Physics Degree

mickeydevine

Am intrested in doing a Physics degree. Got aprospectus from the Open University and am definately considering it. Has anyone done it (or any other OU course). I've also enquired about Physics with Astrophysics DN033 with UCD. Anyone do it and how'd you find it. I'll be applying as a mature student.

eagleye7

mickeydevine wrote: »

Am intrested in doing a Physics degree. Got aprospectus from the Open University and am definately considering it. Has anyone done it (or any other OU course). I've also enquired about Physics with Astrophysics DN033 with UCD. Anyone do it and how'd you find it. I'll be applying as a mature student.

At the moment im doing applied physics in DCU and its the same as the physics with astronomy pretty much. have you considered dcu astrophysics?

i think its pretty good but im only in first year i havent ot into the real nitty gritty stuff just yet. as for the mature student thing cant help you there are 2 mature students in my class though. if that helps

Warmaster

I did my undergrad in Physics with Astrophysics at NUI Maynooth, just finished last year not I'm doing a PhD in DCU.

NUI Maynooth is a lovely place and the staff are very good and helpful.

Why are you choosing astrophysics btw?

Podge_irl

Make sure that astrophysics is something you are definitely interested in before applying to a entry astrophysics course. Depending on your overall knowledge of physics a general entry course might be a better bet to give you an idea of what you want to specialise in. You could well love astrophysics, but its certainly far from my favourite area of physics - I found the university level stuff to be quite boring despite my fascination with it as a youngster.

eZe^

Podge_irl wrote: »

Make sure that astrophysics is something you are definitely interested in before applying to a entry astrophysics course. Depending on your overall knowledge of physics a general entry course might be a better bet to give you an idea of what you want to specialise in. You could well love astrophysics, but its certainly far from my favourite area of physics - I found the university level stuff to be quite boring despite my fascination with it as a youngster.

Quality advice, there's nothing worse than thinking when you start an astrophysics module that you'll be discussing the intricacies of event horizons and white dwarfs with Stephen Hawking, only to end up finding the angular resolution of a penny on the moon, and the maths of elliptical orbits/ tidal forces...

mickeydevine

eZe^ wrote: »

Quality advice, there's nothing worse than thinking when you start an astrophysics module that you'll be discussing the intricacies of event horizons and white dwarfs with Stephen Hawking, only to end up finding the angular resolution of a penny on the moon, and the maths of elliptical orbits/ tidal forces...

Basic Physics it is then:D, thanks for the heads up.

Podge_irl

eZe^ wrote: »

Quality advice, there's nothing worse than thinking when you start an astrophysics module that you'll be discussing the intricacies of event horizons and white dwarfs with Stephen Hawking, only to end up finding the angular resolution of a penny on the moon, and the maths of elliptical orbits/ tidal forces...

I do indeed discuss event horizons and white holes with Stephen Hawking and its still not my favourite subject (okay I'm lying, but I do learn about them within 50 feet of his office, so good enough for me ). I just think for the most part that general entry courses are the best idea in this kind of situation. I had to sit through astrophysics courses describing star and planet formation seemingly year after year - each describing it in their own special way, none of which were satisfactory to my theoretical physics brain.
But then there is more "mathsy" astrophysics/cosmology where you are dealing more properly with general relativity and gravitational collapse etc. This is infinitely preferable to the above, but still not my favourite topic. Ultimately I have, more or less, settled on particle physics of some variety, but it took me a while to fully come to that conclusion. Even then you could describe a shocking amount of what I do as "calculating what a spring does". Day to day calculations in physics are rarely of the "meaning of the universe" type, but you need to find an area that interests you enough to persist with all the peculiarities that go with it.

A year or two learning about all aspects of physics is never wasted. Pop sci books, LC physics etc give you no idea of what it will actually be like to learn these things properly and do research in them. Astrophysics is far too specialised a topic to commit yourself at such an early stage of your degree unless you really really love it.

ebmma

I was a lab demonstrator for UCD Physics/Astrophysics students

They are treated a lot better than general physics lot, taken on trips to observatory, etc

It is a more tight group as well as people there have more stuff in common.


on 2nd thought, do you like computers?
Programming and what not?
There will be a lot of that in Astro.

