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Preparing for university
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Ian Ian Ian
915 Posts
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RHCPgergo
Hungary345 Posts
Once the semester starts, try to seek the help of older students who know how things work and can give you specific info about subjects, professors, ways to learn, exams, all kinds of useful stuff. | ||
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Augury
United States758 Posts
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knyttym
United States5797 Posts
I used this channel for my linear algebra course because my professor was horrible. Being alone in the comfort of my own room made the material much simpler. Not sure how the calc version though. | ||
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TheNessman
United States4158 Posts
know these: sin(0) sin(pi) cos(0) cos(pi) and also know geometry, like area / perimeter of basic shapes. hmm besides that you'll just need to know how to solve problems. which is hard. be ready to put effort into it, especially if you want a good grade. and you can always turn to TL for help if you need it!  | ||
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thOr6136
Slovenia1774 Posts
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duckett
United States589 Posts
math at the instructional level of most single variable calc courses/a good deal of the online stuff will be about learning specific tools to handle specific problems. but despite the physics in front of the name, mathematical physics will mostly involve learning math more broadly for the sake of learning math; it's the domain of mathematicians who have nowhere else to apply their skills. you should start with a good real analysis book that you can stomach; Rudin is a classic but I prefer Kolmogorov. you need it to tell you a story and make you eagerly want to turn the next page to find out what will next be uncovered; just buffing up on the technical stuff will only get you so far. | ||
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Malgrif
Canada1095 Posts
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TimmyMac
Canada499 Posts
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Sufficiency
Canada23833 Posts
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n.DieJokes
United States3443 Posts
On August 18 2011 08:45 Sufficiency wrote: Mathematical physics? Are you sure? The only thing out of this field is a PhD on it, and it's a very difficult field. It's his first year, he'll figure it out | ||
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Ian Ian Ian
915 Posts
Any suggestions of where I can find like.. practice questions or something? My textbook seriously sucks so much dick, its useless. And I might switch into pure physics later on, we will see. There are a lot of promising co op jobs in my area, I am going to Waterloo, and the IQC and PI are right beside it. | ||
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Sufficiency
Canada23833 Posts
Sorry to burst your bubble, but physics is a *HORRIBLE* field for a PhD.... Physics used to be a popular field in the earlier part of 20s century, but now it's old and too hard. If you want to go to graduate school and eventually get a PhD in a field, I strongly recommend you to switch to mathematics instead for undergrad. At least it's a bit more general and wider in scope. According to one of my friends who graduated from PKU physics, most of his colleagues have ditched the field - even though PKU has arguably the strongest students in the world thanks the China's rigourous exams. In my humble opinion, an undergraduate degree in physics (and NOT in engineering) can give you the following three options: 1. Get a PhD in physics; become a professor (but like I said, research in physics is EXTREMELY hard) 2. Become a high school teacher and teach high school level physics (but for that, you don't actually NEED a degree in physics) 3. Do a mathematically related field after you graduate, such as actuary, etc. (but in that case, you might as well get a degree in statistics) If you are job-oriented and want your undergraduate degree to be your terminal degree, you should consider going into mathematics (for something theoretical) or actuarial science (for something practical). University of Waterloo has an awecome co-op program, but it's not omnipotent; if you start out in a poor field you will find yourself in a trouble. EDIT: since you are going into mathematics or a related field, you are likely to be taking a theoretical calculus course in your first year at Waterloo. You should find out which textbook you will be using (most likely it's Spivak's Calculus, similar to what is used at University of Toronto for MAT157, or Stewart's Calculus Early Trancedentals for MAT137). Either way, I think the best thing you can do is just go straight into the course material and preview it. This will give you a serious edge when school starts in September. | ||
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Ian Ian Ian
915 Posts
At Waterloo there are actually 2 MathPhys programs, a science one and a math one. Each one focuses more on their own courses. I am currently in the math one. And yes, I will be taking Math137, and that's what I'm worried about. Not really thinking about long term at all, just going into this class. I am kicking myself now for not taking very consistent notes in my highschool calculus class, and am just looking for somewhere where I can find some practice questions or something like that. My textbook has far too much explanation and not enough practice imo, and I'd rather use something else. | ||
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Stratos_speAr
United States6959 Posts
On August 18 2011 06:35 Ian Ian Ian wrote: I am going to university for mathematical physics after taking some time off from school, and I am a little worried that I wont do that well because I am rusty. I am taking first year calculus stuff. What kinds of units would you guys suggest I review before going? I have my calc textbook that I have briefly looked through and I don't really like the way it is written but if necessary I can use that. I hardly think you should have much to worry about. Almost every college out there eases you into the work when you first start since you won't be used to the work load. Not only that, calculus is pretty easy compared to the math that you'll eventually be doing, so you won't be starting off with things that are overly difficult. | ||
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lac29
United States1485 Posts
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Cruncharoo
United States136 Posts
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TheGiz
Canada708 Posts
Also be prepared to work. Math courses (i.e. all of math, engineering, and physics) require you not to study notes but to do innumerable problems as practice. That is the only way to study. First year calculus doesn't stretch far from the grade 12 stuff, but it is still quite difficult if you don't do the work. On August 18 2011 14:54 Sufficiency wrote: In my humble opinion, an undergraduate degree in physics (and NOT in engineering) can give you the following three options:
Augmenting this...
