<p>I heard that, in general, physics classes are unusually harder at UT. I was wanting to know how difficult, even though that is subjective, PHY303K is. Currently, I am scheduled to take it in the spring semester along with EE319K, which I also hear is a pretty difficult class, and M427K. I was thinking about maybe taking PHY303K over the summer so that I could focus more on EE319K and M427K. Would that be a good idea? </p>
<p>The main reason I am wondering this is because of a scholarship, top ten percent scholarship, that requires me to take at least 30 hours in the previous year. Cause if PHY303K is not that bad, then I will take it during the school year, to get the hours. But I am not that worried about losing out on the scholarship, rather have a better GPA. </p>
<p>Any feedback will be appreciated. Consider the general difficulty of PHY303K and the other classes that I am taking if you can in your response. Thanks.</p>
<p>Physics really isn’t that bad if you take the time and study for it. I would recommend taking it during the spring because you might be able to get Haley, who is pretty much the greatest professor of all time.</p>
<p>I had swinny for PHY 303K last spring and he was garbage. There were a few occassions where Haley substituted for our class and I always learned when he taught. Every student in PHY 303K last spring (regardless of professor) had homework 3 times a week, the average was roughly 23 questions per homework. It was a lot of work. But I heard that the semester before me had homework only once a week.</p>
<p>Are you thinking about taking PHY 303K at UT or community college over the summer?</p>
<p>My understanding of which physics class to take at UT has a lot to do with major. For example, if you are EE major you need to take PHY 303L at UT and it may be a good idea to take PHY 303K at community college or claim credit with eligible AP scores. If you are ME major, you need to take PHY 303K at UT and may take PHY 303L somewhere else.</p>
<p>I am a BME major. I was originally planning to take both 303K and 303L over the summer at a community college because I heard that physics was harder here at UT. As a BME major, does it really matter where I take physics? I am mainly worried about not being able to really focus on the classes that I am taking and not doing so well. My schedule for spring will probably be EE319K, PHY303K with lab, M427K, BME102L, and a UGS. Based on this, should I just take the class at UT or summer school at community college. Thanks for the insight.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with BME so I cant say. If your department allows students to take both PHY at CC, then it will be a good idea to take them there. For ME students, 303K is ME based so it is beneficial for the student to take that course at UT. ME dept does not care where students take 303L since it is not ME based and they also understand it is a difficult course at UT.
You are talking about spring schedule anyway. My advice is to see how you do with the course load in the fall semester before deciding on your spring schedule.</p>
<p>They’ve made the engineering physics classes easier so their reputation isn’t as accurate anymore. I just finished 303L and it was pretty easy. The topics were made as simple as possible and tests were very similar to the homework (1/4 of the questions came directly from the HW). It was probably my easiest class last semester (see: 57% A’s).</p>
<p>That sounds good, that they made it easier. I am going to go ahead and see how this year goes, and then based on that decide what to do. Thanks for all the insight, I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>I TA’d for PHY 303K last spring and currently the PHY 303K uses a new curriculum: matter and interaction. I can’t say if it’s necessarily better or worse than the good old physics curriculum. But it’s true that we had 3 homeworks per week and I think they’re reasonable. A lot of the questions are pretty easy but there are a couple hard ones. I personally don’t think PHY 303K is that and there are a lot of A’s. Most of the complaints of physics classes being hard seem to be wrong.
M 427K will make PHY 303K very easy if the class made you appreciate differential equations and its connection to physics.
Sorry if I sound like a jerk but I wouldn’t trust any engineer who can’t pass PHY 303K and L at UT. But, I think your class load seems reasonable to me; I’m sure you’ll learn a lot that semester.</p>
<p>I agree. The physics classes are simple enough that any competent engineer should be able to pass them. However, merely passing is a pretty low standard. Most students are more concerned with doing well in the class and not having to do too much unnecessary work. </p>
<p>To those who think 3 homeworks a week sounds like a lot: it is a decent amount, but it’s the kind of work that’s necessary to understand a subject like physics.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the insight. Its just that I want to do more than just pass the class, I would rather get an A or at the least an A- in all of my classes. I was just worried that I would not be able to devote a proper amount of time to each class because I will be overworked. As far as I know, I enjoyed physics, albeit it was pre-ap physics, and actually look forward to taking the class. Also, if I am not mistaken, 303K is like mechanics while 303L is like electricity and magnetism? Once again thanks for the information.</p>
<p>@frever, who was your professor for 303k? i’m thinking about tsoi, because the reviews on ratemyprofessor for the other ones that are available are either horrible or non-existent (like rodenborn)… swinney has good reviews but i don’t think physics at 8am is a good plan.</p>