Physics College Courses

M@lice

I'm finishing my 1st year of Theoretical physics & Mathematics in Maynooth.

1st of all everything that planck has said about the degree is completely unfounded!

I have completed my 1st module on thermodynamics & i will have the option of studying it further in 3rd year if i so wish.

I have also completed a module on mathematical computing and will be doing computational physics next year.

As regards it being through arts thats not true either. I have to agree its more like an arts degree being 3 years & being "arts" subjects but you cannot get this degree through arts. Its tow double honours subjects namely double maths and double maths physics whereas the arts degree is 3 subjects & you may only choose 1 double.

What I will say about the course is that pure maths is a much more important element than in in any of the other TP degrees. Now i don't want to get on TCD's case but from what i've heard they don't have a "pure" pure maths department with the emphasis being more on applied maths then on the study of maths purely for the sake of maths. & i doubt that you'll do as much maths in the UCD degree either because their TP degree is more similar to their science degree. Far as i know it would be the maths science degree that would be more comparable to the TP degree we do hear.

As for the the theoretical physics with computer science well i reckon thats more like the science degree. You don't get to do double maths or double maths physics in 1st year so thats thermo gone i'm afraid.

So as far as i'm concerned if maths is more your thing and you also enjoy physics and don't want to separate the two of em till later down the line then the TP degree with maths in Maynooth is the ideal one to choose. If your into computers then the Computer science degree is also good but tbh you might as well do a science degree anywhere and pick your option properly. Shoot you can even do computer science & maths physics through arts here.

The individual attention here is great in this degree as well. There are only 4 of us this year! oh and 1 girl may i add.

As for the lack of labs well it means we only have 18 hrs a week! If your more into the experimental side may i recommend physics with astrophysics. Me i like to concentrate on the maths so the lack of labs has been more of an advantage than a hinderence.

Right now i'm looking forward to topology, group & ring theory next year. I'd be interested to hear to how into algebra the tcd dudes get actually. This year we did number theory & linear algebra. I'd say you do more calculas.

Oh might i add that i got €1000 for studying here as well which was quite a sweetner i must say!

Oh & i get the train from coolmine every morning so i'd be in the same boat as you Nuts.

So if your leaning more towards maths (like i was) Maynooth is probably the best degree the country has to offer IMHO. If its defenitely maths you into i've heard Cork is the best.

& i didn't realise there was such a rivalry thing going on between the ucd degree & the Maynooth degree. All i have to say to that is WE KICKED YOUR ASS IN THE MATHS INTERVARSITIES!!!! But cork were the winners by a large margin

GuanYin

Should have split this long ago.

Data you should know better!

Next time, new thread

dudara

But cork were the winners by a large margin

yeah baby yeah

Sev

Originally posted by M@lice
Now i don't want to get on TCD's case but from what i've heard they don't have a "pure" pure maths department with the emphasis being more on applied maths then on the study of maths purely for the sake of maths

Well.. there is a pure maths course in Trinity. Not Physics, not Theoretical Physics, just plain old 'Maths'. They do 6 courses in their first year, Algebra, Analysis, Math methods (generic maths), Mechanics, Statistics and Numerical Analysis. All I can really tell you is my own experience of studying maths in first year.

As TPs we do all of those courses bar one, statistics. For a 1st year TCD pure maths student, the only course they do that in any way resembles applied maths is 141, Mechanics. Which is basically applied maths. Which as 1st year TPs, is also the only course we do that in any way resembles applied maths. Most of our 1st year lectures are in maths.

Originally posted by M@lice
Right now i'm looking forward to topology, group & ring theory next year. I'd be interested to hear to how into algebra the tcd dudes get actually. This year we did number theory & linear algebra. I'd say you do more calculas.[/B]

Yeah we did a lot of analysis (in 121), fundamentals of calculus and the like, the dreaded epsilon.. limits, convergence series, continuity, open sets, complex numbers, differentiation and riemann integrals etc. ie. a lot of very boring extremely tedious rigorous derivation of the most god awfully obvious and not so obvious. We had a year long course on algebra too (111), which began with peano's axioms and proving that 1+1=2 and we did a lot of group and ring theory ended the year with Galois theory when it all got pretty nasty. And in 131 we did a fair bit of linear algebra, matrices, eigenvectors etc. and other calculussy stuff.. lagrangian this, jacobian that, hessian this. The Mechanics course (141) was all harmonic oscillators, central body motion and angular momentum. And in 161, numerical analysis, was computery, they spent much of the year teaching us C, and how to write programs to solve equations, ie. Newton-Raphson, Euler Method, Runge Kutta...

