What College are you attending?

[RoBrotV]

I'm curious to see what colleges people are going to, went to, or want to attend (dream college).

I want to go to UC Irvine in California or Caltech in California.
They're both nearby and they both have really great reputations.

 

[hitmeoff]

I attend UCI as a matter of fact. I like it. What major are you looking to do?

 

[Pengwuino]

Heh... yah... Caltech has a reputation all right.

 

[Caramon]

Doing an undergraduate in Astrophysics at University of Alberta. I'm applying to Caltech, Penn State, University of Arizona, University of Texas at Austin, and Arizona State University for Graduate school in Astrophysics (Anyone know any other upper-level universities that have good graduate programs? No Harvard/MIT suggestions, Caltech is already a stretch!)

If I don't get accepted at any of those then I'll finish my PhD here at University of Alberta.

 

[RoBrotV]

I attend UCI as a matter of fact. I like it. What major are you looking to do?

I'm deciding between physics and chemistry.

(I'm still waiting for some sign to tell me which to choose. )

 

[hitmeoff]

Im a math and physics major there. I've also taken the Ochem series at UCI. For some reason I always found physics labs to be dreadfully boring, but found Oche, labs be awesome. As far as the subject itself goes, I absolutely love physics and my physics lectures but while I found the first quarter of Ochem interesting, my interest fizzled out by the second quarter.

Because I love the material so much, but hate labs in general I am hoping to go into mathematical physics. I guess once you get into a college and begin to take some physics and chem classes you will find your sign. If find yourself attending UCI in the near future and you ever need advice on what professors to take for what, just ask.

 

[hitmeoff]

Oh yeah, I ever knew UCI had a great reputation :) nice to hear it does.

 

[RoBrotV]

Im a math and physics major there. I've also taken the Ochem series at UCI. For some reason I always found physics labs to be dreadfully boring, but found Oche, labs be awesome. As far as the subject itself goes, I absolutely love physics and my physics lectures but while I found the first quarter of Ochem interesting, my interest fizzled out by the second quarter.

Because I love the material so much, but hate labs in general I am hoping to go into mathematical physics. I guess once you get into a college and begin to take some physics and chem classes you will find your sign. If find yourself attending UCI in the near future and you ever need advice on what professors to take for what, just ask.

Thanks, Ill be sure to ask.

I'm looking forward to college organic chem labs.

 

[Caramon]

Anyone have some help relating to my post? I'm thoroughly researched out graduate schools for Astrophysics and I would really like some other options than the ones I have already posted.

 

[Thermalne]

I'm currently attending the University of Tennesse-Knoxville for my undergraduate degree.

 

[flemmyd]

Anyone have some help relating to my post? I'm thoroughly researched out graduate schools for Astrophysics and I would really like some other options than the ones I have already posted.

please don't hijack the tread. it's rude. it's fairly simple to start another.

@hitmeoff what year are you?...

 

[Caramon]

I wasn't intending on pulling a philosopher_k and sabotaging the thread or something, I assumed that this was just an open discussion. The OP did not seem fairly directed and it was my presumption that it would be reasonable to ask about myself as well, as we are both in the same general situation in that we are unsure of what school to attend!

Apologies if I have poor forum manners flemmyd. :)

 

[Anonymous217]

Currently in Berkeley as a pure math major freshman. I'm finishing up 3 upper div math courses this year along with the lower div and GE requirements.
Then I'm taking 2 grad and 1-2 upper div math courses next fall semester as a sophomore, which finishes my remaining upper div requirement. Then I'll be taking solely math grad courses from then on. I'd say I'm in pretty good shape for grad school since I'll be focusing 2.5 years of my undegrad doing only graduate level work: ie. grad courses, research, publications, etc.

 

[lubuntu]

Oh man I'm going to miss Philo_K on this one...

I'm just transferring into UMass-Amherst from one of the other, worse, UMasses.

For grad school I want to go somewhere on the west coast. Berkley and Stanford being top picks followed by a bunch of the UC's and U of Washington.

 

[hitmeoff]

Its my second year there (im a transfer), but I am staying an extra year

 

[General_Sax]

2nd year Chemical Engineering (computer process control option) at the University of Alberta.

 

[bleedblue1234]

Dream School: UPenn or Dartmouth

Realistic (And I still Really Like): Fordham

Safety/Monetarily Practical Without Aid/Scholarships: Mizzou

 

[Noblee]

Haha, going to be the outsider and say Lunds University, Sweden ;) doing some first year pure math at the moment

 

[zpconn]

Rice University and the Independent University of Moscow.

 

[jetforcegemin]

I'm a 4th year undergrad double majoring in applied math/economics at UC Berkeley.

 

[Patrick_Nth]

4th year undergraduate at UCLA for Physics

 

[thrill3rnit3]

I'm a 4th year undergrad double majoring in applied math/economics at UC Berkeley.

4th year undergraduate at UCLA for Physics

How are you guys liking your specific experience? I'm applying to both schools for similar majors.

 

[jetforcegemin]

berkeley is a great school. the professors are really enthusiastic about the material and really go out of their way to help the undergrads. Also, i enjoy the flexibility of the applied math major since it allows you to pick a concentration for the type of applied math you want to do.

 

[eXorikos]

1st master in physics at KUL at Leuven (Belgium). :p

 

[Patrick_Nth]

How are you guys liking your specific experience? I'm applying to both schools for similar majors.

Overall, it's pretty decent. If you were eyeing plasma or condensed matter, I'd give it a look. If you haven't decided on a concentration yet, that's okay too. There is a fair amount of freedom simply because the number of upper-division classes is somewhat small (I could get away with only doing 1 GE, 1 elective, and credited research each quarter this year). The classes are a mixed bag: the E&M sequence is easily my favorite of my upper-division classes, but only because I went out of my way to take it earlier than most people do, and with a better professor than otherwise. During your last 2 years, you take a core sequence of 1 Thermo class, 3 QM, 2 Classical mech, 2 E&M, and then you're given 3 upper-div electives of your choice + 2 upper division labs.

The electives include things such as Plasma, Electronics Lab for Measurements, Solid State, Elementary Particles, etc. etc. For a lot of these, they serve as a 'prequel' for the upper division lab course of the same topic.

There is some freedom to choose though. If you wanted to get a minor in Math, you would only need 5 math upper-divs of your choosing, and you can count 1 of them as part of your 3 UD electives.

There's a sense of arrogance in the Department. When I asked about getting involved in student research, someone told me to bypass two of the student-supporting undergrad research programs here, mainly because they cater to life science students and "Bah, we've been getting students involved in research before they were even created." If I had followed that line of thinking, I wouldn't have applied and gotten funding from those same programs for my tuition (it was a significant amount of money). Also, excluding your choice of electives, you might find yourself not doing a whole lot of hands-on stuff. With that said and looking back, I kind of regret not joining up with the student chapters of IEEE and Baja SAE to maybe learn a few more things. Then again, I'm looking at switching to engineering, so YMMV.

It's also not as technical as it may have you believe. There's no programming requirement at all. In fact, the only reason I even took the non-engineering C++ class here was so that I'd be allowed to transfer into engineering, back when I was undeclared. They're trying to change that, but I have no idea when that'll be.

There was also a topic on transferring to UCLA for Physics, which is here. It may give you a sense of the transition from lower-divs to upper-divs: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=314555

 

[╔(σ_σ)╝]

3rd Year Electrical Engineering, Ryerson University Canada.