UC Davis vs Case Western for Physics

[aunt_bea]

I’m not too sure about Irvine perhaps someone who knows Irvine can chime into this discussion.

I know that there are a number of commuters at UCI who go home for the weekends.

When you go to visit Davis, walk into the Physics department. You may even want to make an appointment. If you tell them exactly what you’re looking for, sometimes they tailor a course to suit your child.

If your child needs certain course exposure, there are probably others that want the same offerings. Their professors can change their course syllabi, according to the needs of the students. The campus is a little ways from Silicon, but the instructors also follow the leads of what industry wants from the grads.

Also since Berkeley is down the road a bit, they may be able to broker a course exchange in that that your child attends the Berkeley campus for a few courses.

I like that Davis is open-minded about providing options for their students.

Edited to add: I don’t know if UCI provides free tutoring.

[merc81]

@Ajordan099

I guess is Case seen in the engineering world as a better school than Davis?

Would you like opinions on these schools’ respective physics or engineering programs?

[Ajordan099]

My son got a scholarship but at the end of 4 years the difference would be Case costing us $85,000 more than Davis…so not insignificant

[Ajordan099]

He was accepted to Daivs into Applied Physics. Case says Engineering Physics so really anything helps in that realm at all…

[tamagotchi]

@Ajordan099

at the end of 4 years the difference would be Case costing us $85,000 more than Davis

Case tuition will also be expected to increase each year, while Davis tuition will remain set. Just keep that in mind when planning.

Edited to add: you can probably estimate Case tuition increasing by about 4-5% per year: CWRU tuition by entry year? - #8 by jeanyo

[aquapt]

Interesting - Davis Applied Physics has some similar concentrations to what Case Engineering Physics has. It could be a good exercise to do a detailed comparison of the requirements and the four-year plan for the ones that correspond, i.e. Davis Physical Electronics concentration vs. Case EE:solid state concentration, Davis Computational Physics concentration vs. Case EE:CS concentration, Davis Chemical Physics concentration vs. Case ChemE concentration and the Materials Science concentrations at both schools. If the more earth-sciency concentrations at Davis appeal (atmospheric physics and geophysics), then that would be a point in favor of Davis. If Case’s MechE, AeroE, or Biomedical Engineering concentrations call to him, that could tip the scales more toward CWRU. Interesting options at both schools, with some overlap but also areas that don’t overlap.

You probably know all this already, but fwiw!

[Ajordan099]

LOL, I assure you I absolutely do not know. I know NOTHING about Physics - my son got the brains between us…but thank you for your compliment. That is good advice for him to look in to and then explain to me

[aquapt]

Even better! They say you don’t fully understand something until you can teach it to someone else, right?

[CCC4]

One other thought is to consider whether your student might be a candidate to change majors at some point, as so many students do. Does one of these schools offer more broad options for that?

(Take this from someone who started off as an Engineering Physics major many years ago, only to change majors later in Freshman year.)

[CCC4]

When you visit the UC Davis Physics building, be sure to look out for their famous resident, Cheeto.

Cheeto The Physics Cat - A UC Davis Short Documentary

[Ajordan099]

oh well that changes everything! A physics cat…done!

[CCC4]

No idea why he isn’t called Schrodinger.

[pathandpurpose]

@aunt_bea @Gumbymom

Our S24 is considering UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara for physics and we are planning to visit the respective open houses on 4/6 and 4/13. (Note: S24 also got into UC San Diego, but in his 8th choice residential college Eleanor Roosevelt due to the GE requirements for Language Other Than English (LOTE). He only had 3 years of HS LOTE (due to schedule constraints – and frankly struggle.)

I’m struggling to figure out the LOTE requirement for B.S. Physics degree at UC Davis.

This UCOP website indicates no LOTE requirement for B.S. degrees UC Davis

However, I can’t find anything definitively on the UC Davis Letters & Sciences Degree Requirements nor the Physics website Undergraduate Degree Requirements :: Department of Physics and Astronomy - UC Davis.

In contrast, UC Santa Barbara’s College of Letters & Sciences GE LOTE requirements were clearly laid out.