And thats a quick summary of the maths we did in first year TP.

planck2

I'm not saying anything more, us tps are all in the same boat. By the way, mathsoc in ucd this year was **** because the auditor did nothing, she held no events and any way what are the maths intervarsities a measure of. my friend has never done them and he 's got over 96 for three years in a row and looks likely to do it again

ApeXaviour

I was in your boat near my leaving cert too.. What do I chose.. I love physics so I figured I'd do TP. Got an A in each of the sciences and a B1 in Maths (I'll never 4get that 2002 paper2 grrr...). Same as you reckon youll get.

Anyway yeah I wouldn't go choosing TP unless your really into the maths. It's not so much entirely to do with physics you see IMHO, more of a specialisation in an area of maths and closer to a pure maths course.

University physics is more like LC maths than university maths. The latter is very abstract with a whole lot of well... intangable wingdings. Whereas with the former ya mostly stick to good old numbers, derivations and formulae plus the extra of a whole load of kickass technology.

After talking to people and realising this I switched my choice from TP to the general course in TCD in which I chose physics as one of the three subject choices within it.
As Sev said the physics courses in it are the same bar the odd lecture here and there, hence I know many of the TP's (second year, sorry sev I don't know you .

Anyway don't think we don't get our share of maths either.. 3 courses of it as opposed to the 6 in TP.
Also you said you find LC physics easy. Methinks this maybe why you are wanting to choose TP, for a bit of a challenge neh? Yeah don't worry, you won't be short of a challenge in the TR071 course.

As my third subject I chose chemistry (but geology was also open). And if you do this you find that a lot of it overlaps and it broadens your understanding. The chem gives you a good basis in materials. This is what they want too as TCD physics research is mostly in the Advanced materials and nanoscience (nanorobotics) areas. Of which you could do very of little with TP.
By the way in 3rd year you specialise into one subject (for me Physics or maybe Astrophysics).

My point is: from what I've read of your comments I identify with you a lot and think that honestly you would probably be happier doing natural science and specialising in Physics for your degree.

PS: don't let the points fool you, (430 ish last year as far as I can remember). This is because there are 300 places in the course. And speaking of points this is then a safe bet. I wasn't frettin about not gettin into this course like I was with TP.
Choose wisely...

rainbow kirby

If you're thinking about TP in UCD you'd want to be REALLY dedicated... I'm just finished my 2nd year doing MS, to be honest i kinda regret doing it. Probably because I hate statistics with a passion... First year TP/MS/general science isnt too bad, I did maths, computer science, maths physics and experimental physics (which is a possible set for 1st TP) Maths isnt hard once you learn proofs and keep up with the work, maths physics is fun, the mechanics section is basically LC applied maths plus a little bit (orbit equations and stuff), experimental physics? i don't like labs, but again its not too hard if you work at it. Computer science? I started studying for this 4 days before the exam and i got 86%. 2nd year is the evil bitch from hell though. I just couldnt get my head around most of maths physics. Lagrangians, quantum mechanics, special relativity and some other weird stuff, not helped by lecturers so boring you just want to whip out a game boy and zone out. Statistics (not for TP) - i dont even want to think about the fact that i'm going to have to spend the summer studying this crap. Maths? The analysis courses arent too bad. The 'Introduction to Analysis' course after christmas is a bit tedious, but not too hard. 'Calculus of Several Variables' is the handiest maths course. Vector spaces and group theory were nasty, though I suck at abstract algebra. The number theory section is interesting enough. Hope I havent scared you too much!

ApeXaviour

Yeah Kirby, apart from the analysis and statistics thats much of the maths that we do in the general science course when maths is chosen as one of the three 1st and 2nd year courses.

