<p>Man, I just took a test in Physics today and I'm not feeling so good. I studied VERY hard for this test and the last one too. I'm not optimistic.</p>
<p>I'm a good student pretty much all the time, and study diligently, but physics is beating me up. I'm not lost by any means, and practice all the problems and even have a tutor.
I've searched under "physics" in CC/UVA, and the basic advice is to take Physics at another institution :( because this course is so notoriously cr@ppy at UVA. And now I see why.</p>
<p>I guess, in my current delirious state, I have two, maybe three (and a few more) questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Why does UVA tolerate a physics dept. that clearly doesn't take pride in offering strong programs to undergrads. in the introductory courses? Chemistry and Organic Chemistry were challenging, but well taught, and I look back with such admiration for those Professors. Why can't Physics be presented well, in a fair testing and intelligible manner?</p></li>
<li><p>Now that SIS is open, should I really sign up for the next semester or count on taking it during summer school elsewhere? G. Hess and Pham Hung are teaching the lectures this Spring 2010.
-I can take it at another institution, but only in the summer, and I really don't want to for personal reasons, or could maybe take it in the summer at UVA, but would that really help considering the personnel I've encountered already, and I don't even know who is teaching it then?<br>
-Not taking Physics in Spring would really change about a year or so of my long term plans, but hey it might be worth it in the long run. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Any advice from those who have gone down this road before would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>This has me worried! My son is applying to UVA Engineering/Aerospace and I did not know they had a weak Physics Department. Can you please elaborate on what the problems are? When deciding between top Engineering Programs, this could be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>Wheatmom,
I’m not in Engineering, so I’m taking the Physics that most pre-med students take. I think that the engineering students take a different one, unless they are considering engineering AND pre-med.
There is no official “pre-med” major at UVA, and shouldn’t be IMHO at UVA. But I refer to the term just to quickly summarize for you.
Engineering, as a whole, is VERY good at UVA, so not to worry. Maybe I’m just bad at Physics so you might not want to extrapolate that UVA has a “weak Physics dept.” based on my experience alone.
Though, since you asked, in my brief exposure to the physics dept., I have found that many of the Profs. barely speak English, and thus cannot teach or communicate so basically much of the instruction is worthless. The Profs. that do speak English have not demonstrated to me that they care in the least about us lowly undergraduates. This Prof. skipped many of our classes to work on their individual project and had a substitute cover. I hate to say this, but the substitute was better!! I wished my Prof. never came back! All of this is experience and my opinion of my physics experience to date at UVA.
I’m a 3rd year student so I know how and what the testing should consist of at UVA, and the testing for this course was tricky, covers things that were never taught to us (not like anything was), and just downright mean-spirited in my opinion.
As I’ve mentioned, before, I’ve taken some tough courses at UVA and worked hard for generally great grades. This is just off the charts a poor representation for UVA, IMHO.</p>
<p>D is a first-year in SEAS. She’s in Physics now and while has complained bitterly about Physics in general, she has found the instructor to be very good and the support to be readily available (the TA and tutors both). I do not think she would say the Physics department is weak but that Physics is very difficult and not her favorite.</p>
<p>sabaray,
Glad she is having a better experience than I, and as I’ve said before, maybe this just a fluke for me. I’m guessing she is not in the same Physics that I am in because she’s in SEAS; I’m in CLAS and take the Physics that the pre-meds take. Or, she’s a lot smarter than me! The latter is probably the situation
Who is her Prof?</p>
<p>sabaray,
I just checked out your link and the quote “This department occupies the exact same footprint as they had fifty years ago.” That is very believable to me. IMO it is not only antiquated in it’s own right, but brings on Non-English speaking scholars (who I am sure are brilliant), but it leaves no one who relates to the 2nd or 3rd year Physics 2010-2020 student who is doomed by the physics department’s benign (IMHO malignant) neglect.
It’s antiquated, overwhelmed by Non-English speaking people (nice people-but unable to communicate)
What’s a student to do? Do we have to go to another institution to take physics, as is recommended unofficially by the bulk of UVA students?
I am weighing my options right now, because I sure as h@ll don’t want to do another semester of physics at UVA.
BTW, my GPA is very solid and I’d like to keep it that way.</p>
<p>RedskinFan, you have resources through the College to get help. Have you used any of them? I don’t think you’re going to find a Physics tutor on College Confidential. Go talk to your adviser or one of the academic deans for advice.</p>
<p>My S in SEAS took two classes in phyiscs and did say the class itself is hard. They non-native English speakers you are referring, are they not the assistant and not the professors? Since professors have office hours, I suggest making appointments to see them. Talk to other students who have taken physics and see if they can help you how to study. With physics, you, need to understand the basic principle well so that you apply them to harder problems. A lot of time the examples and the material presented are just the basics. You need to study beyond them to do well in tests.</p>
<p>I thought my intro physics classes were fairly decent although a lot of students struggled – I tutored a number of students (I had A+ both semesters). I didn’t think it was an issue regarding the quality of teaching (this was two years), but honestly, physics just isn’t easy for a lot of students – especially if you are the liberal arts type. It takes a lot of work (Redskin, I’m not saying you aren’t doing that because it certainly looks like you are). Many of the people that complain, though, were folks that just didn’t put out the effort.</p>
<p>I advise sticking it out. I’ll bet you that most other schools have a number of ESL physics instructors. You don’t see a lot of American grad students in physics.</p>
<p>For premeds, per the latest prehealth advising email:</p>
<p>“If applying to medical school, you should avoid taking your premed requirements at community colleges. Although almost all medical schools would accept the courses to meet prerequisites, they will view these courses as less credible. Also, most medical schools prefer and some s**trongly prefer that all **premed courses are completed at your home institution (home = degree granting institution which, for you, is UVa).”</p>
<p>BTW, my scope is fairly limited, but I have never had an instructor who didn’t have time to help his/her students. I hang out at Professor Elzinga’s office all the time. Also, I don’t know if this is unusual, but my instructors in biomedical engineering and SEAS are typically rather young (in their 30s or early 40s). I have had very few instructors that aren’t native English speakers. Those that weren’t English speakers have been overwhelmingly helpful.</p>
<p>Sorry this is a bit off-thread but MechWahoo- the physics course D is in doesn’t have a corresponding lab component- it is “included” in the course. Do you have any idea how that would be represented to medical schools? Or will she have to squeeze in the two lab courses? She’s met with prehealth and they were somewhat vague on that - she left feeling pretty discouraged. </p>
<p>I’d also add that your experience with professors pretty much parallels what D’s encountered. The other thing that has also helped is a study group.</p>
<p>I forgot about study groups. They are invaluable, better than tutoring, IMO. </p>
<p>Is this a Rodman class? </p>
<p>When your daughter fills out her medical school apps, she would report the class as lecture/lab – it’s okay to combine them. She will need a total of eight hours (six lecture/2 lab). </p>
<p>If your daughter can’t get an answer with prehealth next time, she might want to check with the biomed and/or chemE departments. Both departments have a number of premed students so someone there might know the answer.</p>
<p>Dean J,
Thanks for responding, but with all due respect, I’m not looking for a tutor on CC.
I’m using CC to vent that, IMHO, this is a really poorly taught class (on many levels) at UVA, and perhaps this can serve as a warning for others considering taking this class.</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments though. I’m not very vocal most times but I appreciate your posts and follow them closely.
I’ve vented, and now I’ll be quiet.</p>
<p>Oh, and thanks MechWahoo, I probably will stick it out
not that I want to. OK, no more whining.</p>
so you might not want to extrapolate that UVA has a “weak Physics dept.” based on my experience alone.
