Worried about physics in UCC

Derp

Hi, just waiting on the CAO results, have astro in UCC down as my number one. all i seem to hear are these horror stories about people dropping out of it and the like. i felt i did a good physics exam, aiming high. as regards to maths, was aiming for a B3 but sadly we got a horrendous paper one, kinda freaked out and paper 2 suffered a tad due to my reaction :S im now praying for a pass...really enjoyed LC physics, started to quite enjoy maths at the end of the year but the exams left a bad taste in my mouth for it.. HL in both! hate to make excuse but teachers were far from good.. even the other maths and physics teachers find them shocking...

Just wondering, is there any hope for an average student like myself? more than willing to put in consistent work but would like to maintain some form of social life..

just looking for some guidance! doing my nut in here and all im hearing is that im in for trouble and strife in the form of either dropping out or never leaving the books...

HELP ME

samf

Dropping out of physics in second year and changing to comp science was the best decision I ever made, the subject is seriously tough and intense (unless you love it or are really good at it) and the employment opportunities arent great...
My advice would be to have a serious look at alternatives but thats only going off my experience, others obviously enjoyed it. By the way I got A2 in honours maths and physics in LC and still found physics too difficult in second year, but I'd put that also down to not having the interest in it.

Derp

i see.... yeah, i thought i was really sure it was what i wanted but i guess the seeds of doubt have been sown at this stage. from a leaving cert point of view the maths aspect is what im worried about, but from what i hear, its the physics aspect that seems to be crazy hard. im really interested in physics so i guess thats good! and sure some of that has to spill onto the maths i guess! i plan to take the 20 credits of chemistry with it so ill have the option of chemical physics aswell... but i hear horrendous stuff about that too! its like anything with physics in UCC is cursed or something! i guess if i really like it i should be ok... god the education system in this country is messed up, no idea what im letting myself into outside the minimum info i can get my hands on....

Manach

I agree with samf. I did 1st physics and struggled and moved to another science subject. However, the difficulty of the course took me by surprise and that as the OP seems to have a good notion what to expect and is very interested in Physics and so might fare better.

KnifeWRENCH

If you're interested in physics, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. After four years of physics at UCC, my enthusiasm for the subject was pretty much killed off. It's a horribly difficult course and some of the staff (not all) I found to be quite poor in terms of both their standard of lecturing and interaction with the students.

There are some excellent lecturers in the department but if I could turn back time I would certainly do a different course (or the same course in a different college)

Having said that, I was always interested in physics but not as much as others in my course. (I actually did physics and maths and by far preferred the maths half of my degree.) So if you're very passionate about it, you may still fare very well there.

Derp

i see.... well. i do really like physics, but i dont want to go in, discover im in way over my head and then have a load of money wasted by dropping out... i may just try my luck with a chemistry course, they seem to get have much more positive feedback! as regards the standards of physics in UCC you just mentioned.. im starting to get that impression myself!

Parsley

If you like leaving cert physics, i'd say you're better off doing a chemistry course nearly. the focus in college changes. phyics in college is much more like applied maths from leaving cert, except way harder. I got an A1 in physics in the leaving cert, and the physics modules i had in first year were horrible. utterly horrible.

Derp

ahh, now thats a problem!! and also probably what i needed to hear! the only thing im uncertain of now, in the chem course, i could be doing the same amount of credits of physics as in astrophysics. it may be a stupid question but would having the same amount of credits means they follow the exact same topics etc?

Parsley

Derp wrote: »

ahh, now thats a problem!! and also probably what i needed to hear! the only thing im uncertain of now, in the chem course, i could be doing the same amount of credits of physics as in astrophysics. it may be a stupid question but would having the same amount of credits means they follow the exact same topics etc?

if you do chemical sciences, like i did, you have 3 options. option one is pretty much biochem, with easy physics that would be no problem. option two is all earth science stuff... looks boring :pac: option 3 is what i did, with 2 very hard physics modules, PY1052 and PY1053, which are the ones you'd do if you went into astrophysics. you'd aslo have some hard calculus and mathematical modelling modules.

what particular branches of science/physics/chemistry interest you? Have you done leaving cert chemistry?

