<p>Hi CC members.
I’m an internation applicant and I haven’t figured out yet how this Undergraduate thing works.
Well, in Germany you say, I wanna study Physics and you do…</p>
<p>But in the US, I’ve heard that you have to take courses, that don’t realte at all to physics.
So at what stage can you focus on the subject you really want to study?</p>
<p>THX!</p>
<p>At the end of the second year, in most schools, sometimes earlier, students "declare" their major. After that time, they need to fulfill the requirements that the school and the intended department set for graduating with a degree in, say, Physics. There is plenty of time in the first two years to explore and/or fulfill general distribution requirements (of which Brown has none, by the way), before you need to focus in one one main field. Even after you have declared, you will still be able to study things outside of your major (called a "concentration" in Brown) so that you don't only do one thing. That is because the number of courses required for a major is fewer than the total number of courses you have to take to fulfill graduation requirements.</p>
<p>First, it depends on whether you choose to go to a "college" or a "university"</p>
<p>In a university system, generally 80% of your courses are taken in your major, which is whatever you choose to study, e.g. physics</p>
<p>In a college system, generally 40% (i'm averaging) of courses are taken in your major. There are of course variations for specific majors. </p>
<p>Most schools also have some amount (the remaining amount, that is) of core or distribution requirements to give you a diverse education. Brown doesn't have any, so you get to take whatever you want -- as narrow or as diverse as you want, as well as completing your requirements for a major (concentration). </p>
<p>You don't study only physics until graduate school and even then you can take electives.</p>
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In a university system, generally 80% of your courses are taken in your major, which is whatever you choose to study, e.g. physics</p>
<p>In a college system, generally 40% (i'm averaging) of courses are taken in your major. There are of course variations for specific majors.
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</p>
<p>I don't think it breaks down at all by university vs college. At universities like Columbia and Chicago the core takes up a lot of your time. At colleges like Amherst you can take a lot in your major, but do not have to. I don't know of a university that would require 80% of courses in your major. That would be an enormous commitment. Something like 25 out of 32 courses (4 a semester for 4 years). Even some engineering programs that specify a huge proportion of your coursework would reach that level only if you counted the humanities and social science courses at "in the major".</p>
<p>At many universities the courses required in the major might run on the order of 10-20, depending on the field, and assuming 4 per semester. </p>
<p>To the OP, in the US nearly all colleges expect people to study things outside of their area of specialization. Many college students specialize only to a small extent in college, and take the minimum courses in a single department required to get a degree. Most colleges require students to take courses across a broad range of fields, following on an old idea that there exists some common body of knowledge possessed by all educated people. In the old days, this meant everyone studied Greek and Latin. Today it usually means taking courses in literature, social science, languages, natural science, and something quantitative. Colleges vary widely in how much of this they require-from no "distribution" requirements, such as Amherst and Brown, to very highly structured curricula such as Columbia. </p>
<p>When do you focus on physics? Starting from first year you begin taking physics and math courses. However, you take other things as well. As time goes by, at most colleges, you complete your distribution requirements and focus more on your major. However, this depends on the college and how many other courses it requires. Places that require many non-science courses seem to graduate about the same number of successful scientists as to places that do not require any.</p>
<p>It all works, and students come out well educated at both ends of the spectrum. For most serious work in science, certainly in physics, one needs an advanced degree anyway.</p>
<p>I spoke with a professor at Cornell who went to Cambridge and she said all she did was study chemical engineering and that's it. She much prefers the US style of education that focuses on a broader spectrum of knowledge than just one specific think like in Europe. That's what masters and Ph.D.'s are for, to become an expert in your field.</p>
<p>Aside from the practical answers above, consider: </p>
<p>The US systems values a more well-rounded person, I think. They consider that education is not necessarily specialization or vocational training. That analytical and critical thinking skills will transcend your profession and apply to any profession. They consider that you may be a good student, but not yet ready to select a major at 18 years old. They allow you a bit of time to take things that interest you, so that you may discover your passions as well as your strengths. However, if you are going into certain majors, like engineering, you may well be taking classes in your major or prereq classes for your major right from the very first year. For some majors, you wouldn't need to (unless you wanted to) take classes that first year, and perhaps not the second. Most important Universities and regular ones have general education distribution requirements that you must fufill in order to graduate. Some schools, like Columbia and University of Chicago are famous for the rigour of those requirements, so you must be capable in every area in order to be admitted.</p>
<p>You will have to learn about each school to see how it operates and what the requirements are. This is an important part of selecting a college.</p>
<p>Since you are posting in the Brown forum I will say this. Brown does not have distribution reqs. I am a little shocked and horrified that my daughter will not even be taking an college English Composition class. But she writes very well thanks to a good HS program. She took a lot of math and science classes from the begining at Brown. She never thought of being a CS major before college. She discovered her Computer Science major through 2 years of exploration in those other areas, and is extremely happy with the area she is studying and is planning to go to graduate school But she has also taken Mandarin and Russian. I do think that she has missed out of some things that might have stimulated her at Brown that were outside of the math/science/cs area.</p>
<p>Last year she was a Mieklejohn, which is an upperclass advisor who works with a freshmen faculty advisor. Since a lot of CS majors know they are on that path coming into first-year, her job, as conveyed by the program advisors, was to encourage them to branch out and take classes outside of their major. One of the strengths at Brown is interdisciplinary programs.</p>
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You don't study only physics until graduate school and even then you can take electives.
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<p>Point-- taking electives outside of your field in science graduate school is extremely rare and almost always only happens if that elective directly deals with your research which lies somewhat between disciplines.</p>