IDM

Apexaviour, what year are you in at Trinity ? Well what year are going in to, rather ? Just finished my second year in Science. Planning on doing Chemistry next year. I'm the lone American. That should round it down

ApeXaviour

I just did my second year too. Lone american eh? I think I know you. You "were" doing advanced materials right? I'm sorry man I can't for the life of me remember your name... Ask Dave O Dwyer I'm terrible with them name things.
I don't wanna put my own name out but I'll narrow it by I'm the ginger fella who grew a big ginger beard. It was shaved off for the exams though. I think I was talking to you outside the mansion house before one of the chem exams.

btw if I got you wrong I apologise.

Civilian_Target

Just finished my 2nd year in Physics in Queens Uni, Belfast, pretty good and comprehensive course so far.

Almost did Theoretical Physics in Trinity, but changed my mind about 2 weeks before I sat the LC and decided to go to Belfast instead, and its great.

I got the points for TP in Trinity as well, and I was pleased to see that when I turned the course down, the points requirement dropped by 5. Good to know you've helped someone out...

Bullockshaver

Could any 1 here tell me about the Physics& Astrophysics degree in Ucc ? What potential job opportunities are there? Is the maths very difficult in the course? My leaving cert physics will be an A1 for sure but my maths a B2 id say. Is this standard of maths good enough for the course!

dudara

I did the old Physics course in UCC and graduated 2000. The main complaint I had throughout the course was that the maths required for the course was not taught in conjunction throughout. You need vector calculus for instance for electromagnetic theory in 2nd. Yet this wasn't taught until 3rd year by the Applied Maths dept, and even then that was an optional honours unit.

If you do the course, you will need to be decent at maths as it mainly is a theoretical course. The bog-standard maths units taught alongside aren't of much use. But there are some very good extra honours maths and applied maths units that are vry useful.

Bullockshaver

You seem to have avoided the ever important question of are there many job opportunities on completion of the course.

dudara

You do phsyics, you're spectacularily unqualified for any job. But companies like Eircom, mobile operators etc will hire you because of the set of skills you've accquired from studying physics for 4 years. You might never work in physics again but the problem solving and idependance that you acquire are valued.

I got offered jobs from Eircom, Ericcson and Meteor when I graduated. However, I decided to pursue a PhD and and coming near to the end now.

Out of my class of 8, only one went straight into employment for Eircom. The rest of us took up Masters, PhDs and one guy took a HDip.

That's my take on it, any others got something to add?

In promotion of UCC, the department is like a family. When I was an undergrad there was constant support and good craic. all the staff will know your name. Since the astrophysics unit was added on (something that I have no time for, a waste of physics) the number of undergrads has swelled, but it will still be a small department.

IDM

Yeah, you got me, apexaviour. I remember who you are. You were looking for some insight on what might come up on the physics exams, hehe.

Yeah, I was doing AM but have opted to do just Chem instead. You're gonna do Physics, right ?

Bullockshaver

Thanks for the reply but im still unsure between the Physics& Electronic engineering and theres only two days left for the CAO form. I presume that every company of a technical nature has a purely physics person for problem solving. My decision rests on your shoulders( only messing) Ish! With a PhD what opportunities are there?

dudara

Once you get a good degree, post-grad opportunities are pretty open. Your fourth-year project might point you in a direction that you might like to work more in, or it might help you decide that you never want to see it again.

I'm actually doing my postgrad in the electrical engineering department, so I've seen both sides. I've developed a lot of respect for the electrical engineers in UCC as the course is intense and detailed. They learn an awful lot, and the CAO points do not reflect the difficulty of the course. It's a very good degree with good employment prospects again, now that things are picking up.

Personally though, I've never regretted doing physics. It's extremely satisfying and the purest of the sciences. Once you have a degree in Physics, you can honestly say that you've achieved at a high level. But it is not for the faint-heartd.

I can't decide for you, just that both courses are hard, but very rewarding.

ecksor

On that note, I know a guy (my boss actually) who finished the engineering degree (electronics I think, although could have been electrical) in UCC about 15 years ago and he claims it had the highest points in the country at the time because it was known as a degree which didn't limit your career options in any real way and covered an awful lot of good stuff. Whether that has changed much/any since I don't know, but based on dudara's impressions it may not have.

ecksor says: Do a degree you find interesting rather than a degree you think will get you a job.

dudara

the points have dropped dramatically because extra places were made available on the course at the exact time interest dropped. So UCC were left with places that they couldn't fill as no one had applied.

