Physics

[KSU2015]

......sucks. And I hate it. mad: I hope some other pre-vet students feel the same!

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[psilovethomas]

......sucks. And I hate it. mad: I hope some other pre-vet students feel the same!

I struggled with physics...a lot. I spent many nights crying tears of frustration while trying to complete homework problems. Ugh. But, you just gotta get through it. It will actually come in handy during vet school!

There are some useful videos on youtube to help understand some concepts you might have trouble with. I find it helpful to see a demonstration of the concept I am trying to learn instead of just reading numbers and formulas.

 

[Foxhunter]

......sucks. And I hate it. mad: I hope some other pre-vet students feel the same!

Physics is the tits. Get outta here with your physics hating. It is crucial to understanding everything about the world around and inside us.

Love,
A Former Physics TA
A Biophysics Major
Someone who studies Cosmology for fun
A math nerd who loves calculus too.

 

[DVMDream]

It will actually come in handy during vet school!

It does? When?


I hated physics... it better not come back around...

 

[Foxhunter]

It does? When?


I hated physics... it better not come back around...

Cardiopulmonary physiology.

Plus a basic understanding of how tons of equipment is working.

 

[orca2011]

It does? When?


I hated physics... it better not come back around...

Some of it has appeared in neuro and radiology. We didn't have to know the equations or anything for tests, but it was in our notes.

I hated physics the first time I took it (high school) and liked it the second time.

 

[SocialStigma]

Yep. Physics is the worst (except for maybe organic chemistry).

 

[DVMDream]

Cardiopulmonary physiology.

Plus a basic understanding of how tons of equipment is working.

Ok... I do see it slightly with cardiopulm... but I don't know.. seemed easy.. I just didn't like all of the forces and electrical circuit crap in physics and the if you have a ball rolling down a ramp at x speed, blah blah...

Some of it has appeared in neuro and radiology. We didn't have to know the equations or anything for tests, but it was in our notes.

I hated physics the first time I took it (high school) and liked it the second time.

I haven't noticed it in neuro... we haven't done radiology yet.. that is next year for us. We also haven't had to remember any of the equations for exams so maybe that is why I haven't really noticed it.

 

[Foxhunter]

ACTION POTENTIALS. Had a whole six week section of a class on ACTION POTENTIALS and calculating them....

 

[DVMDream]

ACTION POTENTIALS. Had a whole six week section of a class on ACTION POTENTIALS and calculating them....

I never learned about those in physics.. those were introduced in biology and animal physiology... never once were they mentioned in physics.

 

[kakurubird]

I don't like my intro physics class right now because it's boring and slow and I think if I had a good calculus refresher, I would rather a calc-based class because that's what physics is based on, but right now I'm enjoying doing this the easy way.

The idea of where you could go with all this stuff (esp. the non-kinematics stuff) is really cool and I'm also really interested in imaging, so that probably influences me some.

So, I'm like half-way between foxhunter and like everyone else here, I guess?

Physics is the tits. Get outta here with your physics hating. It is crucial to understanding everything about the world around and inside us.

Love,
A Former Physics TA
A Biophysics Major
Someone who studies Cosmology for fun
A math nerd who loves calculus too.

side note: when i was in elementary school, i had a lot of trouble keeping cosmology and cosmetology differentiated. made for a few interesting conversations between my father and me.

 

[EngrSC]

I actually have a physics question ...

I took a 3 semester sequence of calculus based physics and did awesome in the first and second semesters but not so much in the third. The professor was a dinosaur and required us to memorize equations for the exams and we had no homework. Passing that class with a C was a miracle!

So now that I'm trying to get into vet school I am kicking myself over that C. The schools I am looking at only require 2 semesters but do you think it would benefit me to retake the third?? The third was all optics

 

[Bill59]

When you get down to the basics, everything is physics. But in medicine physics is most important in radiology and radiation oncology. Understanding x-rays ultrasound, CT, nuclear medicine and MRI requires understanding some basic physics (although MRI involves some pretty advanced concepts). Radiation oncology also has a lot of physics.

Gas exchange, fluid flow and pressure are involved in cardiology, pulmonology, anesthesia, treatment of shock and a lot of other areas. You don't need a physics degree to learn any of this but some basic concepts from an undergraduate physics course can be pretty helpful.

 

[equineconstant]

I hated physics last semester. It was incredibly slow and boring (since I'd had physics in high school) except when it was frustratingly hard to do the homework. I like it much better this semester now that we're doing new stuff. Or maybe it's just that I hate calculus (which I dropped, yay!) and my thesis more.

 

[kernel]

Physics is the tits.

