<p>I am a premed student at UVA and was wondering:
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<li><p>No, it does not matter which physics you take for med-school. Either the PHYS 1610-1620 calculus based physics sequence, the PHYS 1425-2145 calculus based physics sequence for engineers or the PHYS 2010-2020 algebra based physics sequence are fine for med-school. Most pre-med students elect to take 2010 and 2020.</p></li>
<li><p>As mentioned above PHYS 2010 and 2020 along with the corresponding 2030 and 2040 labs are the non-calculus based physics. </p></li>
<li><p>In general Physics is a hard subject…period. To make matters worse the Physics department at UVA is notorious for being a terrible teaching department. I have never taken a Physics course at UVA but from having residents take the 1610-1620 sequence and friends take 2010 -2020 sequence I have pieced together the following. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>1610-1620 is hella hard. I can’t understand a fricken thing they do and I’m a math major. Furthermore, these classes have no associated lab so it makes filling the lab portion of the physics requirement for med school impossible. 1610-1620 do tend to be slightly more forgiving in terms of grades however. It’s less regulated and if you can put up with getting mid 70’s to low 80’s on tests, you’ll probably get an A.</p>
<p>1425-2415 won’t be discussed here because I’m assuming you’re in the college anyway. Just don’t choose to suffer with the engineers.</p>
<p>2010-2020 w/ 2030-2040 don’t have a lick of calculus and can be understood by just about anyone. You get a nice textbook and normally an okay prof. Only deal is everyone in the class is trying to beat up on everyone else (because everyone is a competitive pre-med) and the Physics department encourages the competition by having strict regulations on grades for this class. They aim to hit their set distribution and there is no wiggle room what-so-ever. This gets to the point that sometimes in a lab section (2030/2040) grades of 92/93 will be curved down to B+'s or even B’s because a 92/93 might not be good enough to place you in the top 6 of your lab section. But hey, at least you understand what is going on a little bit better…sorta, it’s still Physics after all. Also be aware of the fact 2010-2020 are terminal and do preclude you from taking higher level Physics in the long run.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>I’m more or less done with a physics major and I’ve thought the teaching was fine; I don’t know where you’re getting “notorious for being a terrible teaching department” from!</p>
<p>As for the question: have you taken (and done well in) Calc I and II? If so, consider taking the calculus based versions; you’ll learn more, and it’ll likely give you a better grasp of the material which could help you on the MCAT. If not, just take the algebra based version and save yourself (some of) the headache.</p>
<p>^ Despite your positive experience with the physics department most people I have talked to have had negative experiences with it. The physics department curves DOWN occasionally, has professors that provide lectures that do not correspond with the test material at all (according to a good number of course forum reviews) for a good number of classes, uses undergrads as T.A.'s for a couple of discussion sections (the 2010 and 2020 ones I believe) and does not have professors teach the same class regularly, generally speaking, meaning professors can not refine their teaching of a course. </p>
<p>Ultimately I’m on the outside looking in and it could be that I’m simply talking to a small, bias sample of people, but these are just a couple of the comments I have heard.</p>