Theoretical Physics College Course, CTYI

Acid_Violet

This is the first time I've ever posted on this section of boards, solely out of uncertainty over whether or not I should do TP in Tcd. The problem is that I know it's very maths-based and even though I'm quite good at maths several people who I know dropped out of the course after the first year because it was too difficult and these people have done stuff like the Maths Olympiad. This is the main thing I'm interested in doing in college but I'm apprehensive about the difficulty of it. Could anyone doing the course give me any guidance on whether I should still go for it bearing all of that in mind?

Welcome to the TCD Boards! As an ex-TP-er myself (I left after 3 months), I can only give a limited view on the course so I will leave it to others.

Have a look at some of the other threads debating the course and its merits: 1, 2.

Stargal

At the risk of sounding like a stalker weirdo, didn't you do Theoretical Physics in CTYI? [Seriously, I can explain. I work there, so I read the CTYI board a lot and saw you posted there about the evaluations].

How did you find the course there? Because that would usually be a pretty good overview of first year of TP in college. Maybe you could get in touch with David or Matt (Instructor and Teaching Assistant) cos I think they both did it in Trinity, and talk to them about how they found it to be?

Crash

Actually David did a pure maths degree, iirc. Matt, from a passing conversation with his sister, did TP alright.

Nietzschean

well there was a david in maths and a matt in tp this year anyway(the one graduating in nov..)...but then those arn't the most uncommon names ever


Anyway, the maths done in uni is very different to that taught in 2nd level so i wouldn't be put off by not being in an maths olympiad (god knows i wasn't, heck i got like 50% in maths exams in 5th year... ) , though i've just finished the pure maths degree. I was in tp like myth tho i left because i hated the physics labs...

the only way your going to know if you can manage it i'm afraid is by trying it, you could always sit in a few of the lectures the first years have this year, that didn't seem to put Sev off(he's still doing tp, another boardsie)

Acid_Violet

stargal wrote:

At the risk of sounding like a stalker weirdo, didn't you do Theoretical Physics in CTYI? [Seriously, I can explain. I work there, so I read the CTYI board a lot and saw you posted there about the evaluations].

How did you find the course there? Because that would usually be a pretty good overview of first year of TP in college. Maybe you could get in touch with David or Matt (Instructor and Teaching Assistant) cos I think they both did it in Trinity, and talk to them about how they found it to be?

Well, yeah, that was me! Clíodhna's the name, but I didn't want to mention the CTYI connection at the risk of being labelled a smartass smart-kid, but anyway. Who is this Stargal who knows me so vaguely?

I really liked the course, but honestly found it quite difficult to pay attention, mainly because I've a wandering brain or some other half-assed excuse. I really enjoyed discussing the concepts, but I'd be lying if I said that I'd a clue half the time about what they were saying regarding the maths. I think that Dave and Matt said something to the effect that if I immersed myself for the first year I'd be ok and that my enthusiasm would pay off, but I'd like to get some information from people who did the course and how they found it.

Crash

Pff, TP was waaay better when I ta'ed it probably less educational of course, but still waaay better :P

Acid_Violet

NO! Matt Dolan ftw!

ApeXaviour

Acid_Violet wrote:

NO! Matt Dolan ftw!

Aye that chap is one smart cookie. And surprisingly normal for it.

I was chattin to him recently enough, he moaned a little about those classes too. "In the end the talk or questions always seem to boil down to black-holes... I'M SICK OF BLACK-HOLES!"

fitzgese

I've just finished first year of TP myself, and my experience was that the Maths is a lot different from secondary school, but manageable if you keep up with the course. The course does get a few people who drop out, but usually because of the workload, it's very intense and if you do everything you're supposed to, you have very little time for anything else, and a lot of people switch to maths or leave because of this. The physics isn't that good in first year as well, it's mainly just everything on the Leaving Cert and a little more (except Special Relativity-that's a really good course), but the maths is quite interesting. You have to really want to do TP though, because the high workload will put you off otherwise, but if you really love physics and maths, then it is the right couse to choose.

Nietzschean

ApeXaviour wrote:

Aye that chap is one smart cookie. And surprisingly normal for it.

that he is, off to cambridge soon now iirc

and the workload in TP isn't that extreem, engineers have more hours than them. and most of the physics as you've said is covered by the lc. Its a step up in difficulty but then so is everything in college....

Acid_Violet

ApeXaviour wrote:

Aye that chap is one smart cookie. And surprisingly normal for it.

I was chattin to him recently enough, he moaned a little about those classes too. "In the end the talk or questions always seem to boil down to black-holes... I'M SICK OF BLACK-HOLES!"

Aaaw, I thought he really loved us. Matt is the super-awesomest person ever. He's just finished a BA in TP in Trinity I think and he's going to Cambridge next I think. Dave on the other hand just finished his PHD in Cambridge, I think. But I don't think we could have had better instructors, they worked just so well together, they were wonderful. I'm not trying to rub it in your face btw, I'm just saying.......

