Physics and astrophysics Uni students ,

To anyone studying Physics with astrophysics at university , What is it like ? Do you enjoy it? I am a first year a level student and really love physics. I am passionate for the subject and astrophysics and the course in the title is what ill be applying for for university . Do you cover relativity ? ( a personal favourite of mine) . And is there much circuits ? as is not my strongest point, thanks.
What university would you recommend ?

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

dafghgwthqfasvfg

OP

5

thank you so much, I have had a read through the link youve sent and the modules seem really interesting !! Spookily I was looking at Leicester as a potential uni choice and was wondering how you like it generally ?

Reply 2

M4cc4n4

20

Original post by dafghgwthqfasvfg

To anyone studying Physics with astrophysics at university , What is it like ? Do you enjoy it? I am a first year a level student and really love physics. I am passionate for the subject and astrophysics and the course in the title is what ill be applying for for university . Do you cover relativity ? ( a personal favourite of mine) . And is there much circuits ? as is not my strongest point, thanks.
What university would you recommend ?

I am just coming to the end of my Physics degree; whilst several universities throughout the UK for physics have significantly different module structures; you will likely find that each will typically front a "general physics" module in the first year, where you will cover some QM, condensed matter, relativity, Astro, electrostatics, alongside your basic classical mechanics and statics. On the side of circuits you'll likely find some in your first and second year depending on your module choices, and would likely cover stuff like the kirchoff law's, impedance and some other phenomena.

Reply 3

dafghgwthqfasvfg

OP

5

Original post by M4cc4n4

I am just coming to the end of my Physics degree; whilst several universities throughout the UK for physics have significantly different module structures; you will likely find that each will typically front a "general physics" module in the first year, where you will cover some QM, condensed matter, relativity, Astro, electrostatics, alongside your basic classical mechanics and statics. On the side of circuits you'll likely find some in your first and second year depending on your module choices, and would likely cover stuff like the kirchoff law's, impedance and some other phenomena.

thank you so much for replying ! how did you find your course now that its coming to it end ? any highlights ? Anything you wished you had done to help ?

Reply 4

M4cc4n4

20

Original post by dafghgwthqfasvfg

thank you so much for replying ! how did you find your course now that its coming to it end ? any highlights ? Anything you wished you had done to help ?

Some parts were more enjoyable than others, the best part is when you get to work on your own project which is pretty nice, overall I found it enjoyable and met some of the best people, moving from say A Levels you'll find the continuous assessment a bit different although I dunno how much A Levels have changed in the last few years. Anyway, be careful with time management, and keep ontop of assignments, also tutorials will likely be very worthwhile going to.

Reply 5

McGinger

18

Bath - Physics courses - the placement system at Bath is one of the best in the UK - https://www.bath.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate-2023/physics/#course-entries

Reply 6

Sinnoh

22

Original post by dafghgwthqfasvfg

To anyone studying Physics with astrophysics at university , What is it like ? Do you enjoy it? I am a first year a level student and really love physics. I am passionate for the subject and astrophysics and the course in the title is what ill be applying for for university . Do you cover relativity ? ( a personal favourite of mine) . And is there much circuits ? as is not my strongest point, thanks.
What university would you recommend ?

I've just finished 3rd year at Imperial. They don't offer a "with Astrophysics" physics course, but I've chosen pretty much all the related modules. Keep in mind that most of the time, a course called "physics with astrophysics" is just the ordinary physics course but they pre-selected some of the optional modules for you. It makes no difference to your future prospects whether the course had "with astrophysics" in the title or not.

If you look at the Institute of Physics accreditation document, it gives you an idea of what topics you can expect at nearly all unis offering physics - read it here: https://www.iop.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/the-physics-degree.pdf

Special relativity and electronics would be covered anywhere you go, although I didn't have to go that far beyond A-level circuits in my course; there is a lot more maths involved with circuits then you'd have had at A-level. But I haven't done any electronic circuit problems since first year. Not all courses offer general relativity.

Don't go in to the course just for one topic. If you're interested in astrophysics, you'll need to be interested in a lot of other topics - yes relativity, but also quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, statistical physics (never what it sounds like), classical mechanics, because without these you can't really understand what's going on so you'll need to learn them first.

Reply 7

JMarchant80

9

Can I please ask if there are any books anyone would recommend reading during this very long summer to prepare myself! Thinking of something along the lines of 'beginners guide to quantum physics' etc

Reply 8

Sinnoh

22

Original post by JMarchant80

Can I please ask if there are any books anyone would recommend reading during this very long summer to prepare myself! Thinking of something along the lines of 'beginners guide to quantum physics' etc

Go through any decent online Python course. If you're already proficient in Python, do MATLAB or C++.

I wouldn't recommend buying physics books as a way of preparing yourself, because either a) it's aimed at a general audience and therefore not really helpful for your course or b) a textbook that you'd be paying a lot for and getting for free from your uni library anyway. Theoretical Minimum series by Leonard Susskind is good though.

Physics and astrophysics Uni students ,

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