<p>When i went through the course requirements I found a lot of liberal arts requirements. Are liberal arts courses really useful for a Physics major?Also how good is the program and will it help me to reach the ivies for grad school? By the location of UIUC is it possible to get jobs or research internships during the course?
Finally is it worth spending a ton of money for UIUC and how good are the prospects for a physics major in Illinois?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot,</p>
<p>The “liberal arts” requirements are required of all engineering students (and of all university students). There is the four hour rhetoric course first year and then you need 18 hours of liberal arts course work. That is hardly a “lot” in the 128 hours total you will need to graduate. You will find similar requirements at engineering programs at many universities. To avoid them, you likely need to go to a college that is purely a tech school but even those tend to have some liberal arts requirements. </p>
<p>Engineering physics is essentially basic engineering with then a lot of emphasis on upper level physics courses but you also choose a technical/professional option to take some courses that can actually help toward gaining engineering type employment. It is not a highly popular engineering choice and it is considered by many in engineering at UIUC to be one of the hardest majors. </p>
<p>Jobs while a student are possible particularly through the coop programs, doing research with professors is also possible. It is, however, a major designed more for those intending to go on to grad school than those intending to just get into the work world and not continue on. Nevertheless, engineering physics grads can find employment upon graduation close to the same extent as other engineering majors but that can be affected by chooisng a useful technical/professional option. UIUC is a highly regarded engineering college. As to helping reach the ivies at grad level, that is a possiblity but a great unknown that depends a lot on what you do while at UIUC.</p>
<p>Whether it is “worth spending a ton of money,” is really difficult to address. For internationals, many universities cost a lot and that is just a decison the international has to make. For US but out-of-state students, I would think twice about paying the tuition for UIUC if there is a state college option for engineering within their state which costs a lot less as in-state.</p>
<p>@drusba Wonderful advice! Are we allowed to take only one field of technical options or are we allowed to take them from diverse fields(Professional Physics,Astrophysics,Bioengineering,Biophysics,Computational Physics,Materials Science,Optical Physics,Physical Electronics).Also can some technical electives fall into the free electives category?</p>
<p>You really need to choose one to make sure you get done with the hours needed for the requirement. Free electives is just a notation in the recommended schedule that says you can take any course you want and yes that can be used for technical electives other the one area you choose. That semester by semester class schedule you see is a recommended schedule and you can vary from it. Generally, however, you need to stick fairly closely to it first and second year to get the math and science and beginning engineering courses you need as prerequisites to taking many upper level courses.</p>
<p>Is the engineering physics program at uiuc the best in the country?</p>
<p>Is the engineering physics program the best in the country? Would i get good research opportunities here?</p>