<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am an incoming freshmen at UCR and was wondering what are the difficulty of classes for: Physics 041a, Math 009b, Adventure in Physics, and English 001a. I am scared for college and want to know what's coming so that I am well prepared. Thank you.</p>
<p>Are you a physics major? I’m taking physics this quarter, but as a biology major…however, I thought math 9b and english weren’t too big of a deal. Of course, it depends on your professors and your class pool. The curves may either deviate wildly or very little… Go to office hours for English to get your essays corrected [CONTINUOUSLY] and you’ll do very well.</p>
<p>Yeah! I’m a physics major aha. Thank you for your response and I will definitely go to office hours! :)</p>
<p>Maybe that is a heavy workload or maybe you are not ready for college if you are going to ask a question such as that. If you try and do what you need to do, you will be average with your classmates. To stand out, you have a lot more to do than that.
Good luck, because I also am an incoming freshman this year.</p>
<p>I am going into my second year as a physics major at UCR. If you have already taken a physics class before, your first quarter should not be too hard as long as you try. Dr. Seto, who teaches the 41a course, is extremely nice and very laid back about everything. If he has a flaw, it is letting people get away with too many things. 41a is a very fun class, and the material is all classical mechanics so it isn’t anything that won’t come intuitively to you if you focus. 41b and 41c, however, may be difficult. Very difficult. You will see math used in physics class that you will not learn in math class for another year. The most important point is that you continue to put in a consistent effort. As difficult as your classes may get, the physics professors know that they are pushing you hard and you will learn a lot in the end. They’re not evil, and I think physics has some of the nicest professors of any department on campus. During the quarter, however, there will be many points where you feel like a complete idiot who doesn’t understand anything. This is not true. The difficult coursework will drill an understanding of physics into you that nobody in 2 or 40 series achieves. The quarter will be hard, and the final will make you cry, but in the final evaluation, the professors are extremely fair and most people get good marks that match the amount of effort they put into the class.</p>
<p>Physics is not an easy major. If you are afraid of math or tackling hard concepts, change your major now because you will not enjoy 4 years of physics. I’m not going to try to sugar coat it as being simple and easy. But, if you like physics and the idea of doing hard problem sets doesn’t scare you then I would tell you to really make the most out of it and stick with physics. It can be very fulfilling if it is what you enjoy. It is also a very small major. About dating+physics, don’t expect to meet many women. At the start of freshman year, we had 4. Now there are 2. The overall class size is less than 20. You will get to know everyone else in physics very well, and you can interact with your professors personally. It’s much more family-like than any other large major.</p>
<p>“Adventures in Physics” is kind of a joke of a class. Don’t think of it as a class. Think of it as talks about the field of physics every week that you must attend. Most of the quarter is spent watching presentations from professors about what their research work focuses on. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT. I was able to begin participating in research from my first quarter here by following a professor out of the room after she gave her talk to the class and asking her if she could use some help from an undergrad. The professors are all very friendly an approachable, and they really try to help out the undergrads succeed. The amount of physics majors participating in research at UCR is a relatively high percentage compared to other colleges as a result. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by. The best thing you can do for yourself if you want to continue in physics (and go to graduate school) other than to get great grades is to do research. If you get your name on some publications, get a good rec letter, and get good grades then you can go far.</p>
<p>Math at UCR varies greatly depending on the professor teaching it. That said, UCR has some pretty unpleasant math professors. You should be fine, though, as long as you aren’t terribly weak at math. Since you are taking 9b, I assume you’ve taken AP Calculus AB. Math 9b is mostly about integration, so it should mostly be review for you. For the most part, your courses are typical of a freshman physics major. It shouldn’t be too overwhelming. If you try, then you should be fine. Just don’t let yourself become one of the kids who are suddenly inebriated by their new-found freedom that comes with being in college. Partying, not studying, and ditching class are prime culprits for the destruction of a new college student’s success. You can tell yourself you won’t become one of “them,” but one concept that must sink into your head after you get to college is that you are 100% responsible for yourself. Some people pull it off better than others. Now more than ever, self-discipline will be critical to your success. Study up, talk to your professors, and take it easy, but don’t take it lightly. If you really have no other motivators to try hard in school, look at your tuition payments. If that doesn’t compel you to try, then you must either be rich as f- or extremely dumb.</p>
<p>Good luck. I’ll see you around the physics building.</p>
<p>Thank you oxnerdki! You gave me exactly the information that I was looking for! :)</p>
<p>The uni’s classes are mostly easy peezy until you start upper div ones</p>