What do you think of the rest of my schedule?

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The discussion revolves around a student's academic schedule, which includes challenging upper-level physics and math courses while also working part-time. The student expresses concern about their performance in Differential Equations and the potential impact of working on their grades as they progress through demanding classes. There is a consensus that managing time effectively will be crucial, especially with the workload from courses like Intermediate Mechanics and Electromagnetic Theory. The importance of completing prerequisites for advanced courses, including Quantum Mechanics, is highlighted, with some suggestions on balancing work and study. Overall, the student is seeking reassurance and advice on managing their rigorous academic path alongside part-time employment.
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2010

Spring - Modern Physics I, Vector Analysis

Fall - Modern Physics II, Intermediate Mechanics, Electronic Devices and Their Applications

2011

Spring - Thermal Physics, Introduction to Solid State Physics, Introduction to Partial Differential Equations

Fall - Intermediate Electromagnetic Theory I, Seminar in Advanced Laboratory Analysis, Advanced Laboratory I, Introduction to Astrophysics

2012

Spring - Advanced Laboratory II, Intermediate Electromagnetic Theory II, 4000-level MATH course.

I'm currently taking Differential Equations, a senior-level American Revolution course, and an Intermediate Macroeconomics course. I'm also working half-time. I'm not doing as well as I would like in DE - essentially a "B-" on the first exam. I just had an exam yesterday, and I think I did a little better, though. We'll see. Knowing what's ahead, what do you guys think? Will working half-time make adversely affect my performance? I know they're tough upper-level courses. Starting this year, I hadn't worked and gone to school concurrently since like 2005, and those were all lower-level courses. I'm just a bit concerned my grades will suffer slightly as I progress on.

Also, I need a 4000-level math elective to complete my minor. As of right now, I have zero research experience, but I think I would like to have that as a career (at whatever level of degree I possess). For this reason, I chose the Electronic Devices and their Applications course over a Modern Optics and Lab course.

http://www.uh.edu/academics/catalog/colleges/nsm/courses/math/index.php

http://www.uh.edu/academics/catalog/colleges/nsm/courses/phys/
 
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No one?
 
I think at most schools you end up taking two physics classes, a lab and a math class every semester--there's just no avoiding it if you want to have all the prereqs for the next semester (e.g. quantum mechanics requires PDEs,blinear algebra and mechanics, E&M requires ODEs, etc.). It's not a breeze, but it's doable! The only think I'd recommend is to be extra careful with mechanics--it's a difficult class, and you've probably never taken anything as demanding before (I'm assuming you're a freshman/sophomore right now). If you can do fine in that class (and I'm sure you will), then you'll know exactly how much time to budget for E&M and solid state physics, and whether you can afford to work 25 hours a week or not (which I think is doable if you're not taking anything other than those classes).

As for the labs, where I go to school they are not that time-consuming. I don't know about UH.
 
robob said:
I think at most schools you end up taking two physics classes, a lab and a math class every semester--there's just no avoiding it if you want to have all the prereqs for the next semester (e.g. quantum mechanics requires PDEs,blinear algebra and mechanics, E&M requires ODEs, etc.). It's not a breeze, but it's doable! The only think I'd recommend is to be extra careful with mechanics--it's a difficult class, and you've probably never taken anything as demanding before (I'm assuming you're a freshman/sophomore right now). If you can do fine in that class (and I'm sure you will), then you'll know exactly how much time to budget for E&M and solid state physics, and whether you can afford to work 25 hours a week or not (which I think is doable if you're not taking anything other than those classes).

As for the labs, where I go to school they are not that time-consuming. I don't know about UH.

Hey, Rob/Bob,

Well, all my prerequisites are in order, so I'm good to go there. For me, the two Modern Physics courses require Diff. Eq., Mechanics requires Diff. Eq., and E&M requires PDEs. So the math prerequisite courses are a little different for me.

And, yeah, the classes in my schedule are the only classes I'm taking. I'm just a little ways into my junior year. I intentionally took all the non-science cores/electives before I got into the heavy stuff.
 
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232 views! lol.
 
305!
 
I think the rest of your schedule is missing a quantum mechanics course. I see your modern physics covers some of that but it doesn't seem to be the usual I'm used to. Maybe its good and proper, I don't know. I probably shouldn't base it on the course description.
 
Mororvia said:
I think the rest of your schedule is missing a quantum mechanics course. I see your modern physics covers some of that but it doesn't seem to be the usual I'm used to. Maybe its good and proper, I don't know. I probably shouldn't base it on the course description.

Well, it would seem Modern Physics I and II are my undergrad QM and Relativity courses. There's an Introduction to Particle Physics, but I can't fit it in my schedule.
 
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