Future Physics major looking for advice on whether I should go to Community College

College Search & Selection Community Colleges
1

Hello, and thanks for taking the time to read this.

I am getting out of the military in November and plan on going back to college in November. I know for sure that I want to be a Physics major, but am less decided on if I want to pursue a second major. If I do I would probably want to go for Aerospace Engineering or Mechanical Engineering if that’s not available. Another interest would be Geology and Economics, but I doubt I would choose those over Engineering. I know that trying to double major with those types of degrees is difficult, but I think that with the GI Bill, my previous credits, and the maturity I’ve gained I think I can take my time and do it right.

I know that if you don’t want to be a teacher, which I don’t, Physics isn’t the most practical for a Bacholers, so I want to make sure I’m dynamic and more employable if I choose not to go to graduate school. I have vague ideas of what I want to do for a career but am still trying to get a more precise vision. I would see my ideal jobs as either being a physicist at a national lab like Oak Ridge or Fermilab, or being an Engineer at NASA or an aerospace company like Blue Origin, ULA, or something like that. I know a lot of people have similar ambitions and those jobs are extremely competitive, so I may have to go for something more realistic, but that’s the type of career I would like to strive for.

Right now I’m trying to decide what universities I should apply to, and if I should go to a university at all. My first time in college, from 2012 to 2015 I went from undecided to Physics to Mechanical Engineering and ended up with a 2.9 GPA and 81 credits. This was not due to a lack of interest with the material but mainly a lack of maturity and misplaced priorities. When I applied myself to classes like General Chemistry and Thermodynamics I enjoyed the material and could succed, but I was to young and dumb to keep it together. I know with my GPA I’ll only be accepted to an average tier school, which is fine, it’s what you do and learn there that counts, not the name on the degree, but I would like to get into better schools if I could.

Would it be a better idea for me to go to community college? The main reason I would want to do this is to get into a better school after adding 2 or 3 semesters of good grades to my transcript. Also I may be able to pay for it with just FAFSA and save my GI bill for grad school or some summer classes. My 81 credits already get me most of the way to an Associates degree, but I am going to need to retake classes like Chemistry, Physics 1, and Calculus over again anyway. How much would a few semesters at a community college really help my application though anyway? Is it worth having to deal with another transfer?

Right now the universities that I’m looking into the most are schools like Colorado State, University of Alabama Huntsville, San Jose State, San Diego State, Michigan Tech and University of Alaska Fairbanks. CalTech is the dream school, but it will be a long time before I could think about going there. UC San Diego, NC State, and Georgia Tech are other schools that I want to go to but are out of reach for now, and that I’m thinking a community college would help give me a chance.

A school like UA Huntsville seems reasonably easy to get into, but has very strong programs in things I’m interested in. If I get in there would there be any reason to forgo it for community college? What are some other universities that have strong physics programs that I could get into? What are some other places I can ask, and other resources I can look into, that would help me make my decision?

Thanks again for your time and answers.

2

Your goal is a job, and once you’ve had the first job in these fields, it really doesn’t matter where you went to school. Go to the best 4 yr college that you can get into NOW, that you can pay for NOW. Your goal is not to get into the best name college - that’s a 17 yr old’s goal. Your goal is a career, and you can do that best at that point by going to finish up at a 4 yr college with physics and engineering.

3

Not sure if CC would even be a option for you, you have 81 credits right, go to a 4 year school that will accept most of them, it may help the double major be easier as well, good luck.

4

Did you not take the versions of physics and calculus courses suitable for physics majors the first time?

What courses have you completed with what grades in math and physics? With 81 credits, you are already beyond the usual 60 before transferring to a four year school, but if you have not completed the necessary courses (calculus-based physics for physics majors, single variable calculus, multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations), you may want to complete those at a community college before going to a four year school.

But check the four year schools on their policies about transfer students with large amounts of credit.

5

Thanks, I guess every semester at a junior college is less time spent with the networking and internship possibilities of a university.

6

I have Calc 3 and DiffEq, Physics 2, Statics, (for Mechanical Engineering) and General Chemistry done, and got a mix of A’s, B’s and C’s in them. But its been 5 years or more since I took those so I think I will need to retake them to establish a good base.

7

Thanks for they response.

8

You may want to try old final exams for the courses to see what you know and what you need to review. Here are some old exams from one university:

https://tbp.berkeley.edu/courses/

Math 53 = calculus 3 (H53 = honors)
Math 54 = linear algebra and differential equations (H54 = honors)
Physics 7A, 7B, 7C = physics for physics majors (H7A, H7B, H7C or 5A, 5B, 5C = honors)
Chemistry 1A, 1B = general chemistry
Chemistry 4A, 4B = general chemistry with quantitative analysis
Engineering 36 = statics

9

Good resource, thank you.

11

I know that if you don’t want to be a teacher, which I don’t, Physics isn’t the most practical for a Bacholers, so I want to make sure I’m dynamic and more employable if I choose not to go to graduate school. I have vague ideas of what I want to do for a career but am still trying to get a more precise vision. I would see my ideal jobs as either being a physicist at a national lab like Oak Ridge or Fermilab, or being an Engineer at NASA or an aerospace company like Blue Origin, ULA, or something like that. I know a lot of people have similar ambitions and those jobs are extremely competitive, so I may have to go for something more realistic, but that’s the type of career I would like to strive for.