Seconded. It helps if you have a good professor, as with any subject, but I've found that for physics it doesn't really matter for me. I love it. MATHS. ERMAHGERD.

 

[Frozenshades]

Blech, I never really considered the prospect of needing to know any physics in vet school. Haven't done physics since high school.

 

[saltshaker007]

I HATE PHYSICS!!!!!!!! I'm actually extremely nervous that I may not pass it.....

 

[wildowl]

Seconded. It helps if you have a good professor, as with any subject, but I've found that for physics it doesn't really matter for me. I love it. MATHS. ERMAHGERD.

A good professor makes all the difference! My professor for Physics I used examples from movies and why they don't make scientific sense.. and demonstrated how blasting a fire extinguisher will make you go backwards in a desk chair with wheels He also uses dry ice to keep his beers cold. He makes me actually miss physics!

 

[Foxhunter]

I never learned about those in physics.. those were introduced in biology and animal physiology... never once were they mentioned in physics.

It was a biophysics course co listed as a grad course. I'm a nerd.

 

[bbeventer]

Blech, I never really considered the prospect of needing to know any physics in vet school. Haven't done physics since high school.

Really? Wasn't it a pre-req?

Remembering some physics does some in handing during cardio pulmonary, and some imaging.

 

[kakurubird]

Really? Wasn't it a pre-req?

AP credit perhaps?

 

[bbeventer]

AP credit perhaps?

2 years of it? Must be a fancy high school

 

[MarxistPreVet]

Physics is the tits. Get outta here with your physics hating. It is crucial to understanding everything about the world around and inside us.

Are you me?! I'm thinking about dual-majoring in some kind of physics or math, I love it so much.

 

[Frozenshades]

2 years of it? Must be a fancy high school

My first and only physics class was AP physics B. Passing the exam gave me 8 hours of credit; don't need any more than that

AP credit perhaps?

Yup.

 

[bbeventer]

My first and only physics class was AP physics B. Passing the exam gave me 8 hours of credit; don't need any more than that

Nice! I think my high school only offered like algebra 2 as AP.... we were a small school

 

[485501]

I like physics the subject, but dear lord did I hate my physics class in undergrad. The lecturers were not great, most of the labs were frustratingly slow, the textbook was the second-worst textbook I have ever come across, and since it was the "for non-majors" (trig-based rather than calc-based) physics, no one there wanted to study more physics. Everyone was there either to get their natural sciences/math requirement out of the way and therefore didn't care so long as they passed, or were pre-vet or pre-med, and were therefore taking a bunch of other much more intense classes and would mostly zone out through class. Hardly any of us tried to engage with the lecturer or the material at all. I don't think I would have gotten through second semester except the TA was a friend of mine and we would write jokes to each other via my homework that he corrected and my lab notebook that he checked.

 

[ViaBea]

I love math, especially calculus

However, I hated physics most of the time when I took it in high school and college. Physics was the only class that I really struggled in during high school, and then, in college, I just really wasn't motivated for it. In class, my professor would mainly do problems the whole time and talk to us with his back to the class.

 

[Frozenshades]

Nice! I think my high school only offered like algebra 2 as AP.... we were a small school

Thanks! Yeah I was lucky in that regard going to a big school; lots of choices. I started with 29 credit hours from all the APs I took, and had more on top of that I didn't need or use; skipped out on several vet school prerequisite courses. Even though I'm lazy and won't be graduating I got pretty close in 3 years

 

[kakurubird]

oh, and I took an optics class (just one semester) in high school and we did lots of ray-tracing (which for some reason I remembered before starting it all again now and this class was like 6 or 7 years ago) and we made kaleidoscopes and cameras (not pin-hole at first, but we did convert eventually to get some images that weren't blurry--i completely understand why everyone is so serious-looking in old pictures) and then developed our pictures in a blackroom. and we did some pretty awesome other things I don't remember. but it made optics cool to me. it was kind of super super awesome.

and that's the extent of my physics enthusiasm.

 

[dyachei]

I used to not like physics until I found someone who could teach it. Then I got an astrophysics minor.

While you don't NEED to get the nitty gritty stuff in vet school, it certainly makes concepts a lot easier.

 

[felinelvr44]

I despise physics. It doesn't come easily to me and my professor is no beuno. This is her first time teaching the course and she has a thick Mexican accent.

 

[Suomi]

I hated physics initially. I struggled through the first term, but survived. The second quarter of it, though, I nose-dived. Electricity and circuits will never make complete sense to me. I withdrew and retook the term the year after with a new professor and did far better (A-). Third term I actually enjoyed and did very well in. I think it just takes a while to adapt to that way of thinking for some of us. Blunt memorization just doesn't work in this class.
As far as retaking it for a better grade, not really sure it's worth it honestly, especially since the class you want to retake is technically not necessary. A "C" won't make or break your chances unless retaking it will significantly improve your GPA.

