<p>I love pondering over the big questions about life and my readings are scattered through the sciences and arts from Feynman's lectures through to Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals.</p>
<p>I think I am probably more scientifically inclined -- and am especially strong in mathematics -- however that is just because the scoring is more straight forward than in the arts as all the answers are fairly cut and dry however I feel that an understanding of the arts can be very useful in answering all the big questions about life.</p>
<p>I love to solve problems through rational and logical thought but I also like there to be room for other theories as a world where all the answers are known is a boring one.</p>
<p>I am most probably going to follow a premed track so a double major seems like an unlikely option however I also don't want to limit myself to that. Law offers interesting prospects too!</p>
<p>If you were in my situation, which I am sure a lot of the more curious minds are, which subject would you be inclined to major in?</p>
<p>My view is that studying the arts is best studied informally, outside the classroom, whereas math, science, and engineering are best studied formally.</p>
<p>A physics major is quite compatible with philosophy. A minor is usually easy to arrange. The science degree can serve you well for medical school as long as you take the required chemistry and biology courses and the philosophy minor can help you prepare for Law school where good writing is important.</p>
<p>With a physics degree you pretty much leave your options open.</p>
<p>@TomServo: I agree. Of the two, physics probably needs more formal teaching/studying. However, I still have concerns about whether I could go into law with just casual reading.</p>
<p>@xraymancs: Do you think a minor would suffice considering the nature of law? I figured I would have to major in a writing intensive subject.
If a minor alone would be enough then I guess a physics major with a philosophy minor and any premed requirements would be ideal!
Your plan sounds good to me as I may find that I want to peruse a PhD in physics and therefore that would still be an option! I definitely wouldn’t want one in philosophy!</p>
<p>What I am curious about is whether I will have any electives left for other classes to aid whatever route I take, ie. maths/physics for the academic route, anatomy/biochem for medicine or political science for law! I should have AP bio, chem, maths and physics to the highest level offered so that could free up some space :)</p>
<p>Also, I found out today that physics and philosophy tend to score best on graduate entry exams, ie. gre, mcat and lsat. While that may not be a reason enough on it’s own to study a subject, I think it is indicative of a good choice in that it should improve intellectual dexterity :)</p>
<p>Actually, physics/math majors are the highest scorers in the LSAT, followed by economics and philosophy/theology majors. Stereotypical pre-law majors like English and political science are further down the list. A speculative reason may be that physics, math, and philosophy majors need strong logical thinking skills, which are tested on the LSAT.</p>
<p>I’m a physics/math major and I’m minoring in philosophy. I’ve found the two to be very complementary to one another. It sounds like we’re quite similar in mindsets, I’m very scientifically/mathematically inclined, but I’ve spent most of my life pondering the “great questions” from a philosophical perspective as well. Philosophy and physics both attempt to answer many of same questions, but from very different angles and perspectives. Being rounded in both fields is only going to improve you in each field individually. That said, I don’t think I’d want to major in philosophy on top of majoring in physics and math. It makes for a very demanding course load as is.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why the Quote function isn’t working so please excuse my sloppy replies.
Furthermore, I have no idea how to multi-quote on this forum. The layout is very counter-intuitive!</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: That’s awesome. I realised that Physics majors did well on the LSAT however I was more concerned about the law school admissions. If they saw that I hadn’t majored in a writing intensive subject would they assume I don’t have much writing ability – as faulty as that logic is!</p>
<p>@comfortablycurt: So your a math and physics double major and you are also completing a philosophy minor? That seems like an great combo to take!
Considering I would also be completing premed requirements I think a double major in math/physics and a philosophy minor would be too much. Perhaps a math minor could be squeezed in – I would self-teach some math theories too to improve my chances at grad school e.g. I’ve taught myself contour integration this year since I’m getting bored of AP math!</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice guys. I’m happy with the plan to major in physics and minor in philosophy, complete premed requirements and fill any electives with extra maths since I’m interested in more theoretical physics!</p>
<p>It is a great combo! It makes for a fairly heavy workload, but it’s very manageable. I’m still working through my gened core too, but once I’m done with that I’ll be able to pile on more physics, math and philosophy courses. I’m gearing my philosophy course selections towards classes that will be beneficial to my major too; philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics…things of that nature.</p>
<p>If you’re doing premed, double majoring in math and physics with a philosophy minor would likely make for too heavy of a workload. Depending on the track you take, you may not even have to really take any “extra” courses to complete a math minor. There are quite a few required math courses for a physics major, and you would likely be able to complete it without having to pile on too many more classes. </p>
<p>There is no quote “button” on here…which can be a little annoying. If you want to quote something, you have to enter
[Quote]
text here
[/Quote*]
Just remove the asterisk and you’ll be able to quote away.</p>
<p>LSAT and college GPA are the main factors in law school admissions. Note that physics majors do take humanities and social studies courses for breadth, so you can get your humanities and social studies writing as well as physics writing (lab reports and the like) into your curriculum.</p>
For sure. That was my concern. I’m sure I could get away with just the math required for whatever I am interested in (Probably all the stuff gearing up for quantum field theory etc.).
