Aspiring Physics major trying to figure out what to do

[Reaper]

I'm going to be in my sophomore year in college next year, and I'm still trying to figure out in what order I should take all of my classes in.

 

Here's the thing, I'm a physics major, looking to specialize either in nuclear or statistical physics. And, as I found out the hard way, taking physics courses requires quite a bit of mathematical sophistication. Now, my particular university doesn't really tell you how much math you really need to take a particular course, i.e. many of these courses will tell you that your mathematical background doesn't have to be as high as it should be (e.g. I took an introductory modern physics class, it stated I only needed to know up to Calc 3, and then they went over concepts that required a background in differential equations to solve. Not that I wasn't able to adapt, but they really don't put as much emphasis on mathematical proficiency as they should...).

 

But, yeah, what I'm wondering is just how much math should I take in order to do well in higher level physics courses. So far, my plan is that for my sophomore year, that I would take primarily math courses, all the way up to Advanced Calculus II. You can read all the course descriptions right here: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/Math/Ugrad/macourses.html (Of course, not every single one up to that point, but certainly many of the higher level ones). Other ones include Linear Algebra I & II, discreet math, Statistics II, and all the other courses covering differential equations. I even put in a couple of computer programming classes.

 

But yeah, I focusing heavily on math for this next year, and probably for some part of my next year. Is this a good idea or a good approach? If not, how exactly would you recommend I go about this?

[ecoli]

shouldn't each class list which math pre-requisites you need for that specific course?

[Reaper]

shouldn't each class list which math pre-requisites you need for that specific course?

 

They do, but they often don't tell you the "whole" story, so to speak. Often when they say "concurrent study of *place math class here*", I find that they really mean that you have to already know it, and a bit more. So, I'm afraid to just dive in even if I already have the math background that they list (or if it's a concurrent study of it).

 

Oh, and you can view the course descriptions for physics right here. Sorry for not including it in the OP: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/Physics/Undergraduate/phcourses.html

 

 

EDIT: I should mention that my university does things a little bit differently, in that the classes are term based, and not semester based. Meaning that you take classes each term, and there are 4 terms a year, 2 terms a semester (which means 4 finals a year, yikes!). While this setup means that you only have to worry about 3 classes at any one time (as opposed to 6 in a regular setting), the material is quite condensed, so I don't really have the time to sit down and truly learn (and not just memorize) the math they present in these classes (sure, some of them have math reviews when you first start the class, but that really is no substitute for actually taking a class at that particular math subject and becoming proficient at it).

[Klaynos]

I'd suggest you go ask the staff, they're likely to know best...

[NeonBlack]

Talk to your adviser or junior/senior students. They should have a pretty good idea of what the courses are like.

Most of the time, if you need math beyond the 4 semesters of calculus, you will learn it "as you go," that is, maybe in your physics course you will spend a few days learning the math before you need it.