<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am actually at orientation right now and i am trying to decide on a good math course to take. I want to be a physics major (for now) and have taken AP Physics C and AP Calc AB i am pretty sure i got 5s on both. So far i will taking Great Book (i am in honors BTW), Honors Physics EM, Italian 101, and probably trumpet lessons. Am i gonna over load my scheduel doing Math 295 rather than 156?</p>
<p>I'm also a physics major. 295 is the best class I've taken at Michigan. I think if you like 295, 156 may end up ****ing you off. When I was in high school, I felt proofs were pointless and writing them was a wasteful endeavor. After taking 295 not only am I able to construct logical mathematical proofs, but the form of my non-mathematical arguments is also much improved.</p>
<p>Also, if you make it to 395-396, you'll get lots of background in higher-level math that's extremely useful for physics. You learn tensor algebra, although in the more elegant theoretical way as opposed to the computation based way physicists use it, but it can't hurt to know how something works in more than one way. You also learn about the stuff you do in calc III extremely rigorously along with deRham cohomology, and we at least got a pretty lengthy handout about how they all related to Maxwell's equations. And you also get a very good beginning background in differential geometry, which is the basis of gravitational physics and general relativity. Towards the end of the class we proved that the universe cannot be isomorphic to S4 (think 5 dimensional sphere), provided we make some assumptions about non-existence of weird singularities in the fabric of spacetime.</p>
<p>Technically by doing this sequence you miss out on learning calc III and differential equations. However, everybody I know who has done both honors math and physics (self included) haven't had any problems picking up on the math as we went along. Some physics classes will claim to have differential equations as a prereq, but hardly use it at all in the class.</p>
<p>if your worry is overloading your schedule, go ahead and take 295. Yes, it's a more work than 156, but you can handle it, especially if you don't have a ton of EC's. Many freshmen have first semesters of similar intensity and do just fine. Only take 156 if you have no interest in mathematics.</p>
<p>My worry is not really overloading my schedule as it is getting to most out of college. The problem is that i would rather not take Physics 160 - Mechanics over again, but i would have to because there is a scheduling conflict with math 295. I talked with an advisor in the physics department who suggested that doing physics 260 with the Math 156 and 255 sequence is very good preperation for higher level stuff.</p>
<p>If you can handle the 295 sequence, you'll be better prepared math-wise than any other physics student. The stuff you do in the applied classes seems trivial by comparison, and it's not hard to pick up on whatever stuff you might have missed. Plus, my physics advisor more or less lets physics majors with a strong math background do whatever they want (for example, I've only done one out of the three recomended prerequisite classes for my physics class next semester).</p>
<p>Why would you have to do 160 again? Couldn't you just so 240 if there's some kind of conflict with 260?</p>
<p>Yeah, whereas there is very little difference between 240 and 260, there is a HUUGE difference between 156 and 295. I know you're a physics major, but the difference between 240 and 260 is minimal, maybe even non-existent depending on who your professor is. The course guide makes them sound much different than they actually are. Trust me, you will be much better off for a physics major with with 295/240 than you will with 156/260.</p>