1. Compete with yourself, not others. (Try to constantly get better than you were one day ago)

2. The quality of your education depends mostly on you, not your university and the funding it gets.

 

[victor.raum]

You're not at SLC by any chance, are you?

 

[Highway]

good grades at a school like that should get you into a lot of good phd programs with more funding :P

keep your grades up and do well on the subject gre, and try to do summer REUs if possible

 

[Dela91]

Slam,

I get the exact same feelings. I also go to a small liberal arts college ( The University of Michigan-Dearborn) and I'm pulling a 3.65. I'm always wondering if the students at the big flagship state universities are getting a better opportunity at grad school then me. Obviously a GPA at school X is not equivalent to a GPA at school Y.

Right now I'm working on transferring and doing away with my worries by just becoming that student at the state university.

 

[daveyinaz]

Slam,

I get the exact same feelings. I also go to a small liberal arts college ( The University of Michigan-Dearborn) and I'm pulling a 3.65. I'm always wondering if the students at the big flagship state universities are getting a better opportunity at grad school then me. Obviously a GPA at school X is not equivalent to a GPA at school Y.

Right now I'm working on transferring and doing away with my worries by just becoming that student at the state university.

Aren't you already part of the University of Michigan system since you attend Dearborn? Isn't "transferring" only changing campus locations in that case.

 

[diligence]

Aren't you already part of the University of Michigan system since you attend Dearborn? Isn't "transferring" only changing campus locations in that case.

I don't know about Michigan, but I'm pretty sure this is a bad assumption. I'm in the North Carolina system and you can't just switch campuses if you decide you want to go to UNC-Chapel Hill rather than UNC-Greensboro. Also, think of California. I doubt you can just switch into Berkeley or UCLA whenever you feel like it.

 

[Dela91]

Aren't you already part of the University of Michigan system since you attend Dearborn? Isn't "transferring" only changing campus locations in that case.

I wish it was like that. No, one has to apply to main campus, which has much higher standards. All credits transfer for the most part however. It's weird like that.

 

[Dela91]

I don't know about Michigan, but I'm pretty sure this is a bad assumption. I'm in the North Carolina system and you can't just switch campuses if you decide you want to go to UNC-Chapel Hill rather than UNC-Greensboro. Also, think of California. I doubt you can just switch into Berkeley or UCLA whenever you feel like it.

Hey I am here in Charlotte ( I actually just moved from Mich, and am obviously not at UM-Dearborn anymore). UNC-Charlotte is my fall back if I don't get into Chapel Hill. Small world ayy.

 

[daveyinaz]

I don't know about Michigan, but I'm pretty sure this is a bad assumption. I'm in the North Carolina system and you can't just switch campuses if you decide you want to go to UNC-Chapel Hill rather than UNC-Greensboro. Also, think of California. I doubt you can just switch into Berkeley or UCLA whenever you feel like it.

jeez louise guy..I was only asking a question. I don't think it's a bad assumption, since it's not far-fetched to think it would be easy to just transfer campuses if you are already part of the university system as a whole.

 

[jtbell]

UNC-Charlotte is my fall back if I don't get into Chapel Hill. Small world ayy.

UNCC is a decent place. When I was in grad school at Michigan years ago, one of my classmates had done his undergrad at UNCC. (He sometimes sprang a problem on his students that involved estimating the power output of a "bobbing bird" toy and comparing it with the output of the Lake Norman power plant by calculating the number of "ducks per Duke" ) And I came from a small private liberal arts college in Ohio. (I'm not saying which one, but it wasn't one of the well-known ones like Oberlin.)

And now I'm a couple hours drive from Charlotte. Small world indeed...

 

[feathermoon]

Don't worry about where you go, its your GPA that matters anywhere.

 

[20Tauri]

I go to a small liberal arts school. Our science departments are small but mighty--we don't have amazing funding or particle accelerators or anything, but our professors are dedicated and our students are hardworking, and if you want to get somewhere, you will. I wouldn't write your school off--sometimes being in a small department is an advantage, because you get to work closely with your professors and build mentoring relationships. Plus, there is less competition for everything from individual attention to department work-study jobs.

 

[Dela91]

I came from a small private liberal arts college in Ohio. (I'm not saying which one, but it wasn't one of the well-known ones like Oberlin.)

It doesn't happen to be Ohio Wheslyan University? I just landed a REU there!

 

[Dela91]

calculating the number of "ducks per Duke" )

PS: my dad works at DUKE Power plant as a security officer...even smaller world. GO BLUE by the way. I want to go there for grad school, but I'm uncertain of the credentials one needs to have. The AIP grad school shopper book is pretty vague on the admission statistics.