This is definitely something we plan to ask the departments during the UC Davis Open House, but was wondering if either of you or others in College Confidential community would happen to know.

[tamagotchi]

For UC Davis, foreign language appears to be required for the Physics BA, but not required for the Physics BS. I think the confusion you are having is that Davis offers these two different degrees. Look at the requirement sheets and you’ll see the difference. (The requirement sheets are from some years back, but they are the requirement sheets linked from Davis Physics web site, Undergraduate Degree Requirements :: Department of Physics and Astronomy - UC Davis)

BS planner: https://physics.ucdavis.edu/application/files/9215/6209/3043/Physics_BS_Planner_Rev_2019.pdf

BA planner: https://physics.ucdavis.edu/application/files/1815/3981/2546/Physics_AB_Planner_Rev_2018.pdf

[Gumbymom]

As noted by @tamagotchi, for UC Davis there is a BA and BS program.

If he is pursing the BS program, there is no foreign language requirement. My son was an Environmental science major, took the placement test to see which level he would be placed into for Spanish and took a Spanish course to fulfill a GE requirement.

[aunt_bea]

One of my daughter’s roommates, “Sara” was in engineering. She only took three years of foreign language at her high school.

Davis expected to see 3+ foreign language transcript credits on or after 10th grade.

She received credit for one of those quarter requirements because she did have three years of high school equivalent credit.

Davis required a total of 3 quarters, of a foreign language, for her engineering degree.

For the other two quarters, she took a class during the summer, and then later in her schedule she took her last quarter.

Our daughter (neurobiology) took four years of high school foreign language, so she met the Davis requirements, but in her last year at Davis, she had room in her schedule and took Spanish each quarter of her last year at Davis.

Why??? Mainly because she wanted to take a course with her friends to study, at least once together!!!

Apparently it was her easy-peasy class and the Spanish teachers acknowledged that they knew that all the science/stem students were required to take their courses.

They made it fun; they made it conversational with help, and if my daughter hadn’t taken the course, she wouldn’t have ended up going to Spain for an internship.

DD and friends loved their Spanish teacher who was very sympathetic towards all of the science and engineering kids in her courses.
So I don’t know what to tell you regarding your son’s schedule, but I know that the instructors at Davis are really human with their students.

He may be able to get a quarter requirement done during the summer at a CC, but you need to get approval and confirmation from wherever he decides to matriculate.

This is what our son did from Caltech. In his community college classes, he met students from UCLA/Berkeley/NYU who lived locally, and we’re trying to get requirements out of the way.

[pathandpurpose]

@tamagotchi @Gumbymom @aunt_bea Thanks so much for all of y’all’s help. S24 took Latin in HS. He wanted to only take the 2 LOTE years, but relented and took 3rd year of Latin in 12th grade after finding out that 3 years of HS LOTE could satisfy GE LOTE requirements at some of the UC campuses.

[tamagotchi]

It looks like he should be fine if he’s doing the Physics BS. I would still suggest that you double check with the department. Hope it works out! My son loved UC Davis when he visited and it was a very close decision between Davis and his other choices.

[aunt_bea]

I wish your family, and your son, good luck in whatever he decides to pursue, and in wherever he decides to go.

It’s a big decision for your family.

We are in San Diego so the thought of our daughter going to school, in the middle of agriculture (!!!) was just kind of shocking for us, but it was the best decision for her.

She has no regrets. She made the best of friends, who she continues to see and travel with and attend weddings. She loved Davis! She made great friends at UCSF but her core friends are from Davis.

[pathandpurpose]

Closing the loop on this - @tamagotchi @Gumbymom @aunt_bea

We went to Aggie Day and to the Physics Dept’s open house. The Physics Undergraduate Academic Adviser confirmed no LOTE requirement for B.S. in Physics. The Physics Dept Chair was very approachable. My DH and S24 were impressed with the opportunities for undergraduate research and enjoyed the Physics tour of the lab.

As far the restaurant suggestions, I think we each gained the “Freshman 15” over the weekend… yummy dining at Crepeville and Mamma’s.

@Ajordan099 Did you get to attend Aggie Day?