Derp

Parsley wrote: »

if you do chemical sciences, like i did, you have 3 options. option one is pretty much biochem, with easy physics that would be no problem. option two is all earth science stuff... looks boring :pac: option 3 is what i did, with 2 very hard physics modules, PY1052 and PY1053, which are the ones you'd do if you went into astrophysics. you'd aslo have some hard calculus and mathematical modelling modules.

what particular branches of science/physics/chemistry interest you? Have you done leaving cert chemistry?

i did chemistry and physics for the LC, found both exams fairly ok! no major complaints really. in physics i find particle physics really interesting, its probably my favourite part! in chemistry i quite like stuff on bonding and organic is fairly cool. im tempted to take a stab at biology but im kinda afraid it will be a bit over my head :S

Parsley

Derp wrote: »

i did chemistry and physics for the LC, found both exams fairly ok! no major complaints really. in physics i find particle physics really interesting, its probably my favourite part! in chemistry i quite like stuff on bonding and organic is fairly cool. im tempted to take a stab at biology but im kinda afraid it will be a bit over my head :S

Yeah, i thought pretty much the same as you going in. Thought the particle physics was really interesting in LC. But in college level, it'll be taught through mathematical equations, wave functions, integrated space-time co-ordinates and other wankology :P you could do option 3 if you want, so you have the chemistry and all, and see what the physics is like. you might enjoy it, you never know! if you don't, you can take a chemistry branch. if you do enjoy it, you can take a physics branch. If you don't like the physics then first year will be tough in option 3, but you shouldn't fail as long as you attend lectures/do the labs well.

Derp

hmmm.. food for thought at any rate! well id say physics would have been my fav subject. so astrophysics having the same qualifications at the end as ordinary physics sounded amazing! so it over took chemical sciences on the CAO and all i really wanted from that was chemical physics. i like chemistry but i wasnt blown away by the course.. but then again, it sounds doable for 1st year and id rather not drop out! both on par at this stage. regardless ill prob be doing the same course in 1st year either way so i guess if i put the head down and keep the alcohol at bay i should be grand. i dont mind working with equations! can i do them is the question! :S but thanks for the heads up, this is all rather helpful

Parsley

Derp wrote: »

hmmm.. food for thought at any rate! well id say physics would have been my fav subject. so astrophysics having the same qualifications at the end as ordinary physics sounded amazing! so it over took chemical sciences on the CAO and all i really wanted from that was chemical physics. i like chemistry but i wasnt blown away by the course.. but then again, it sounds doable for 1st year and id rather not drop out! both on par at this stage. regardless ill prob be doing the same course in 1st year either way so i guess if i put the head down and keep the alcohol at bay i should be grand. i dont mind working with equations! can i do them is the question! :S but thanks for the heads up, this is all rather helpful

i found the astrophysics-y stuff, einstein's relativity and all that jazz unbelievably complicated. Though you might be able to handle it! You could take a look at the textbook in advance, Understanding Physics, if you want some insight into what it'll be like.

Derp

yeah thats the plan, im trying to stay one step ahead by looking at course stuff when i can get my hands on them. i may not do astro yet, but im not ruling it out. phys chem sounds like the safest option but sure we`ll see how 1st year goes and if i can hack that ill worry about the heavy stuff that is to follow :S its annoying, it all sounds amazing and really interesting when you hear about it, but i suppose trying to understand it is another ball game. saying that, doing all the hard work should lead to a great job... eventually :P

Parsley

Derp wrote: »

yeah thats the plan, im trying to stay one step ahead by looking at course stuff when i can get my hands on them. i may not do astro yet, but im not ruling it out. phys chem sounds like the safest option but sure we`ll see how 1st year goes and if i can hack that ill worry about the heavy stuff that is to follow :S its annoying, it all sounds amazing and really interesting when you hear about it, but i suppose trying to understand it is another ball game. saying that, doing all the hard work should lead to a great job... eventually :P

ah, once you know what you're getting into you'll be fine i'd say. i just didn't expect the physics to be the way it was, so i was in at the deep end and everything went over my head really. There were the real physics nerds in the class that got on grand though :pac: so as long as you prepare yourself, and you seem to know what you're getting into, you should be fine and you should enjoy it!

Derp

Parsley wrote: »

ah, once you know what you're getting into you'll be fine i'd say. i just didn't expect the physics to be the way it was, so i was in at the deep end and everything went over my head really. There were the real physics nerds in the class that got on grand though :pac: so as long as you prepare yourself, and you seem to know what you're getting into, you should be fine and you should enjoy it!

cool beans! thanks man, you have been a huge help! definitely wont be one of said nerds but at least i wont be caught off guard :P thanks a million!