<p>Hello CC!</p>
<p>I'm a (prospective) Physics major at the University (Class of '15) and I wanted to know what i'm getting into if i'm a Physics major. Any adivce, tips or warning? I'm sure there is tons of experencial advice here at CC :)</p>
<p>A lot of people here tend to like (maybe more like love?) the physics major with the exception of the experimental physics year-long class. (Instead of having physics labs in each class, they combined them into a year-long experimental class.) It’s very theoretical based and a lot of people are interested in things going on at Fermi Lab, etc. (with some students working with profs on research there).</p>
<p>I would <em>highly</em> suggest taking honors physics (or at least trying it) if you are interested in the physics major. After the intro sequence, they combine those who took honors and regular and it’s pretty evident (from what my friend’s said) who took honors and who didn’t.</p>
<p>Everybody here loves physics majors. Every single physics major I know either has a girlfriend or a boyfriend.</p>
<p>Wow. I honestly expected the opposite lol, like “Physics majors feel like killing themselves here” or the sort. I’m actually a bit dissapointed :P. </p>
<p>I <3 theoretical physics, but the problem i’m having is math. If anyone is familiar with IB, I took math SL, if not suffice to say I didnt do the most difficult math in high school. The thing is i’m quite indifferent towards math - I love Physics, but I don’t love math. </p>
<p>For that reason, I want to make sure i’m at the level of math that most other entering students are. I actually want to know what are the typical math sequences that Physics majors take? Do they take honors math (Which sounds really scary)?</p>
<p>Does anyone also know how bad the workload, and how bad the curves/gpa are for Physics majors?</p>
<p>^I’m where you are. I love theoretical physics, but I hate and suck at math. For that reason, I’m not doing physics. I feel I have some duty to humanity to make contributions, and I can’t do that as a physics major. I once talked to a prominant Harvard physics professor who works at the supercolider in switzerland. He explained a concept to me, and I was like, wait why blah blah? And he said, i don’t know how to explain it. Just look at the math, it works out. </p>
<p>I don’t think I can understand things just based on the math like other people.</p>
<p>@Divine Comedy: Very possible. My boyfriend’s a Physics major…:)</p>
<p>@goodwood8: While yes, all the Physics majors I know love the Physics program–not gonna lie, it’s supposed to be tough. Low average gpa, evil problem sets, the whole (hearsay) enchilada. I think more what we see is what one sees a lot at UChicago–the people who stay in the program are the ones who love the subject and love what they’re learning despite all that. You’ll figure out in time if it’s the major for you.</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about it right now, and if you’d like you can attend the Physics sessions during O-Week. Also, e-mail Stuart Gazes, the undergrad adviser, to see if he could meet with you to talk about your math/phys background during O-Week before you register. I think I would recommend talking with someone about it, regardless of what your physics placement result says.</p>
<p>I’m a first year physics major (a single one at that, disproving Divine Comedy’s statement 
). The average math level varies a lot. I’d say a lot of the people in the gen physics sequence (130s) is starts out with either MATH 151, 152, or 153 (these are the classes on the AP Calc level). They have to take a class spring quarter that teaches you some of the more advanced math needed to continue in the major. The people taking honors gen physics (140s) are generally in analysis or honors calc. At the physical sciences meeting at the beginning of the year, Gazes highly recommended you take honors calc or higher. I’m not really sure how necessary it is… quite frankly, the math itself that you learn in 160s (honors calc) isn’t at all applicable the to physics. However, the critical thinking is useful and, if you are interested in going on with theoretical physics, you should probably get a math major to. Not to fear, as course-wise, you only need to take a few more courses! Also, honors calc is really useful for analysis; the honors calc kids tend to do a lot better in analysis than the 150s kids. If you do place into honors calc, definitely take it! It is a lot of work (I had three sets/week in my section, each pset taking around 6 hours) but it’s a lot of fun and is an awesome introduction to “real” math. If you don’t like it, it’s easy to drop down and isn’t going to look bad. </p>
<p>For the physics workload, as someone who took honors, it’s not awful. 1 problem set a week, takes a bit of time. Do try to find people to work with… I stupidly thought I could handle it myself and suffered because of it. I’ve heard that the average physics GPA is a 2.7/the classes are curved to a B-, but not sure how true this is…</p>
<p>That all said, if you don’t like math as much, you might want to look more into experimental physics. I was talking to some professors about the difference between the two and they said that a lot of kids early in the major tend to lean towards theoretical physics because it does sound really exciting. However, as you grow, you might find experimental much more interesting. Being here a year and learning more about the actual work physicists do has definitely made me reconsider the experimental side. 
Also, what kind of theoretical physics do you like?</p>