Hi everyone,
I have no prior experience in physics. Should I take a semester or year off to take physics as prep for Physics 1A at ucla? (I will take the physical science/engineering series. Thank you!
Also I forgot to add I am a premed. That changes how much study time I have compared to if I was not a premed. So I’d like to know if you guys think that I should have some physics experience before going into the 1 series. And how much. I can take 1 or 2 courses at a CC that could serve as preparation (they do not satisfy the Physics 1A class, they are taught similar to HS level).
Have you already been accepted to UCLA? Are you suggesting that you defer enrollment or take a leave of absence to prepare for Physics 1A? Would that be allowed? Or are you suggesting you do not take Physics 1A until your second/third/fourth quarter, after you study? By the way, UCLA is on quarters, not semesters. You can wait for a later quarter to take Physics 1A–that’s allowed–but you’ll be late in taking your core classes compared to your engineering peers. How does being pre-med change the amount of study time you have? Everyone has 24 hours in a day. How you spend them is your choice. Prior physics experience will be helpful, but not necessary for 1A. 1A is the first class, and while your peers who took AP Physics in high school might run through it smoothly, others in the class may not have taken physics before either. Taking a year off just to study physics in preparation for a preparatory course sounds like a waste of time to me.
Yeah I’ve been accepted to UCLA. I just want to know if I would essentially be compromising my grade in the physics classes if I don’t get prior experience. I am currently at a CC completing some work but plan to be back in the Fall of 2015 or 2016 depending on what I decide to do. Being premed does change the amount of time I have because I will be doing a lot of activities that are not strictly academic. If the physics class is graded on a curve (pretty sure it is) then someone who is not premed and is a physics major AND has had prior physics experience will have more time to study than I will as well as an advantage. Thank you and I would appreciate more feedback if you can add some.
Why don’t you take the 6 series? Are you in a major that requires you to take the 1 series (i.e. Engineering, Biochem)
I just wanted to dissuade you from continuing with your perspective of advantages. Yes you can spend more time preparing for introductory physics, but you can also do that for immunology class, or your metabolism class, because certainly there will be students there who have more experience than you do. Some students will have parents who are physics professors, so they will know a lot more than the average student. Some students will do research in immunology and can recite the entire textbook. This does not mean you should be at their level before starting a class, or that you have to take extra classes to be on their level–because there will always be someone with more knowledge, an advantage, or an experience. I know its the pre-med mentality, but such an attitude will doom a student who should be thinking on his or her feet and learning, not holding him or herself back, because everyone else will be moving at 200 km/hr. If you need, pick up a physics textbook or read some articles online to get background. But dont try to learn everything before the class starts because its a waste of time. Youre there to learn the material.
Per-med or pre-business; engineering or not, everyone has 24 hours in a day. Not everything everyone does is academic. Some students come with dependents. Some come with two part-time jobs. Being pre-med does not make someone special.
@alicantekid Biochem can take 6 series.
Thank you for your input.
We all have 24 hours in one day, but at least 6 of those are spent sleeping on average. That’s 42 hours a week that are not used.
I do not have dependents nor do I have two part-time jobs. My full-time job is student, and I am comparing myself to those with similar circumstances as me. I never tried to imply that premeds are “special.” They certainly aren’t. The time they spend working on their goal and the sacrifices they make certainly are not worth it just to be considered “special.”
I would appreciate feedback from those who have taken Physics 1A and/or are Physics majors. Thank you 
Any tips are appreciated as well.
If you know your Calculus well enough, Physics 1A is extremely easy. Not that 1A uses a lot of Calculus, it’s just that they (calculus and classic mechanics) can be very related. You can derive all your equations using calculus.
Personally, I don’t like physics when I have to use all these equations in high school. But when I started taking Calculus and calculus based physics in high school, everything started to make so much sense. I never go to the 1A class or study for the class and I ended up with an A. Most of my friends got easy A or A- (but then they are engineering students with solid calculus and physics background.)
Since I don’t know anyone who had no physics experience before taking 1A, I am not sure if I will help. But I will give you this: you don’t need to understand (note I use the word “understand” not “know”) any physics to do well in 1A, as long as you understand calculus. And after that it’s the plug-in-the-numbers stuff. Just do the homework and practice to learn the “pattern” of plugging in numbers, you will be fine. This class doesn’t test for understanding of the material, so just be a good problem solver.
Thanks again everyone for you input!
zmy, I haven’t taken calculus yet…it will be one of the classes I will take upon my return to UCLA. Would you suggest I sit in on one of the CC calculus classes?
I realized I would help myself by being more specific: I realized I will be staying at CC for another semester regardless…meaning at least until Winter of 2016 at UCLA. The CC I am at right now offers two classes I COULD take before the Physics 1A equivalent (which there is Physics 4A). They are Physics 2AG and Physics 2BG. However, in order to take the 1A equivalent, we are only required to take Physics 2AG. This is the description for the two “baby” classes: Physics 2AG: “Basic principles of physics. Mechanics, heat, fluids, and wave motion. Includes laboratory.”
Physics 2BG: “Continuation of PHYS 2AG. Includes electricity and magnetism, optics, and modern physics. Includes laboratory.”
Both these “baby” classes are 4 units each. The Physics 1A equivalent is 5 units.
Like I said, to take the 1A equivalent, only 2AG is required. Not both. I will take 2AG in the Fall. Should I just go ahead and finish off the year at the CC and take 2BG (after all it’d only be a 2 quarter difference at UCLA)?