Nietzschean

lol is it me or does it seem as if someone has a crush on matt?

Acid_Violet

Every girl in my course did. I think. I certainly did.......... And Dave also........ They were both really great guys.......... *sighs dreamily*

(I think this is just becoming a Matt Dolan and Dave Conlon appreciation thread.)

4Xcut

Nietzschean wrote:

and the workload in TP isn't that extreem, engineers have
more hours than them.

what are the hours for 1st year. i'm starting in a few weeks and was just wondering. kind of worried about that "you won't have time for much else" comment someone else made further up the thread. I love maths and physics but do want to be able to do other things in college as well.

This'll be changing a bit for your year, but it should be broadly similar.

4Xcut

that's much easier than i thought, i was under the impression that it was around 30 to 35 hours between lectures and tutorials and then labs on top of that for maybe 5 hours. that's brilliant. i know there'll be work outside lectures but this is still a lot better then i thought

JackKelly

Be prepared to be completley baffeled by the maths.
I was in TP up until Christmas and found the maths very difficult to grasp. As time goes on, It slowly starts to sink in but there is really no similarity between 3rd level and 2nd level....at all.
Unfortunately, it's very difficult to understand this until you do it. I was told countless times that the maths was very,very different (and hard).
The physics is probably easier to handle as it's a repeat of Leaving Cert with a bit more detail.
If it's what you're interested in,and you're willing to spend time at it, go for it. It's rewarding, especially when you get your head around something for the first time, and when things start to fall into place.

If worst comes to worse, and you don't like it after a few months , you can change (up until early january) to anything you like as long as you have the points and there's space. I was in my third course by than, only changing finally a few days before the deadline.

ApeXaviour

TimAy wrote:

The physics is probably easier to handle as it's a repeat of Leaving Cert with a bit more detail.

In first year yes, they step up the pace a little in 2nd and then go absolutley fucking mental in 3rd.

Stargal

This is hilarious, I'm so showing this thread to Dave, he'll love it!

Acid_Violet - I've worked in CTYI for the past few summers now as RA, TA, mini-talenteds and general office stuff in CG01. Bit like Neil with the whole -never-leaving-the-place I guess

Anyway, enough CTYI talk cos it will sound strange to anyone reading this thread who doesn't know what it is or who Matt and Dave are

Nietzschean

stargal wrote:

This is hilarious, I'm so showing this thread to Dave, he'll love it!

Yes i think i'll make sure matt/rest of class see this

Crash

yeah in fairness, this is getting sent straight to Dave

edit: done

Awayindahils

Meh. Its all pretty easy to follow, if a little on the sttalker side.:p

Acid_Violet

Why bother exactly sending this thread to Matt and Dave?

Person who worked in CTYI who's screen-name I forget; can you tell me your name, I might know you from being in CTYI for the past six years.

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

Why is it that every second member on the TCD boards seems to be a member of the CTYI mafia like? Not that I'm bitching or anything..but there's like loads of you guys...

It's a conspiracy. Really.

Acid_Violet

It's just because my question is rather CTYI related, or has become so because TP is Ctyi related, or it's all Matt and Dave's fault...........

Awayindahils

Nah its a conspiracy. CTYIers will rule the world, or work for the people who rule the world, or waste their talent and drink or you..i lost track..hmm...shiny things.

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

Acid_Violet wrote:

It's just because my question is rather CTYI related, or has become so because TP is Ctyi related, or it's all Matt and Dave's fault...........

No..it seems all the really active posters on the TCD forum are CTYI scummers...except me, and I'm rebelicious...

Richard W

I did TP til about Ferbruary, then changed into maths cause I hadn't done any of my lab reports, and really wasn't that arsed doing them. The maths isn't that bad. You have to really involve yerself in it.

Bear in mind, when you hear a lot of horror stories from our year it's cause we had this one lecturer who was supposed to be doing a course that was explaining algebra and analysis, but it just didn't. He kinda taught his own stuff. It was good though. Crazy bastard.

Algebra: Loads of matrixy stuff
Analysis: Properties of functions
Methods: Crazy mix of logic, and set theory sorta stuff
Mechanics: Applied maths, but with more calculus. It's a laugh and a half
Computing: Eh, well programming and basic properties of how memory is stored in a computer etc. Don't need to do much for that. Easy enough to pass.

I'd say the hardest of those ones was probably mechanics. It just involved difficult problems. Methods had a different kind of hardness to it. You had to visualise what was going on a lot, and that was difficult at times if you couldn't picture it.

Timetable for Trinity term last year.

Where 111 is algebra 121 is analysis 131 methods 141 mechanics and 161 computing. You also had like, 4 hours of physics lectures and 3 hours of labs. So yeah the week is packed enough.

Oh also, I was thinking about leaving my course for a while, but that's cause at the start I wasn't working. You'll only like this if you work at it.

shay_562

No..it seems all the really active posters on the TCD forum are CTYI scummers...except me, and I'm rebelicious...