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Zorkmid
4410 Posts
On August 18 2011 06:35 Ian Ian Ian wrote: I am going to university for mathematical physics after taking some time off from school, and I am a little worried that I wont do that well because I am rusty. I am taking first year calculus stuff. What kinds of units would you guys suggest I review before going? I have my calc textbook that I have briefly looked through and I don't really like the way it is written but if necessary I can use that. If you're just starting, you don't really need to prepare THAT much. Everything you're going to learn will be new. My first year Calc course covered everything I already knew in the first class or two. Just go ready to learn! Don't fall behind! | ||
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SarR
476 Posts
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ComaDose
Canada10352 Posts
Factoring/completing the square. Someone who says everything you learn will be new is forgetting that you need to know how to do these things to do what they are teaching you. They will assume you can do these things in your sleep. EDIT: This is the bossest boss of a math teacher boss that ever walked the earth. This book covers every topic in any first year math course generally and specifically with examples worked out in layman's terms. http://mathematicssurvivalkit.ca/ If you buy it you will open it every time you forget how to do anything becuase its all there. | ||
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OpticalShot
Canada6330 Posts
Waterloo... Canada, right? Yes, Waterloo is well-known for having great co-op programs providing students with co-op experience. However - not all co-op necessarily is in your field of study (most common case is being hired by software developers to do tedious coding) and you will soon find out, as others said, you'll need to really plan a long road ahead. That being said, if PhD in physics is something you really want, I recommend switching out of Waterloo (co-op / practical-oriented school) and going somewhere more research-oriented. Why waste time doing useless co-op as a codemonkey or an html slave when you can focus on courses only and speed your way towards higher degrees? | ||
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Chromyne
Canada561 Posts
On August 18 2011 23:43 TheGiz wrote:
This made me laugh. I've never taken MATH137, but the subject matter looks similar those covered in MATH117, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you have taken high school calculus a lot of it will be things you already know, and so it will just be refreshing your memory. | ||
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emperorchampion
Canada9496 Posts
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itachisan
Canada109 Posts
On August 18 2011 22:38 Ian Ian Ian wrote: Thanks for the advice. At Waterloo there are actually 2 MathPhys programs, a science one and a math one. Each one focuses more on their own courses. I am currently in the math one. And yes, I will be taking Math137, and that's what I'm worried about. Not really thinking about long term at all, just going into this class. I am kicking myself now for not taking very consistent notes in my highschool calculus class, and am just looking for somewhere where I can find some practice questions or something like that. My textbook has far too much explanation and not enough practice imo, and I'd rather use something else. You are going to take Math137 at Waterloo? Are you planning to take Math138, Math237, and then Amath calc 4? I was just wondering because I also go to Waterloo and I think I have the notes for all the courses mentioned above somewhere. If you need them as an aid I'll gladly go and dig them up for you. P.S dont worry about calculus in general. IMO as long as you know your integration methods, it should pretty much set you well on the cruise. | ||
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AoN.DimSum
United States2983 Posts
On August 19 2011 06:13 emperorchampion wrote: If you are looking for a good Calc textbook for Cal I and II, I can vouch for Stewarts Early Transcendentals. Get the solution manual as well, and then just do every odd question for every chapter, then 1a2a3a your way through the course I like this book too! | ||
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Sufficiency
Canada23833 Posts
On August 18 2011 22:38 Ian Ian Ian wrote: Thanks for the advice. At Waterloo there are actually 2 MathPhys programs, a science one and a math one. Each one focuses more on their own courses. I am currently in the math one. And yes, I will be taking Math137, and that's what I'm worried about. Not really thinking about long term at all, just going into this class. I am kicking myself now for not taking very consistent notes in my highschool calculus class, and am just looking for somewhere where I can find some practice questions or something like that. My textbook has far too much explanation and not enough practice imo, and I'd rather use something else. Which book do you use for 137? Most first year books have solutions to at least the odd numbered problems. | ||
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Ian Ian Ian
915 Posts
On August 19 2011 08:39 itachisan wrote: You are going to take Math137 at Waterloo? Are you planning to take Math138, Math237, and then Amath calc 4? I was just wondering because I also go to Waterloo and I think I have the notes for all the courses mentioned above somewhere. If you need them as an aid I'll gladly go and dig them up for you. P.S dont worry about calculus in general. IMO as long as you know your integration methods, it should pretty much set you well on the cruise. Idk about Math237 and Amath calc 4, but yeah 137 and 138. I am supposed to be taking 127 and 128 but I took the "advanced" math courses for whatever reason. I'd gladly take you out for a beer in exchange for some notes. | ||
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BloodNinja
United States2791 Posts
On August 18 2011 07:13 kNyTTyM wrote: + Show Spoiler + http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbIQW0gkgxo I used this channel for my linear algebra course because my professor was horrible. Being alone in the comfort of my own room made the material much simpler. Not sure how the calc version though. Holy hell. I think I learned more in 15 minutes of that video than I did in a year of calculus in college. It always amazes me to what teachers can really bring into the subject when they put their heart into it. | ||
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