The course is varied and wide-ranging. It's an electrical and electronic degree whic means it covers from the large scale (ie power generation) to the small scale (microelectronics).

Bullockshaver

IF i did the electronics course it would be to easy for me already i have a summer job in electronics with Analog devices working along side Degree and Masters students. I feel that if i do the physics i can branch out into possibly opto-electronics etc. I think i will do the Physics course, Is John McInerney still in Physics department??

Bullockshaver

Can i do both? Haha

dudara

John Mac has returned from sabbatical and is head of dept once more. He only teaches first year honours physics and fourth year nonlinear optics.

Nietzschean

Originally posted by PrecariousNuts
I just like the sound of the maynooth one, its a 3 year honors degree with 13 in a class for 500 points. The course topics sound superb.

Theoretical physics in TCD is 520ish points and doesn't have all the maths options but I have it down as second choice.

UCD is not considered at all mainly because it will take forever to get out there every morning, where as TCD requires one bus to dame street and maynooth is a quick train trip.

Do you know something that I should know about something?

didn't quite read all this thread so someone may have already pointed it out, but TCD's theoretical physics course is the most maths orientated one available(people in my class dropped out for maynooths because of less maths...)

PrecariousNuts

Yeah I ended up going with theoretical physics in TCD as number 1 and physics and chemistry of advanced materials as number 2.

ApeXaviour

PCAM is a great course. For the first 2 years of the degree they do exactly the same as me (the physics maths and chem options in general science). Because there was places free I was offered a place in it and I found it hard to turn down but I did, some of my friends didn't though and they've got very prospective careers ahead of them methinks. Also as far as phys-chem research goes TCD is an Advanced materials college. They offer scholarships in the college in PCAM, I dunno much about it but you get an interview and if you are the gogetter high achiever type you should get it...

PrecariousNuts

Yeah it sounds really good especially with the new nanotechnology sector thats opening up. I certainly think that in 4 years time it will be massive. Althought I'm still not sure whether to put it down as number one, I'm a bit late to decide though.

ApeXaviour

Ok well lets say you get TP and you don't like it after a few days.. You should be able to switch, just ask the tutor assigned to you about the details of doing this..

pseudonym

Ah, back to the boards after a long absense.
First, Sev, is your head recovered after Maccas party yet??? (!!!). You seemed fairly out of it at times.

Im just finished the JFTP in trinity and have passed the exams. Hooray.
Anyway, To anyone considering TP at Trinity, be warned, it is hard and the last few weeks before exams will not be fun. At all.

I wont go in to all the course details coz Sev did already and I agree with what he said. Some of the courses are very abstract at times and you spend a lot of time just trying to get basic ideas the right way around in your brain. Galois theory, solvability by radicals etc. The maths courses with i suppose the exception of methods (131) are nothing like leaving cert maths. Altho I suppose mechanics is similar to applied maths which i didnt do. A lot of the lectures can be pretty boring and a lot of the recommmended texts were dodgy and rarely used. Be prepared for some serious "collaboration" on homeworks. Theres a fairly good class spirit and despite what you might first be thinking, we're not really as nerdy as we should be considering the course we're doing.

All in all, I must say that I couldnt imagine myself doing any other course. Pure maths, or just science with physics as a subject dont appeal to me much on their own.

But as TPs you do almost both full courses, and if you do pick this course, you will get pissed off when you hear about arts students with 10 hours a week.

Despite the rumours and horror stories there were very few dropouts in the year from a class of almost 40 and most of those happened in the first few days and weeks. Also, very few failed the exams, and those who did only failed 1 module which they can retake the exam for in september.

Also, people tend to be in awe of you when they meet you in freshers week. Expect conversations like:
-Hey, I'm *&^*%&. Im from *^%&^* and do {Misc Arts/Business degree)
- Im &^%&, from *&^% and Im doing theoretical physics.
- Ooh! sorry.

Theyre just jealous.

Seriously though, TP is a good course, although itll probably turn horrible on me next year after me saying that. Also, never believe people who are convinced theyve failed exams. Everyone was convinced they failed the 2nd physics paper, and very few did.

Civilian_Target

Seriously though, TP is a good course, although itll probably turn horrible on me next year after me saying that. Also, never believe people who are convinced theyve failed exams. Everyone was convinced they failed the 2nd physics paper, and very few did.

Thank god for normalisation