<p>My son has been told by students/professors at UCs and CSUs that he can complete a physics major in 2 years after transfer. He has taken all the math and physics courses his CCC offered plus a couple of programming classes. With physics year long sequences, lack of summer school courses and likely need for modern physics three years seems more realistic. Plus all agree he could not minor in math. Would a math major and physics minor or applied math be better options? He is thinking about teaching but wants to be prepared for other career options.</p>
<p>That depends on the level of courses that are offered at the CC. If it’s an introductory calculus based physics sequence (usually 3 or 4 semesters), I would say it would be rather difficult to finish. I’m in a similar predicament. I’m a physics major, and when I transfer, it’s going to be a struggle finish my courses in 3 years. But, I’m also going to be double majoring in math, alongside physics. The physics curriculum usually has quite a few courses that need to be taken…but if he’s majoring in just physics, I don’t think it would be impossible to finish in 2 years…it would require some pretty heavy semesters though. A math minor would be a good idea, and would likely require relatively little extra course work, since there is a lot of overlap.</p>
<p>Who said he couldn’t minor in math? Professors?</p>
<p>Depends on which CCC and which UC and CSU. If the CCC offers courses that are well matched to the lower division requirements of the target UCs and CSUs (see [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) ), then there is no reason why he could not complete a physics major within two years after transfer if he has all lower division major requirements and breadth/IGETC completed before transfer.</p>
<p>The typical upper division physics major requirements will take about half of the courses during the two years, although prerequisite sequencing will make it difficult to complete the major in less time than that. Depending on the campus’ minor requirements, adding a minor in math is likely possible.</p>
<p>However, if the CCC and others nearby do not offer full coverage of the lower division major requirements, then he may have to take them as “catch up” after transfer. In that case, graduation could be delayed.</p>
<p>As @ucbalumnus says, if there is a clear articulation agreement and your student has taken all the right courses, it should be possible even if challenging. Without that kind of agreement it is likely that 3 years is more practical, in which case a second major is relatively easy to do. CC transfers to my university generally take 3 years to complete the physics degree since our program has some very specialized courses not available in a CC, in the second year. Another point to consider is that a liberal arts-oriented physics degree instead of a more engineering-oriented physics degree might be more practical to complete in 2 years (for example, UIUC has two physics degrees, one in the LAS college and the other in Engineering)</p>
<p>Why rush? He should spend his Summers participating in undergraduate research with a physics lab.</p>
<p>comfortablycurt–Yes, scheduling appears difficult at at least one college due to the number of additional math and physics courses required. If he took the additional courses recommended for grad school candidates he would have a math minor but he definitely could not finish in two more years. Plus neither option includes real analysis, a course he would like to take. He really would like to double major in physics and math.
ucbalumnus–He has satisfied the articulation agreements, has a semester at a four year college and partial IGETC. That would be fine for UCs, except where there’s no comparable course, but the CSUs have upper division GE requirements and the one he is considering has a couple of additional courses.
xraymancs–He has learned that even with an articulation agreement there are courses his CCC just does not offer and that missing classes can affect sequencing. What is the practical difference between liberal arts oriented and science/engineering oriented physics and math degrees?
TomServo–He knows what he would need to do to get a job in a physics lab. So far he has used summers for classes since his four year college work was completely unrelated.</p>
<p>An engineering-oriented degree is usually more credit hours, more required courses, and fewer electives. The degree we have at IIT has, after the first four semesters of basic physics courses (including a semester of Modern Physics), 2 semesters of classical mechanics, 2 semesters of electrodynamics, 2 semesters of quantum mechanics, 2 semesters of computational physics, 2-3 semesters of advanced laboratories and a semester of statistical mechanics. We have 4 free electives, which is a bit more than engineering but it is not very many. A liberal arts oriented physics degree might not have 2 semester sequences of all the above and would probably have more electives.</p>
<p>I think one can get an excellent physics background with either way.</p>