[Quote=comfortablycurt]
There is no quote “button” on here…which can be a little annoying. If you want to quote something, you have to enter
They should install one. That way you could also get notified when you are ‘quoted’ making conversations easier to track and respond to – especially in popular threads where you don’t want to be notified every time there is a new post/scroll through everyone else’s
<p>Their reasoning for not having one is that it can clutter things up. Sometimes people will quote a big long post to simply reply to one statement that a person made in it. When this is done over and over again, it can make the thread pages a lot longer, and potentially harder to follow.</p>
<p>I can’t say that I necessarily agree with that, as it’s never bugged me on any of the other message boards I’ve been on, but I’m not a mod, so my opinion doesn’t really matter on that…lol…Personally, I would love to have a quote button on here.</p>
<p>What type of theoretical physics are you most interested in? I’m planning on going into the research field…I want to go to grad school for astrophysics or particle physics, or somewhere in the crossroads between the two. Theoretical research physics is definitely where my main interests are at though.</p>
just do that to respond, that way the person quoted would still be notified and it doesn’t clutter. Alternatively, add a spoiler function and quote inside it. That way would really make threads shorter!.</p>
<p>I’m interested in dark matter, black holes, space-time and gravity in general!
String theory sounds interesting but it is way too complicated for me. I can’t get my head around 5 dimensions, never mind 12! If I understood geometry a little better I’m sure I would be okay but I can’t figure how to draw a 5d object in a 2d plane. 4d is easy, but 5…! Perhaps I could do it in a 3d plane - who knows! </p>
<p>If I had to pick an umbrella subject it would probably be cosmology. I think the subject is closest I will get to studying the theory of everything!</p>
<p>It sounds like we have some very similar interests. My ultimate goals are to go into cosmology and study the formation and evolution of the universe. I’m very fascinated by black holes, dark matter, dark energy…the concepts of the fabric of spacetime. It’s an extremely fascinating subject.</p>
<p>How do you quote someone and keep their name in the post? When I quote I just copy and paste the text I want to quote. I can’t figure out how to keep the “originally posted by x” part.</p>
[<em>quote=username]x
[/quote</em>]
w/o asterix, of course.
For sure, I think my end goal if I were to want an academic career in physics would be to research dark matter. Especially the concept of baryonic dark matter. I only have a very limited knowledge, being a high school student, but I look forward to learning more.
I find that AP physics is tedious and boring – and most of the time is kind of obvious – so I’m hoping my lower division physics classes aren’t going to be like this. I really can’t wait to get on to some quantum field theory though. I think being able to understand that would really satisfy me.</p>
<p>If you attend a university that offers an honors introductory physics sequence, consider taking that if you find regular physics not interesting enough.</p>
<p>A lot of that comes down to the professor. Physics is a subject that has the potential to be a very dry, dull subject…if you have a professor that doesn’t present it in an interesting, relevant type of way. I’m lucky to have an awesome physics professor, who is VERY enthusiastic about the subject, and always presents it in an exciting way. Our labs are always awesome…and have always kept me very interested. I’d agree with UCB that honors physics would be a good thing to look into. I’ll likely be starting honors physics next year when I start the calculus based university physics sequence.</p>
My lecturers make it interesting and get me thinking but I find the concepts simple and sort of obvious. For example, atm my class is learning about Simple Harmonic Motion (with use of differential equations) and Statics (with equilibrium of a single rigid body under the action of coplanar forces where the forces are not all parallel) but I was able to derive the equations months ago (I’m quite a way a head of my class!). It’s probably the fact that it isn’t a challenge that is making it boring!</p>
<p>What sort of stuff do you do in honours physics? I can’t see it getting much more complicated than using the auxiliary equation for Newtonian physics and finding it’s roots (more difficult if imaginary/complex). </p>
<p>Hopefully I will be allowed to skip on to some harder stuff and can do some grad-level stuff while in my junior/senior years!</p>
<p>Good luck with your new physics sequence, I hope it goes well :)</p>
<p>EDIT: I tell you what I cant figure out though. How to integrate ∫sinh^2 xdx. I know it’s pure math but I can’t solve it intuitively :(</p>
<p>Philosophy (of Math, of Science) can be as if not more mathematically rigorous than physics. Also last I heard philosophy is a great way to get into medical school as well (higher chances than majors like premed and biology)</p>
