- #1
Mholnic-
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(If there is confusion about course content, see links at bottom of post for course descriptions.)
So looking ahead to the next 3 semesters, I can plainly see what classes I NEED to take for Physics.. but they leave room for courses in other disciplines -- for example Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, etc. The problem is that I'm not sure which courses I should be taking, and which aren't at all necessary. I have a long way to go but I'd like to have a general plan, an idea of what I should and shouldn't be learning.
The classes I need to take are in bold. Those followed by a question mark are unknowns; I don't need to take them, and I'm wondering if they'd be at all helpful. This is only for my years at the local Community College, before I transfer to University.
This year:
College Algebra
Chemistry
Computer Science I
Trigonometry
Chemistry
Technical Writing
Computer Science II?
Engineering Graphics? (AutoCAD and freehand drawing, I think.)
Next year:
Calc I
Physics I (Calc-Based)
Discrete Mathematics?
Java/HTML/C#?
Calc II
Physics II
Linear Algebra
Digital Logic?
Statics?
Engineering Analysis? (Spreadsheets and Excel for Engineers, I think.)
If it matters, I'm not really enjoying Computer Science at the moment but I keep hearing that programming skills are essential. I'm not sure how true this is, so I figured I'd take it and hope for the best. I don't intend to major in Engineering, but you never know, right? xD I look at the course descriptions and my inexperienced brain says "That sounds hard. I must need to know it!" Hence these questions.
So my questions are essentially these:
Simply put, there are a lot of classes that look interesting, and I lack the requisite expertise and experience to differentiate between those classes that would be of great use, and those that would be a waste of time. Broad questions, I know, but I'm not idealistic enough to have assumed that I've planned out the next 10 years of my life. I like learning about how and why the world works and Physics seems to be the most complete way to do just that. It's an interesting subject, and I'd like to know more. A lot more. That said I don't know if I'd go to Grad school (assuming sufficient grades) or into the workforce; I'm still a newbie so I can't lay claim to a specific field of study.
Thanks for reading.
Course descriptions:
http://www.nic.edu/coursedescriptions/?dis=CS
http://www.nic.edu/coursedescriptions/?dis=ENGR
So looking ahead to the next 3 semesters, I can plainly see what classes I NEED to take for Physics.. but they leave room for courses in other disciplines -- for example Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, etc. The problem is that I'm not sure which courses I should be taking, and which aren't at all necessary. I have a long way to go but I'd like to have a general plan, an idea of what I should and shouldn't be learning.
The classes I need to take are in bold. Those followed by a question mark are unknowns; I don't need to take them, and I'm wondering if they'd be at all helpful. This is only for my years at the local Community College, before I transfer to University.
This year:
College Algebra
Chemistry
Computer Science I
Trigonometry
Chemistry
Technical Writing
Computer Science II?
Engineering Graphics? (AutoCAD and freehand drawing, I think.)
Next year:
Calc I
Physics I (Calc-Based)
Discrete Mathematics?
Java/HTML/C#?
Calc II
Physics II
Linear Algebra
Digital Logic?
Statics?
Engineering Analysis? (Spreadsheets and Excel for Engineers, I think.)
If it matters, I'm not really enjoying Computer Science at the moment but I keep hearing that programming skills are essential. I'm not sure how true this is, so I figured I'd take it and hope for the best. I don't intend to major in Engineering, but you never know, right? xD I look at the course descriptions and my inexperienced brain says "That sounds hard. I must need to know it!" Hence these questions.
So my questions are essentially these:
- How useful are Engineering classes? Statics, Dynamics, Circuits, Strength of Materials, etc.
- How important is Computer Science, really? And what aspects of it will be most helpful? Do I really need to know the finer details of cache, or should I just scrap the CS classes and learn to program in my own time? If it is worth pursuing on campus, at what point should I stop -- in other words, when does it become less like 'CS stuff a physics major should know' and more like 'stuff that only a CS major needs to know'?
- Is Discrete Mathematics necessary? I realize it's not needed for the major, but it looks fun.. although I don't want to take on too many classes from too many fields and doom my GPA if it'll never be used.
- Most importantly -- are there any other courses that might not seem like obvious choices, but that would be of great use to me? Technical Writing seems to be a prime example.
Simply put, there are a lot of classes that look interesting, and I lack the requisite expertise and experience to differentiate between those classes that would be of great use, and those that would be a waste of time. Broad questions, I know, but I'm not idealistic enough to have assumed that I've planned out the next 10 years of my life. I like learning about how and why the world works and Physics seems to be the most complete way to do just that. It's an interesting subject, and I'd like to know more. A lot more. That said I don't know if I'd go to Grad school (assuming sufficient grades) or into the workforce; I'm still a newbie so I can't lay claim to a specific field of study.
Thanks for reading.
Course descriptions:
http://www.nic.edu/coursedescriptions/?dis=CS
http://www.nic.edu/coursedescriptions/?dis=ENGR