You guys know more about this than I…
The CC is Mt. SAC btw.
@Primevil Given that you want to do premed, I see where you are coming from. You want a good grade in the class but worry about not being able to do so because of the lack of prior experience.
While taking calculus now definitely helps you a lot, there is a one problem. If you transfer the calculus credit to skip out of Math 31A or 31B, you might not be eligible since pre-med needs you to complete the course at UCLA? I am not entirely sure on this, but I skipped out of Math 31A, 31B, 32A, and 33A and they told me that I would have to retake these classes at UCLA if I want to do pre-med. I’m not sure if it’s because those are high school credit or non-UCLA credit and you should ask for yourself.
As for your 2BG class, don’t take it unless you want to be a physics major or EE/CS major. It’s Physics 1B and Physics 1C(aka EE1) materials. While it’s roughly the same to study the 1A material with algebra (only more difficult, calculus approach is easier), it is very difficult to study 1B/1C materials without calculus. There isn’t algebra equivalent for Maxwell’s equations, which is a set of calculus/differential equation based formula that will solve most of the E&M problems.
If you do have to stay at CC or another semester, take Calculus then. You should take 2 calculus classes (31A and 31B equivalent) and expect yourself to know basic calculus. And you should repeat 31B at UCLA as UCLA teaches calculus at a higher level, and it would give you a taste of UCLA math before sending you to 32A, which can be difficult without a solid understanding of the one-variable basic calculus. You don’t need to take the 1A equivalent at CC, unless you want to retake it at UCLA. Take a intro to programming class if you must.
Lastly, you can certainly do well without prior knowledge. When I come to UCLA, I don’t know anything programming, and I have to take CS31 with CS major people who have tons of experience programming. However, I ended up with an A just by spending lots of time. And this is something you need to do given that 1A/B/C series is filled with Engineering students who are very competitive.
Thank you zmy!
Yes, that is precisely why I want to only take the baby classes at the CC, not the prereqs for med school (you are right, I had heard that about med schools wanting you to take them at the university.) I meant I would probably sit in on a calc class to learn some material but not actually be enrolled in it. Or buy a good calc book and teach myself some concepts. But I definitely will take 31A at UCLA
At UCLA, I think we can take Physics 1A after we have taken 31A or are taking it concurrently…either way I will have the calculus prep for that class once I’m done with the math.
I am seriously considering majoring in physics or engineering. So yes I want my physics background to be sufficient. I might take some programming since I’m going to be here one more semester anyway, thanks for the tip.
So since I do plan on majoring in physics, 2BG would be a good option? I know it’s not absolutely necessary, since you are right about having to learn the material and working hard. But do the pros outweigh the cons? Pros being knowing more in physics, cons being taking another semester (I would be taking other classes that I can transfer to UCLA, such as GE requirements and/or minor prep classes) so I wouldn’t be there solely for that physics class
Don’t do engineering if you want to do pre-med. Getting a 3.5 or above in engineering is quite challenging but very doable outside of school of engineering. And as I said, 2BG is completely useless if you are going to take 1B/1C, which you will since 1 year of physics is required for pre-med. You can simply google “Maxwell’s equations”. You probably can’t even read the equations as of now since you don’t know any calculus. Maxwell’s equations are the most important thing in Electricity and Magnetism and can’t be understood at an algebra level. And most if not all your peers will not know Maxwell’s equations unless they have taken AP Physics C E&M in high school, which requires knowledge beyond AP Calculus BC more like Math 32A equivalent. If you do take 2BG, you will probably only learn the easiest topics covered in 1B/1C which we only spent like 30 mins to talk about. So save yourself some time and do something more useful instead.
Note that you don’t really need much calculus to do 1A, it’s just easier to understand to approach it from a calculus prospective. That’s why 31A is not a pre-req of 1A. And do enroll in some sort of calculus class unless you are very self-motivated to do the homework and solve the problems. You can’t learn calculus (or physics) by listening to lectures. You learn by solving problems.
This thread is a bit confusing. You say you are currently at a CC, yet you are talking about frosh level classes at UCLA and majoring in physics or engineering. Are you a HS student accepted to UCLA that is taking CC classes? Or a CC xfer student accepted to UCLA as a junior?
Mike, I’ve been accepted to UCLA, I’m simply looking to change my major. It is within the college of letters and science. And I haven’t done any of the prereqs so that’s why I’m asking.
Also zmy, I have a question about programming classes. Which would be more relevant to physics? java or C++? I can take either… Thanks!
Kinda vague answer to what seems like a straighforward question (are you a frosh or xfer?), but I’m guessing you mean you are a CC student accepted as a junior xfer. That means you can’t change to an engineering major, they don’t allow that for xfer students. If you enroll at UCLA this fall you might be able to change to physics, but you’ll have to do the calculations to see if you can take all the required classes and still fit within the unit cap of how many units you are allowed to earn at UCLA. As far as “take a semester or year off” I suggest you get your counseling on this from UCLA rather than the internet, as there is a serious risk of your enrollment at UCLA being cancelled if you don’t follow all the steps they want (assuming it is even possible).
I am not a transfer, I was accepted as a freshman. I am taking some time off at the moment (it is allowed, I have spoken with a counselor and do so on a regular basis.) The only thing I need to know is how to best prepare for the physics major.