Hey! I'm here almost daily and I was never a CTYI-head. (I spent my summers someplace that wasn't school!)

Bartron Prime

I second that. I only heard of CTYI when I got to college. Telling us about all those kinds of things was in the hands of our Careers Guidance Counsellor whose office was actually a desk under a stairs. Ah Penfold, how we loved you so...

ApeXaviour

third it, I only heard of it since I've been on boards. Was in college near two years before that.

Nietzschean

i've only heard of CTYI on boards.... zwei vier zwei just has issues..

Crash

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI wrote:

No..it seems all the really active posters on the TCD forum are CTYI scummers...except me, and I'm rebelicious...

hrmm - interesting that rebelicious is also a shortword for banned - usually for being aggressive and insulting to people for no reason...treading on thin ice as of late Zwei, remember that.

ApeXaviour

Yes sooon you shall feel the WRATH of his powa!

Crash

Bye Kev. banned. back on topic. Ish.

Stargal

Acid_Violet wrote:

Person who worked in CTYI who's screen-name I forget; can you tell me your name, I might know you from being in CTYI for the past six years.

Hi I'm Christine *waves* *realises how nerdy it is to pretend to wave across the internet, retracts previous wave*

I was an RA and a TA (Economics), then worked in CG01, then with the little kids and then CG01 again this year. About yay high, dark hair, glasses.

Fourthed, heard of it barely when I was younger but re-heard about it when I got to College.

Andrew 83

Well I'd never heard of CTYI before I went to college but I suppose I'm very much part of it now. Was TA for two summers and have now taught classes at pretty much every level possible: 6-7, 8-12, 13-16, and correspondance.

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

Well...it seems to me that there is a much greater proportion involved with CTYI here than one would find in the normal population...

Awayindahils

Mmh, Trinity complex probably. Being the best etc.

But in reality in every college there is going to be a higher concentration of people with links to or knowledge of CTYI just due to the vary natures of college and CTYI. Also this is the internet, intellectuals with slight social akwardness are more commen on the internet.

Acid_Violet

God, for the last time, Ctyi ISN'T, I repeat, ISN'T like school! Or filled with social retards anymore than any other institution! But back to Theoretical Physics if you please............

Btw, did Matt and Dave see this yet?

spacecoyote

So Dave finished the PHD, fair play to him, whats his plan now? I did maths same year as him, but unlike Dave who put the work in, i was a lazy waster (which i would not advise you to be if you study TP)

And what the hell is CTYI?

Google it, or look for the fora here.

Crash

Dave smirked, then said no more :P and he's in Budapest for some unknown reason

Awayindahils

Acid_Violet wrote:

God, for the last time, Ctyi ISN'T, I repeat, ISN'T like school! Or filled with social retards anymore than any other institution!

Eh Acid_Violet I went to CTYI, I didn't mean to piss you off with the post and nothing was said about it being like school. And there are slightly more socially awkard people than usual, or in my expierence.

shay_562

Awayindahils wrote:

nothing was said about it being like school.

I think that part might have been directed at me:

shay_562 wrote:

I spent my summers someplace that wasn't school!

And call me crazy but...sitting in a classroom learning sounds a lot like school to me. Yeah, it's a college classroom where you learn about stuff that's more interesting with people who are generally pretty sound (the single coolest person I know is a CTYI person, and apparently a demi-god there...?), but still, I much preferred spending my summers on a lake, enjoying air and sunshine and the like, learning about stuff that was actually interesting (how to get a motor boat license, but also meteorology and international shipping signals, surprisingly fun) with people who were pretty sound. I mean no offense by that, just saying how it looks to an uneducated outsider.

claire h

crash_000 wrote:

and he's in Budapest for some unknown reason

Doing mathsy stuff. As I understand it, it was pretty much a case of "yo, man, wanna come to Budapest for three months and bring your funky combinatorics skillz with ya?" Though possibly with different wording.

shay_562 wrote:

And call me crazy but...sitting in a classroom learning sounds a lot like school to me. Yeah, it's a college classroom where you learn about stuff that's more interesting with people who are generally pretty sound (the single coolest person I know is a CTYI person, and apparently a demi-god there...?), but still, I much preferred spending my summers on a lake, enjoying air and sunshine and the like, learning about stuff that was actually interesting (how to get a motor boat license, but also meteorology and international shipping signals, surprisingly fun) with people who were pretty sound. I mean no offense by that, just saying how it looks to an uneducated outsider.

So... it's all cool as long as it's an outdoors classroom? :rolleyes:

shay_562

Pretty much. I like the outdoors.

Edit: That's why I said "no offense". I don't think there's anything wrong with CTYI exactly (though I do tend to call it "nerd camp" when I'm around people who went there, as it irritates them no end), but it's very much not my thing.

claire h

shay_562 wrote:

Edit: That's why I said "no offense". I don't think there's anything wrong with CTYI exactly (though I do tend to call it "nerd camp" when I'm around people who went there, as it irritates them no end), but it's very much not my thing.

But it IS nerd camp. That's the whole point!