Working full-time while trying to get upper-level undergrad requirements for grad app

Graduate School
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<p>Hey guys. I hope you can help me without being too judgmental. </p>

<p>I'm a 24 year old teacher who has already graduated with a Bachelors in Anthropology.</p>

<p>My long term goal is to get an advanced degree in physics. I want this degree both because of personal fascination with the subject, professional development (I teach 8th grade physical sciences), job opportunities (I would be able to teach High School physics in the future and maybe community college), and the pay raise that comes with having an advanced degree in my district.</p>

<p>I'm really not interested in a Masters in Education, sorry.</p>

<p>Anyway, my problem is that I don't have any of the undergrad pre-requisites. I took physics only once, and it was like health physics or something, so it wasn't very satisfying for me. I've experienced the field of physics by working in a graduate optical physics lab which does microscopy and nanotech for teacher professional development, doing an teacher professional development academy at a national lab where they do fusion and astrophysics, just doing tons of reading, and online courses on MIT OpenCourseware and other things. Just trust me that I'm really interested in the field and am willing to do the work. Math is no problem to me. I've taken the entire calculus series and have done some free online classes for differential equations and linear algebra.</p>

<p>Anyway, online courseware doesn't quite work for a grad application so I'm planning on taking the courses at a college. I can take general college level physics at a community college, however I'm having trouble thinking of a plan for the upper level undergrad courses. The universities only have them smack dab in the middle of the day when I teach. I am planning to have to leave my job for my advanced degree (there's just no other way around it I can see) but I would rather not have to leave my job just to get the undergrad requirements.</p>

<p>Is there any way I can fulfill upper level undergrad courses (quantum mechanics, optics, advanced electromagnetism, etc.) without having to leave my day job? The only way I can think of is to hope they have the right courses during the summer, but from what I've seen the undergrad unis around me only have one or two upper level physics courses at the most during the summer.</p>

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<p>Definitely start with the General Physics sequence (usually 3 courses) at a local Community College. After that, it gets tough. in order to get into a Masters degree program in physics you will have to have a full course in Classical Mechanics, E&M, Statistical Physics, and Quantum Mechanics. Things like optics are electives and not required.</p>

<p>You might be able to find these online at some universities or, you could look at a program which offers something like an Applied Physics Masters degree for Engineers. These programs sometimes allow students to make up deficiencies in Quantum Mechanics and E&M and count them toward the masters degree but the Classical Mechanics and Statistical Physics will have to be taken before getting into the program.</p>

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<p>Thanks! The program I’m looking at is Applied Physics, but I don’t think it’s for Engineers.</p>