<p>Hey everyone, I'm really not sure what I actually what I want to do yet, but I think that's okay as I'm still a freshman. I'm really interested in medicine, physics, maths, and philosophy. I don't really love bio or chem, but I find the whole way our bodies work fascinated and am more interested in medical research than actually becoming something more lucrative. As I think about it though, I've become more and more disenchanted with the profession and everything seems to be about money and I don't really like that environment. Now that I'm weighing my options and considering other things I'm thinking about a physics or math major. I skipped out on physics and maths my first semester because they didn't fit in properly and I was really interested in exploring some other classes, but as the semester goes on and on I miss taking physics and math courses. Unfortunately, I would have to wait to take physics E and M until spring of sophomore year, as I only got a 3 on Physics B, Mechanics, and E and M (I really didn't study too hard and I self studied the C exams with some friends), and my school doesn't offer any mechanics course in the spring nor E and M in the fall. Would it be too late to consider a major for physics taking courses this late?</p>
<p>Also, I'm thinking about transferring next year as I really dislike my current university so through all this chaos, would I still be okay?</p>
<p>Well, you would be behind by about a year on your courses but the good news is that you can find introductory University Physics E&M at any community college in the summer and many universities offer it as a summer course as well. The key is to have at least two semesters of Calculus by the beginning of your Sophomore year. If you can do that, you will be right on track for most physics programs.</p>
<p>Transferring should not be a problem.</p>
<p>I would still have to take classical mechanics though sadly, and I think that’s a prerequisite for most E&M courses. Would it be better to take multivariable calculus with applications are like SUNY Stony Brook or something over the summer and come in with a strong background in maths? I’ve been doing some work in linear algebra since you really don’t need calculus for it, so would knowing Calc III + linear algebra be a better basis than taking E&M or classical mechanics and just worry about that sophomore year?</p>
<p>Pre-requisites can be waived. E&M needs more calc., but really doesn’t leverage Newton’s Laws. Taking the Math courses would also be a good alternative.</p>
<p>Get solid on what school you want to attend.</p>
<p>I’m leaning toward Brandeis or NYU at the moment. I’m also thinking about Macalester, but they seem less strong in maths and physics. Do you think being behind in a major would leave me with issues at those schools? or should I be looking at different ones</p>
<p>and I was taking a look at Wesleyan, sorry forgot to add that </p>
<p>Those schools seem so very different. First find a “home”, then see what department you resonate with. If you have finished the equivalent of the American “Calculus II” (such as the equivalent to AP Calculus A/B or B/C) you may be in OK shape to pursue your major of choice.</p>
<p>I’d consider calculus based mechanics to be a mandatory prerequisite for E&M. Perhaps we were taught E&M in different ways, @ItsJustSchool . Newton’s Laws have been used pretty heavily in my E&M course this semester. There are a lot of analogous concepts between the two. Having some experience with things like damped oscillations is going to be very valuable upon getting exposed to RLC circuits in E&M. They’re essentially the same thing. Conservation of Energy is an immensely important concept in E&M, and Special Relativity can be very important, depending on the way that it’s taught. Not all introductory mechanics courses include SR, but mine did. </p>
<p>It’s not just about the specifics though. The problem solving abilities that are relevant to physics begin to develop in introductory mechanics. E&M is much more difficult conceptually, and having that prior experience is very valuable. </p>
<p>It’s not too late to consider a physics major. You may have to stay for an extra semester or year, but if you’d be willing to do that in the event that it was necessary, then I see no issues. The most important thing is to get some math knocked out as soon as possible. </p>
<p>@comfortablycurt is absolutely correct. You need to take Mechanics before E&M. Absolutely every physics program requires it. If you don’t have a strong foundation in dynamics, a lot of what you study in E&M won’t make sense.</p>
<p>Take the Calculus as soon as possible and decide where you are transferring to. Then take the summer to take the Mechanics course, either at your new university or at a Community College. In the Fall you can take E&M and more Calculus. You won’t be too far behind.</p>
<p>That’s what I figured would work best, but I was thinking that it might not be worth it to take mechanics over the summer as I’m not sure if this is true for all universities, but where I’m at E&M is only offered in the spring. Therefore if I take mechanics over the summer, I’ll still be waiting to take E&M. I figured an apt solution would be to take Multivariable Calculus with applications over the summer at Stony Brook or NYU, whichever works best in the end, and possibly enrol in a linear algebra class as well since I’ve been doing work with that. I would be behind on the physics, but I would be fairly strong in math at that point, but I’m not sure if that’s actually helpful. </p>
<p>At a bigger university – and not that much bigger since my university, Illinois Tech only has about 3,000 undergraduates – introductory mechanics and E&M are offered every semester, including summers. Since you are thinking of transferring, that will probably be the case at your new school.</p>