<p>Does anyone know which school has the better physics program? </p>
<p>If anyone attends either of these colleges, can you tell me about what the classes are like?</p>
<p>Physics major here…</p>
<p>first off, describe “better”.
UCSC has a better known astrophysics program, while UCI is really well-rounded but has a lot of great professors in the particle/dark matter aspect of astrophysics. But this is all research based. Don’t confuse research ability with teaching ability. </p>
<p>The classes are likely to be largely the same. Most physics programs use the same basis (junior year = classical mechanics, e&m and quantum using the same books, junior/senior lab with the same experiments, etc). A lot of the teachers at uci are fairly good, although most are good in a “if you do a lot of work on your own, they can be incredibly helpful in office hours but aren’t that helpful if you just show up to lecture and expect to learning everything”. I don’t know about UCSC, although I imagine its somewhat the same. </p>
<p>Honestly, I wouldn’t make a decision based on the physics program. They’re likely too similar for it to make a difference. Or at least, you don’t know enough about physics to know what you like/don’t like. What kind of environment do you want to be in? What kind of people do you want to be around?</p>
<p>Post if you have more questions, but I don’t check CC often so… yeah.</p>
<p>Uci > ucsc</p>
<p>We just visited bot h last week and they were like tow different universes! Irvine: cement, clean, sterile, Asian . Santa Cruz: laid back, white, forests, camp-like. It’s probably better to visit and see what is a better fit.</p>
<p>Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that UCSC has a much smaller student body (and therefore less of the problems we face with large lecture halls). It is also the site of Kresge College, a dormitory that is thought by some architects as the pinnacle in dormitory development.</p>
<p>And as always, the college’s selectivity level does not always correlate with how well a program fits you, which is something only you can decide.</p>