UCLA vs. UCSD undergraduate physics major

[Fizast]

<p>Foshan,</p>

<p>To start off, make sure to keep your options open. Now I don’t know how far you’ve gotten in your physics, but I’m going to ASSUME that you haven’t gotten that far (like as far as: analytic mechanics and hardcore E&M). So don’t get tunnel vision, because once you actually get real deep into physics, there is a chance that you might dislike it. So consider engineering and maybe some other marketable majors, because the job prospects for physics has been looking pretty bleak for a while now (in the US, don’t know about China). Now as for academics, your academic experience will be determined not by the teaching abilities of your professors, but by how much you like the subject and the amount of work put into your studies. If you truly love physics, you should have a blast reading through Young and Freedman and Griffiths textbooks, and at the end of the day say that you had a great academic experience. So all in all, choose the school based on anything other than the its “physics program” because the physics program is going to be what you make out of it.</p>

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@foshan

I heard that Cal only pays attention to graduate students, not undergraduate. Is it true?

</p>

<p>That may be true, but can’t we say that about just about any school? I had this inorganic chemistry teacher, who did not a give a minutest rat poop about us (he was a prolific researcher btw, he had a high h-index). Whenever someone would ask him a question, he would call it a “delay tactic” so that there would be less material on the midterm. I think we learned about 2 weeks worth of material in that whole quarter.</p>

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@notaznguy

Absolutely. When the Dean is driving in his Rolls Royce, he runs over the students walking on the sidewalks because he physically cannot see them. You see, when you are hired as a UC Berkeley faculty member, you are injected with a psychological drug that allows for your cornea to omit all vision of undergraduate students.

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<p>Source?</p>

[gatos]

<p>sarcasm guys >.>…</p>

<p>Agreed with the above. Where do you want to work after college?</p>

<p>UCB and UCLA are both difficult schools and prestigous overseas. Rankings are normally for the graduate level…I don’t think the prestige difference between UCB and UCLA is enough to sway your decision. The best bet is to visit both schools and figure which area you like better: where you’re happier, you’ll do well.</p>

[Foshan]

<p>I love physics crazily. Though not as far as you mentioned, I read quite a lot of different textbooks, I studied MIT and Yale online programs, went to Cornell Summer College for physics and calculus courses. I think my level is similar to sophomore.
My parents have minded me the future for physics job market is very tough, and having an engineer major is quite easy to find a job in China or abroad. But my dream is to be a physics researching professor. I have well prepared for the long, difficult and lonely road.
I agree with you that it all depends on how much you pay for it. Self-study is a habit of mine, so amicable professors are not the key point.</p>