What do you think of the rest of my schedule?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a participant's academic schedule in physics and mathematics, including concerns about balancing coursework with part-time work. The scope includes course selection, prerequisites, and the impact of workload on academic performance.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • The participant expresses concern about managing a half-time job while taking upper-level courses, particularly Differential Equations, and worries about potential impacts on grades.
  • Some participants suggest that taking two physics classes, a lab, and a math class each semester is common and manageable, but caution about the difficulty of mechanics.
  • There is a discussion about the prerequisites for courses like quantum mechanics and electromagnetic theory, with some participants noting variations in requirements across institutions.
  • One participant notes that the schedule appears to lack a dedicated quantum mechanics course, questioning whether the Modern Physics courses adequately cover the material.
  • Another participant confirms that Modern Physics I and II serve as their undergraduate quantum mechanics and relativity courses, indicating a potential difference in course content expectations.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the adequacy of the participant's schedule, particularly regarding the inclusion of quantum mechanics. There is no consensus on whether the current course load is manageable alongside part-time work.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference specific course prerequisites and institutional differences, which may affect the applicability of their advice to the original poster's situation.

Shackleford
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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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