This is why my husband left Astrophysics. He loves computers and astrophysics, but he just hated to spend days sitting on his ass in front of the computer.

If you want something more hands on, Astro might not be the best choice.

Warmaster

aye I left Astro and moved to semiconductor physics, it's much nicer to be able to see up close what you're experimenting on

astro students were treated slightly better in maynooth too and were a VERY close knit group of about 15.

eZe^

Podge_irl wrote: »

I do indeed discuss event horizons and white holes with Stephen Hawking and its still not my favourite subject (okay I'm lying, but I do learn about them within 50 feet of his office, so good enough for me ). I just think for the most part that general entry courses are the best idea in this kind of situation. I had to sit through astrophysics courses describing star and planet formation seemingly year after year - each describing it in their own special way, none of which were satisfactory to my theoretical physics brain.
But then there is more "mathsy" astrophysics/cosmology where you are dealing more properly with general relativity and gravitational collapse etc. This is infinitely preferable to the above, but still not my favourite topic. Ultimately I have, more or less, settled on particle physics of some variety, but it took me a while to fully come to that conclusion. Even then you could describe a shocking amount of what I do as "calculating what a spring does". Day to day calculations in physics are rarely of the "meaning of the universe" type, but you need to find an area that interests you enough to persist with all the peculiarities that go with it.

A year or two learning about all aspects of physics is never wasted. Pop sci books, LC physics etc give you no idea of what it will actually be like to learn these things properly and do research in them. Astrophysics is far too specialised a topic to commit yourself at such an early stage of your degree unless you really really love it.

Hahaha, I have absolutely no intention of going anywhere near astrophysics. I'm in my 2nd year of undergraduate physics I much prefer other modules, so I'd say I'm gonna go down the nuclear/ particle/ quantum physics route rather that the astrophysics/ general relativity side of things. I personally hate astrophysics.

ebmma

eZe^ wrote: »

Hahaha, I have absolutely no intention of going anywhere near astrophysics. I'm in my 2nd year of undergraduate physics I much prefer other modules, so I'd say I'm gonna go down the nuclear/ particle/ quantum physics route rather that the astrophysics/ general relativity side of things. I personally hate astrophysics.

Good luck with that, mate

KnifeWRENCH

eZe^ wrote: »

Quality advice, there's nothing worse than thinking when you start an astrophysics module that you'll be discussing the intricacies of event horizons and white dwarfs with Stephen Hawking, only to end up finding the angular resolution of a penny on the moon, and the maths of elliptical orbits/ tidal forces...

2nd Year at UCC aswell, right?
Who needs Stephen Hawking when we have good ole PY2106! :P

Podge_irl wrote: »

Make sure that astrophysics is something you are definitely interested in before applying to a entry astrophysics course. Depending on your overall knowledge of physics a general entry course might be a better bet to give you an idea of what you want to specialise in. You could well love astrophysics, but its certainly far from my favourite area of physics - I found the university level stuff to be quite boring despite my fascination with it as a youngster.

+1, good advice.
OP you should enter a general physics course in 1st Year rather than a specialised area unless you're 100% positive of what area you want to specialise in (and realistically you won't be)
When I entered 1st Year I was planning on doing Chemical Physics. However, I decided it wasn't for me and so I decided to go a joint degree in Maths/Physics instead. I could also have done Astrophysics or a single Honours degree in Physics. It's definitely better to have as many options as possible open to you.

eZe^ wrote: »

Hahaha, I have absolutely no intention of going anywhere near astrophysics. I'm in my 2nd year of undergraduate physics I much prefer other modules, so I'd say I'm gonna go down the nuclear/ particle/ quantum physics route rather that the astrophysics/ general relativity side of things. I personally hate astrophysics.

I love quantum phsyics, it's definitely my favourite module. I'm also looking forward to doing Atomic and Nuclear Physics in 3rd/4th Year. Astro is ok but it wouldn't be my favourite module either (it's better than ****ing Thermodynamics though :mad:)