 

[Kpowell14]

I actually have a physics question ...

I took a 3 semester sequence of calculus based physics and did awesome in the first and second semesters but not so much in the third. The professor was a dinosaur and required us to memorize equations for the exams and we had no homework. Passing that class with a C was a miracle!

So now that I'm trying to get into vet school I am kicking myself over that C. The schools I am looking at only require 2 semesters but do you think it would benefit me to retake the third?? The third was all optics

I wouldn't worry about it. I got a C in the second part of physics and still got into my dream school just make sure you do good in most of your other classes ,do good on the GRE , and have good experiences!

 

[deleted497320]

I understand that physics is important and really kinda cool. BUT IT'S SO FREAKING HARD, for me at least. And since it's my last pre-req aka my last hoop to jump through, I just can't help but hate it.

Khan Academy is *immensely* helpful for learning the concepts if you have a less-than-stellar professor. (like I do)

 

[TooLove]

I think a huge factor in me disliking physics in undergrad was the fact that exams were held from 6-9 PM on Sundays.

 

[Trematode]

I got a 68 in a 6-credit algebra-based physics course

I don't know if it was because I sucked at math or couldn't handle roommate stress that year.

Whatever it was... I feel ya. It's hard. I did have an awesome prof though. And my group won first place at the science fair with our project on magnetism and eddy currents.

 

[felinelvr44]

Bumping this to ask about everyone's study habits for physics. I was just reading cloverbug's awesome advice on the rant here thread about "Sometimes you have to change how you study, not how much you do" and physics immediately came to mind. I am having a hard time with Physics II this semester - I know it's partly motivation issues since it's my last pre-req to finish but I also feel like the way I've studied for bio and chem in the past just isn't working for this class. My professor is... well, she's really nice but a really awful teacher. She doesn't explain why or how anything works the way it does, just basically rewrites what's in the book onto an overhead. So I essentially feel like I'm teaching this to myself. Any tips besides the general "just do lots of problems?" Say you were opening your book up to a new chapter - how would you learn/study it from the beginning to the end?

Thanks guys

 

[KCgophervet]

Bumping this to ask about everyone's study habits for physics. I was just reading cloverbug's awesome advice on the rant here thread about "Sometimes you have to change how you study, not how much you do" and physics immediately came to mind. I am having a hard time with Physics II this semester - I know it's partly motivation issues since it's my last pre-req to finish but I also feel like the way I've studied for bio and chem in the past just isn't working for this class. My professor is... well, she's really nice but a really awful teacher. She doesn't explain why or how anything works the way it does, just basically rewrites what's in the book onto an overhead. So I essentially feel like I'm teaching this to myself. Any tips besides the general "just do lots of problems?" Say you were opening your book up to a new chapter - how would you learn/study it from the beginning to the end?

Thanks guys

I'm taking Physics II this semester as well, however it's a fully online class. That has meant I basically have to teach myself. In my textbook at the end of each chapter is a small summary of each section along with what new equations are covered. I usually start by going through and writing down those summaries and then move on to practice problems. I have assigned homework problems to accomplish, so I basically just do those and generally have to look up in the actual chapter a bit of information in order to do the problems. So, basically, I just focus on the summary and only delve into the in depth stuff if I'm having trouble. Not sure if it helps, but I got a 97% on my midterm and all I did for studying was to rewrite those little summaries and do a crap ton of practice problems.

Honestly, I think reading through the chapters (how I started this semester) just ended up boring and confusing me, whereas focusing on the main points helped me stay interested enough to get done what I needed to get done. I know it probably works differently for each person but that's what works for me! Good luck this semester!

 

[adams30]

for me I find that really understanding the concepts deep down is what helps me do well in physics.

The way physics is taught here is very challenging and the exams are tough!

Practice problems help but they ALWAYS come up with different ones so the way to do well is by going over concepts. I think if you study the concepts and really try to understand in detail why things work the way they do then that will help you do well on problems.

I also try to visualize physics and that helps me learn too.

 

[felinelvr44]

Thanks for the responses! I might try the summary approach first because it's usually the details I get tripped up with/confused by.

 

[saltshaker007]

PASSED PHYSICS!!

 

[NeonMountaineer]

I like physics concepts, and I like math, but I don't like doing math in physics.

 

[LetItSnow]

Physics != Tits



Tits = Tits