<p>200 students, 300 students ?</p>
<p>what is the class GPA ?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Which class are you referring to? Physics for pre-meds (171.101/102) or physics for physics majors (171.105-Classical Mechanics/171.106-E&M)? I took 105/106, and we actually had a really large class, about 30 people. Professors determine the grade distribution however they choose, usually you get what you deserve (i.e. grade ranges so your grade is completely determined by you).</p>
<p>The pre-med ones are indeed much bigger. Below I’ve posted links to two years of 101:</p>
<p>[171.101</a> Spring 2009](<a href=“Physics & Astronomy | Johns Hopkins University”>Physics & Astronomy | Johns Hopkins University)
[Physics</a> 101](<a href=“Physics & Astronomy | Johns Hopkins University”>Physics & Astronomy | Johns Hopkins University)</p>
<p>In such a big class, grade distribution tends to be normalized, i.e. a bell curve.</p>
<p>YanksDolphins,</p>
<p>thanks a lot;
BTW, only 30 people in physics class, that is very small class. last summer
I took a chemistry 101 at our local state university and had 250 students.</p>
<p>thanks again.</p>
<p>ohh, I meant the class size of Physics for pre-meds (171.101/102)</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>brown2009, the summer class at your state U. is probably small because it is summer. Even at schools like Berkeley, pre-med classes can reach up to 700, or at Cornell or UPenn where these numbers can be around 400-500.</p>
<p>At Hopkins, because of the smaller undergrad pop as a whole, pre-med classes are usually, at most 200-300 people.</p>
<p>For Physics, the numbers would probably be smaller for pre-med, so you are lookign around around 100-250, which will be better than what you can expect at State U’s and larger privates like Cornell, Northwestern, UPenn etc.</p>
<p>That’s where the advantage of the Hopkins size comes in. Of course, you won’t get LAC sized classes, but even LAC’s have large lectures for pre-med sciences. It’s always been a popular set of classes, especially for freshmen and sophomore.</p>
<p>You will find that the higher level classes in sciences at Hopkins are much much smaller and intimate, and even large lectures break up into very small (20 or below) TA-Led groups, which will afford you the intimacy you want.</p>
<p>Hope2getrice,</p>
<p>your comments are very helpful, thanks</p>
<p>re: "ask current students: what is the size of intro physics class ? "</p>
<p>Good question, but then also look into registrar’s listing of courses given in physics the last two semesters at each college of interest. This will give you a good idea of the breadth and depth of offererings at each college in Physics. What you can learn there bears some relation to what they actually teach, with corresponding limitations as may be relevant.</p>
<p>Introductory physics will be very similar, whether there are 30 students or 300 in your class. Bottom line, you have to be able to do the problems. When you’re a senior you may be less interested in the size of your intro class a few years before, and more interested in the fact that there is some sub-area you’ve gotten interested in, however your college doesn’t offer any courses in it at an advanced level.</p>
<p>I’ve never seen/heard of an intro physics class with 30 people. They are at least 150-200 people- pre-med or not. Intro physics is divided into physics for biological sciences and physics for physical sciences- there is no “pre-med physics” vs. “non pre-med physics”. You decide which class to take based on your major, not your intended profession. They both cover relatively the same material, but (unsurprisingly) biological physics is geared towards biology-related examples, and physics physics is geared towards engineering. The class average changes from year to year. However, I believe the average is around a C to C+, which is then curved to a B- or B.</p>
<p>JHUery, the “physics for physics majors” course, 105-106 is usually at most 30 people. Some people who take that course do indeed go on to med school but a majority plan to actually study physics.</p>
<p>But it’s a great, great course any way you look at it. Hard, but really insightful, especially when Petar’s teaching.</p>
<p>Oops, I meant “physics for physical majors”</p>
<p>YanksDolphins,</p>
<p>Is Physics 171.101 calculus based? I looked at the links you posted, but the description of the courses did not give me a clue.</p>
<p>I have applied for a transfer to JHU, and hoping to get in. I intend to take Physics during summer at a local college. 2 sets of Physics courses are offered locally, one based on algebra/trig and another based on calculus. I would like to the take the right one similar to 171.101.</p>
<p>Response appreciated.
thanks</p>
<p>up to 299 in Physics 101… I think
up to 240 in the physics for bio majors (103)</p>
<p>ngr, as far as I am aware, Physics 101 IS calculus-based (I took 105, hence the lack of certainty). But I have a friend at Columbia who uses the same book and that book uses calculus, so I’d assume calculus-based. However, the calculus is not advanced. You wouldn’t be expected to do anything beyond taking limits, derivatives, and integrals.</p>
<p>All physics classes at Hopkins are calculus based, as far as I know.</p>