<p>My ability to graduate (2014) is basically contingent on being able to get every single class I need every quarter. I'm assuming I should get the bulk of them, but I may not be able to get one or two and they are not offered in the fall so I'd have to stay practically another year. That being said, I'm going to be taking physics classes as well so I can complete the minor and try to make up for my deficiencies before I go into a physics master's program 'cause I'm currently an applied math major.</p>
<p>It looks like I'll need less than thirty units of physics to obtain the BS. Are two degrees beneficial? Should I bother declaring it as a major if I have to stay another year? Or should I just skip fall quarter and just take like 8 units one quarter that entire school year so I can graduate. The bulk of the 30 units for physics is not what is required for me to be in the MS program. Probably like 2 courses.</p>
<p>So, it sounds like your objective is the MS (thesis- or course-based?) in physics. Applied math is a relevant degree provided that you pick up the physics prereqs. I’m not a physics guy but I would think that additional physics coursework won’t hurt but should not be necessary.</p>
<p>What would be the impact of the cost (direct financial + opportunity) of the extra courses?</p>
<p>The schools I am looking at have told me that 99.9% of their students do thesis based, but I was interested in doing that anyways. </p>
<p>They list their prerequisites so I should be taking the majority of those my senior year, but I will be lacking an upper-divison Quantum Mechanics I and II as well as upper-divison Electromagnetism I and II. Actually, I don’t even need the second undergraduate Quantum Mechanics class to start the program, but I will have to take 2 graduate level Quantum Mechanics classes. I should have Thermal Physics, 2 Mathematical Physics classes, and 2 upper-divison Mechanics classes by the end of my senior year. The only 2 classes I’d be lacking to start the master’s program would be the 3 courses (2 Electro, 1 Quantum). </p>
<p>If I have to stay I think it’d just be better to take the three classes while I’m there if they’re offered, but I’m not really sure what benefit anymore it would be to me to take the rest of the physics courses because they don’t seem to give me any advantage starting the program. The specialization I’m going into would be theoretical. I think it would be nice to have a physics bachelors, but I’m not sure if it’d be worth the trouble. it’d be another years worth of tuition and expenses if I were to go the full year to complete it, but I think I might be there for two quarters anyways and it’s the same pricing if you take more than 6 units to have 20 units as it is 7. Opportunity cost I could probably be working and saving up and just take the classes I need to take. Or just in general be taking it easy that year before I jump into a stressful master’s program. I think that if I were to stay and complete the bachelors I could probably just launch directly into a PhD program at that point. The problem with that is I do not have any research experience, which is critical in getting into a PhD program. I could possibly research in that extra year, but I don’t know if that would be substantial enough. I don’t plan on getting into the best school either if I’m going to apply from a bachelor’s, but I was going to use a master’s program as a springboard so that I could hopefully get into a really good program with a couple years of solid research experience.</p>
<p>If you’re going for a physics masters degree anyway, then having a physics bachelor’s doesn’t seem that important. And using a masters as a jumping point for PhD seems like a good idea–I know in philosophy, a lot of kids do the master’s to get into a PhD program if they didn’t do much philosophy as an undergrad.</p>