Physics pre-req tough!

[Dr IWannaBe]

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Hey guys, I am in my 3rd week of physics and it seems very difficult! Does everything somehow come together during the semester? I took it as my first pre-req because I have to work around my schedule. I almost felt, after I bombed my second quiz, that I wasn't cut out for Dentistry and science!! Can somebody give me some encouraging news??!!??!!


33 year old pre-dent with a beautiful wife and 3 little ones. DMD-2012

 

[Fat_Man]

I've been a TA for a general physics course for 8 years and at the end of the semester I always like to ask the students how many of them decided to no longer persue health education careers after taking physics. You'd be surprized how many change plans simply because of physics.

Yes, it is hard, but luckily for dental school, you only have to take it, not remember it!

 

[djktennis]

Hey guys, I am in my 3rd week of physics and it seems very difficult! Does everything somehow come together during the semester? I took it as my first pre-req because I have to work around my schedule. I almost felt, after I bombed my second quiz, that I wasn't cut out for Dentistry and science!! Can somebody give me some encouraging news??!!??!!


33 year old pre-dent with a beautiful wife and 3 little ones. DMD-2012

Physics is tough no doubt. Wish I could say differently, but it's only going to get tougher. Wait until second semester.

 

[berryfremont]

depends on if you take trig or calc based....do a lot of practice problems...you will be fine

 

[coral2005]

I thought the first semester of Physics was the worst class I ever took. I was miserable and could not understand it...and even when I understood it, it was so boring and dry to me!! Second semester, in my opinion, is a lot better. There were fewer formulas, and the problems were more accessible to me because they made everyday sense!

Just hang in there...get help from your TA or instructor, and stay on top of anything you don't understand. Don't fall behind, because it just keeps building up on itself.

Good luck!!

 

[MolarMamma]

Hey guys, I am in my 3rd week of physics and it seems very difficult! Does everything somehow come together during the semester? I took it as my first pre-req because I have to work around my schedule. I almost felt, after I bombed my second quiz, that I wasn't cut out for Dentistry and science!! Can somebody give me some encouraging news??!!??!!


33 year old pre-dent with a beautiful wife and 3 little ones. DMD-2012

Physics was by far my worst subject. I even had to retake a quarter due to a bad grade. However, it did not stray me away from pursuing my goals. Stick with it, don't let one subject pull you back. It's going to be tough, believe me, I know...but if you stick with it, practice and, if needed, get some tutoring you will be fine. Good luck!

 

[Yellow Snow]

If you don't have a background in science then physics can be very disorienting as your first college level science class.

I graduated with a nonscience degree and came back to undergrad to take the dental prereqs. Physics was my first class and I had feelings very much like yours. I just kept pounding away and ended up with a B in the class.

I have now completed the general biology, general chemistry and half of the organic chem series and I am sitting on a 3.7 science gpa. Chemistry and Biology were much easier to make sense of. I finished off physics after general chemistry and that helped a lot.

Anyway, I wouldn't be discouraged, I don't think physics is a good measure of the other classes that you are going to have to take as prerequisites.

 

[darius99]

physics has about 1.2% in common with dentistry, so i wouldnt question my decision to become a dentist even if i was doing poorly in it (and i mean poorly, not this "OMG i might get a B!!!" definition of poor that predents have

 

[bpenly]

As a non-trad with a non-science background it is easy for me to say that Physics was the hardest class I took. Mind you this includes about 50 credits of science including a bunch of upper division classes. I took the first semester while taking four other science classes and I spent more time on Physics that the others combined. But you know what, even if you are not a gifted mathematician you can still do well. I ended up with an A first semester and a B second semester (just missed the A by two questions on my final exam). Physics was my only B in all my classes that I took as a returning student and nobody ever said anything about it in my interviews.

I really liked the concepts and believe that physics is important to understand, but the homework and problems were utter crap that you just have to sludge through. It certainly is not an indicator of your ability in biology or chemistry. It is really cool to understand concepts like electrical circuits, electromagnetism, and other things you'll see second semester.

 

[Comet208]

depends on if you take trig or calc based....do a lot of practice problems...you will be fine

Agreed. If you have a decent background in math, physics will be a lot easier. Go to the office hours and seek tutoring FROM NOW. Like most other science classes, the concepts build on each other as the course goes on, so you need a solid understanding of the basic concepts. Keep your eyes on the horizen and never give up.

 

[Toothinator]

As comet said, GO TO OFFICE HOURS!!! So many students don't take the benefit of office hours (I myself being one until recently). You will be amazed at how much more you understand when you are taught one on one. Good luck and don't lose hope.

 

[Dr IWannaBe]

Just wanna thank all of you for your encouraging words. I was always a good student in school but I felt like this was kicking my butt!! Thanks so much everyone. I'm off to work early this morning so I can work on some problems! Thanks.

 

[Sprgrover]

It's one of those hoops everyone has to jump through. Physics, for most, is not a cake walk. Keep at it, earn your grade, and then happily let that stuff slip from your mind as you will not have to recall that stuff for the DAT nor for dental school. 😉