UC Schools: Best Undergrad Physics Departments

[JFo]

Hi everyone,

I'm a transfer student who's just been accepted to all the UC schools in electrical engineering for fall '05. However, I'm thinking of switching majors to physics, so I'm wondering of all the UC schools, which have good undergrad physics departments.

I heard that both Berkeley and Santa Barbara are pretty good, however there might be a problem changing majors at Berkeley, I don't think they allow transfer students to change their major once they've been accepted to the college of engineering.

Which uni should I choose?

Any info is hugely appreciated
Many Thanks!

 

[ktpr2]

why wouldn't they let engineering students change their major? That seems kind of odd. If you think you'll change your major, pick the one that will let you do it.

 

[mruncleramos]

I think the school of engineering and the school of arts and sciences are two different schools. I think that if you want to major in physics you have to apply to the other college.

 

[Dracovich]

I´ve heard good things about San Diego as well I'm looking into this since I'm thinking of applying to UC as an exchange student for a year, propably to Irvine (only because of location). But Santa Barbara and San Diego sound really exciting as well, try looking at the courses offered at san diego, looked very promising to me at least.

 

[JFo]

Yeah, the college of engineering and the college of Letters and Science are two different "schools." For most of the UC schools though, I'm already pre-approved to study physics if I decide to change, all I have to do is click something online.

I was really set on going to Berkeley, and I'll definately go If I decide to stick with EE, but on their website It says that transfer students aren't allowed to change majors once there admitted to the college of engineering. I think that also applies to changing a major from engineering into the college of Letters and Science, for example EE -> physics.

I'm just wondering, if I can't change to Physics in Berkeley, what's the next best physics school. I could care less about location, just on how good the program is there.

I'll have to look into UCSD.

 

[Gokul43201]

SB is a very good school, and so is SD. And Irvine has a great physics program too. At the college level, though, I don't believe the strength of the Physics research program should be what matters most. If you can, visit these schools to get an idea of where you'll feel more comfortable. Speak to students/faculty and judge which schools offer a wide range of courses and have good teachers. These, in my opinoion, are more important aspects of undergraduate education.

 

[JFo]

Thanks for the responses, that's all good advice.

I have another question, I'll try to ask it without starting a new thread.

I've looked up the engineering courses in the catalog to get an idea of their content, and it seems that any math or physics introduced in them will be given at the very general "how to do problems" level, rather than focus on theory. Is this true of your experiences in engineering classes?

I'm always more concerned with theory rather than applications - hence why I'm thinking of changing my major.

 

[Dracovich]

Good info gokul :) I will actually be in Irvine this summer for a few weeks, hopefully i can arrange some kind of meeting there.