First-Year Physics - Page 3

iostream · 07-03-2008, 10:07 AM

haha, agreed. we should stop the technical discussion here. sorry if i seemed aggressive or snippy. 'twas a 3AM knee-jerk reaction.

in any case, original poster, our advice is indeed consistent.

pebbles · 07-03-2008, 02:04 PM

If the OP wants serious/non-general advice he should give us more information about himself. What physics have you taken? How confident are you, your math background, etc.

Cause there's nothing worse than advice that doesn't pertain to you.

iostream- have you taken both 8.09 and GR as well freshman year? If so, what did you think of it/them? I'm not sure if I'll be bored taking 8.07 and 8.09 at the same time.

also, some people are really out there. you're definitely out there man. way ahead of the curve.

neuron · 07-03-2008, 08:46 PM

I'm confident in my math and physics ability, but I'm considering majoring in physics, and I know my high school physics backround (mostly self-taught) does not have the rigor of college, much less MIT. That said, I got 5's in Calc AB and BC as well as the two AP Physics exams. I've completed (and aced) several local college advanced math courses as well. For me, I think it comes down to choosing between 8.012 and 8.022 for Fall semester. Is this a decision that is made with my advisor during Orientation?

kryptonsa36 · 07-03-2008, 09:06 PM

Your advisor has to approve of your class choices, yes, and she will hopefully give you feedback about appropriate course choosing.

pebbles · 07-03-2008, 10:35 PM

Well, if it helps or something, 8.012 is in my mind one of the best classes I've taken here. 8.022 doesn't really compare for me.

molliebatmit · 07-04-2008, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Is this a decision that is made with my advisor during Orientation?

This is most likely a decision that will be made with upperclassmen during orientation.

Upperclassmen are often a more useful resource than advisors when it comes to course choice.

iostream · 07-05-2008, 10:30 PM

pebbles: i have taken neither of those classes, but i plan to take both next year. Landau and Lifschitz volume 1 is great, but it's probably not everything i need to know. as for GR, i'm just a dabbler (won a copy of MTW at physics camp, flipped through it for fun). i definitely don't know many of the fine points of that theory.

Multiferroic · 07-10-2008, 11:59 AM

Question: should I take 8.012?
My friend told me that the 8.012/8.022 series is really worth taking, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle it. Despite having taken AP physics C, I don't actually know any physics. However, it does sound really interesting, and I like theory, based on the math class I took this year (apparently, kind of equivalent to 18.014, we used Spivak's Calculus).
Oh, and I'm probably going to major in course X, so I really don't want to have to take 8.01 second semester if I fail 8.012.

carmel · 07-10-2008, 03:42 PM

i would say if your math diagnostic is high enough you should start in 8.012 and drop it after the first test or whatever if you are really struggling. it's a super cool class and was worth it for me (basically no prior physics experience).

kryptonsa36 · 07-10-2008, 05:12 PM

If you know for certain you will be taking 8.01X and not be passing out of it, I would advise going ahead with 8.012. You are under pass/no record, and my personal opinion is that you should be taking advantage of that. A) You'll feel much better barely passing a "difficult" class than if you had (theoretically) barely passed an "easy" class, and B) it's much easier to drop to a lower class if you can't even barely pass a "difficult" class than it is to move up from an "easy" class that doesn't challenge you at all.

You also seen genuinely interested in physics (unlike me with math when I took 18.022 pass/no record), which is a plus.

PiperXP · 07-10-2008, 05:33 PM

Course X doesn't require 8.02 for any of its classes, so in the worst-case scenario that you don't get 8.01x credit first semester, you won't be behind.

molliebatmit · 07-10-2008, 06:18 PM

As carmel and kryptonsa36 have said, it's relatively easy to switch from the "icing on the cake" versions of 8.01, 18.0x, etc. to the "no frills" versions if you decide you're in over your head -- you just have to make the switch by Add Date, which is October 3 this semester. So there aren't really penalties to trying the harder version and switching after the first problem set or the first test if you decide it's too tough.

At the same time (and I'm speaking here as someone who took the no-frillsiest first semester possible), don't feel that you have to take something with extra numbers after it if you're not interested in doing so. The majority of freshmen just take 8.01, 8.02, etc.

ask-paul · 07-11-2008, 02:34 AM

The math diagnostic is pretty useless for determining if you would actually survive 8.012, in my personal opinion. It only tests things like algebra and geometry, where what you really need to do well in 8.012 is calculus.

carmel · 07-11-2008, 09:55 AM

oh, i didn't mean you should use it as a predictor of 8.012 success. just that if you do really badly on it you may need to convince your advisor to let you take the harder class. and hey, i think there were plenty of k&k problems that, after you managed to figure out how to set up and begin them, turned into a real headache of algebra and geometry.

ask-paul · 07-11-2008, 10:41 AM

Yeah, that's true. A friend of mine didn't do so hot on the diagnostic and had to fight her way into the class (where she did just fine and is now majoring in Course 8).

I also agree with you on the K&K problems. Although I imagine the 8.012 profs would have phrased them as "headaches of symmetry and coordinate systems" rather than "headaches of geometry and algebra."