how much time do you spend on astrophysics?

Hey guys,
I am thinking of applying for the astrophysics undergraduate course.

Last week I went to the king’s college compass,and the lady who was there told me there are about 5 hours a day per 5 days a week in the astrophysics course.but it didn’t seem like she knew much about the whole thing.

my main problem is this: i have a personal interest,that takes me much time,for me this personal interest is more important than university,it’s the passion of my life,so i would like to have an idea of how much time a particular course would take me,in order to know if I have time to attend that course or not

Ok,so the question is this:I would like to know how much time a person, who is attending the astrophysics undergraduate course,spends on this course a week in total.
At ucl they told me on top of the hours of lectures you also have the hours of tutorial times and independent hours,I don’t know if they exist at king’s college too.
So For “in total” I mean:how many hours you spend on lectures each day,how many hours you spend on lunch breaks,how many hours you spend on tutorial times and independent hours(if they exist at king’s college),how many hours you spend on individual study(homework) each day.

Thank you very much

Reply 1

sudo_euclid

First year timetable

You can look at some of the notes here to see how they look

Note that you only have 1 hour tutorial a week, the tutorial slots on the timetable are simply the possible times since people are slit into smaller groups and not everyone has it at the same time.

Maths (after christmas this is classical mechanics) This module requires the most work and for most people is the hardest.

Thermal Physics - This module is a bit easier and won't need so much work at home. This runs in the first term (before christmas) only.

Fields, Waves and Matter. This is not too hard either. Before christmas it is things like optics, waves etc and after christmas is more like simple particle/nuclear physics.

You have labs A/B. In the first term you have only labs A, which is practicle experiments. You go in one week, do the experiment, then have 2 weeks to write it up. You then have another experiment (ie go in every other week).
After christmas you also have labs b, which is programming in C.

Your optional module is Astro/medical. If you do physics w/ astro obviously you dont have a choice.

King's College London

London

Reply 2

elvis L

ok so you have all the hours with the titles 1500,maxwell,1350,1471,111A..but only one among all those tutorial hours,is it right?

also how many hours would you say you spend on homework(self study at home)? because another guy said :

"Extra study isn't really that necessary in 1st year until nearer exam time, if you actually listen in lectures of course. You will have to put in many more hours near exam time, but lectures stop then so you effectively have the same week. You need to do more than just attend lectures, you understand what is going on and take good notes.
You don't need to study that much outside of lectures, you can if you want and some people do. I bought a book full of physics exercises and all it has done is be used as a paper weight, I only really have used 2 books since I came here. I have never taken a book out of the library( i don't even know how). I read my notes when I need to for problem sheet and classes. Then I usually read them end of term, other than that...."

and another one said:
"There are like 1/2 problem sheets (homework) a week that don't take longer than one-two hours a piece.Don't do any independent reading/studying like an arts student (apart from the problem sheets)"

i mean,it seems like a part from these problem sheets i shouldnt have to do anything else,as regars homework

Reply 3

sudo_euclid

To be honest that sounds about right for the first year.. The problem sheets in general don't take much more than an hour or two, and the only other thing to do is the lab write up. This can take a couple hours too, but its not too bad.

I must admit that i left most of my study to the summer revision period, and this is fine, but the more you do throughout the year the easier the revision is, obviusly. Also, being in the habit of doing some work outside of class will make the transition to 2nd and 3rd years easier.
Definitely agree that a good note taking habit will help, you'll thank yourself when you come to revise.

As for the book, the recommended University Physics book is very useful, although for much of the year it was a paperweight it proved very helpful with revision - it has a lot of excercises of the sort that are on the exam.

If you are good at maths the first year probably won't require too much effort, the maths module really is the one that gives most people problems.

Reply 4

elvis L

Original post by sudo_euclid

To be honest that sounds about right for the first year...

ok so in the 1st year you would have about 18-25 lectures hours at ucl and 19 lectures hours at king's,as i saw on the timetable you gave me, + 2-4 hours a week for problem sheets + 2 hours for the lab write up.

how many hours of lectures + problem sheets hours + lab write up hours + other homework hours if any do you have in the second and third years?
because i keep hearing people say the second and third years require more hours,but no one really told me how many

Reply 5

sudo_euclid

you can see the other timetables here.

The second year does require more work - how much really depends on the person. Most people concentrate on the maths at the moment, and the labs write ups can take longer. However, this year we have every monday free so there is more time outside of class. An hour or two per hour of class might be a rough guide, but really it varies week by week, on how hard the current topic is and if there is anything to hand in - each term a 'formal' lab report is handed in, and an oral presentation is done once a year.

Reply 6

elvis L

Original post by sudo_euclid

An hour or two per hour of class might be a rough guide.

do you mean 1 or 2 hours of homework per hour of lecture?

so in the second and third years you actually have to do a lot of homework other than just the problem sheets and the lab write ups that you do in the first year,dont you?

i counted up 16 hours of lectures in the 2nd year and 19 hours(including the 2 tutorial hours..so maybe they would be just 18,as usually people say you have only 1 tutorial hour a week) in the third year..
they are not that many..19 hours the 1st year,16hours the second one,18\19 hours the third one..at ucl they are 18-27 the first year

i guess in the timetable i dont have to count up the "maxwell" hours,do i?

Reply 7

sudo_euclid

Original post by elvis L

do you mean 1 or 2 hours of homework per hour of lecture?

...

i guess in the timetable i dont have to count up the "maxwell" hours,do i?

Yes the maxwell lectures are entirely optional. About 1 to 2 hours per hour of lecture, maybe less.. it really depends on how much work you want to do in the holidays/reading weeks etc, and how hard you find it. Some people prefer to do more, others can leave it till the end and still do ok. You can always have a look at the notes, i think they're on one of the links i posted, and see how hard you might find them.

Reply 8

elvis L

so you mean about 1 to 2 hours OF HOMEWORK(including paper sheets,lab write ups,any other kind of homework you gotta do) per hour of lecture in the second and third years,dont you?

i also guess i dont have to count the "AKC" hours,i dont have to count the "module room" hour in the second year,and that if the lab hours begin at 11am and end at 5pm i would have 1 hour between 1pm and 2pm to eat.

if these things are right
in the end i would have about 20-22 hours per week in the first year in total,about 32-48 hours per week in the second year in total,about 34-51 hours per week in the third year in total.is it right?

Reply 9

sudo_euclid

Original post by elvis L

yes that sounds about right, but as i keep saying it does vary depending on the person. Also, labs will often be completed before that time, that is just the time you have to complete the experiment. And yes, an hour for lunch.
AKC is also optional, its the associate of kings college thing, dont know many people that did it.