<p>Hi, i have a question.
How great is the UCSB Physics program? I know that it is in the top 10 program in the nation for graduate school and the nobel prize winner professors in the department, but how good is the undergraduate program? I'm assuming the undergraduate physics is as good as the graduate physics since it is from the same professors? can someone provide me an insight? also, how is the job prospects of physics major students who graduate from UCSB? I might double major or minor with mathematical science(mathematics?computational mathematics route).
One of the concern of mine is the party reputation that UCSB has. Whenever i mention UCSB, the first thing i hear from people is 'Party School.' Can someone tell me all the top notch qualities of UCSB that will enable me to tell others how amazing UCSB school is rather than the 'party school'?
Thank you. </p>
<p>Here are some interesting articles and CC threads on UCSB Physics:
<a href=“Top 25 Ranked Bachelor Of Physics Programs With The Best Return On Investment (ROI) - Best Value Schools”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/physics-degrees-best-roi/</a>
<a href=“Blog - Campus Explorer”>http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/48A49588/5-Most-Popular-Colleges-for-Physics-Majors/</a>
<a href=“http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2012/physics”>http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2012/physics</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/902895-ucsb-physics-vs-ucsd.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/902895-ucsb-physics-vs-ucsd.html</a>
<a href=“UCSB Ranked in Top 10 Universities Worldwide | The Daily Nexus”>http://dailynexus.com/2012-01-04/ucsb-ranked-top-10-universities-worldwide/</a>
<a href=“http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=29670”>Edhat | Local News From Your Community;
<p>As for the reputation of UCSB as a party school, that is just hyperbole. It started with the hippie and riots in the 1960s. Then Halloween became a monster party for kids from all over the place. Now add Deltopia. What one needs to remember is the current two large parties are mostly attended by non-UCSB students. If UCSB students were partying all the time, they would be having a difficult time keeping up with their curriculum, which data suggest they are not. It is getting harder and harder to be admitted into UCSB, so the caliber of student coming to UCSB is high. All colleges have parties. This is the first time kids of a similar age are all living together without adult supervision. Partying is going to happen whether you attend UCSB, UCB, or UCLA. With 20,000 students there will be partiers, non-partiers, and a whole array of different type of people. It’s easy to steer clear of the parties if you want to.</p>
<p>Thank you so much tasmom! Does anyone want to give me more information about physics program and what they do particularly in UCSB? I want to know how they’re doing after college and such! Difficulty of classes also if I’m planning on doing a minor with mathematical science. </p>
<p>I used to be physics major myself and had actually also decided to double major with mathematical sciences as well (I ended up switching at the end of my 2nd year). Hopefully I can help.</p>
<p>The undergraduate program truly is a top notch physics program. All of the professors are incredible and really want to help their students. They are also fairly welcoming if a student would like to take part in research alongside them. It also helps that UCSB has the CCS physics program as well, which many consider the best undergraduate physics program in the world (I know many students in that program that turned down Cal, MIT, CalTech, etc in favor of the CCS program).</p>
<p>The program is very challenging and demanding. With that being said, I would strongly suggest sticking just majoring in physics based on my own experience and the experiences of other students. To do both would eventually require you to being taking a maximum course load every quarter with upper division physics and mathematics courses, which would hinder your ability to have enough time to do much of anything else (including research which really is a necessity). The only person I know of that has been successful doing this is one of the best, if not the best, student in his graduating year. You’ll still be able to take upper division math classes, however, so you shouldn’t worry about missing out on those courses if you want to take any of them.</p>
<p>With regards to job prospects of physics majors, for the most part if you want to get a job in the physics research field it’s pretty much a necessity to go to grad school. If that isn’t the route you are looking to go down, there are still a huge amount of opportunities you’ll be able to get due to the excellent reputation of the UCSB physics program.</p>
<p>If I were going into physics as an undergraduate I would even MORE want UCSB because they have tons of research projects and funding and a comparatively small number of graduate students so undergraduates get real, and truly exciting opportunities. I have in the past pulled up a number of articles and awards and endowments about this, only using ‘last year’ google search. If I have time later I will add some, but you can sure do that yourself. Google UCSB physics and limit the search term from ‘any time’ to ‘last year’</p>
<p>Hi thanks for all the replies. Does anyone know if i can take the applied physics route with the physics program at letters and sciences? Does the physics program at ucsb have a specialty that i can go for? I couldn’t find any information even though i was trying to find it. </p>
<p>The UCSB Physics program has nobel prize winners and multiple specialties and research centers. It is hard to narrow it down without more specificity. Why don’t you call and ask? Here is their main web page for just an idea, and the ‘contact us’ phone numbers at the bottom of the page:<br>
<a href=“http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/”>http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/</a></p>
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<p>The reason it is top five (they are number four) from 2010 is that the NRC rankings aren’t done every year, but that is the latest.</p>
<p>here are a few of the awards some of the faculty have been awarded in the last few months: <a href=“News | Department of Physics | UC Santa Barbara”>http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/news</a> </p>
<p>you can go to further pages for awards earlier in February and earlier this year. Note that physics departments from other schools might have a few of these awards over the last few years, not a few a month.</p>