Can anyone who is - or is going to be - taking a Physics degree recommend good universities for the subject? I'm particularly interested in the Cambridge route where you can take Mathematics with Physics, then from the second year you're given the choice to just take Physics for the rest of the degree. Would this be a good viable option for someone who would like to study Physics?
Yes and no, you do NatSci in the first year but you have to choose a stupid wild module (like studying rocks... WHY!!) But other than that, it is an amazing uni. My sister graduated from there with a First and a Masters in Physics with Maths. (damn her) UCL/Duhram would also be good unis.
'nother vote for UCL! whoo! i did CS there but they have an excellent physics department. and the culture at UCL is just amazing. one of the most friendly, laid back unis in london there is.
manchester gets my vote, excellent physics department. Plus its where the nature of the atom was discovered! Great city too! It might be worth checking out the guardians website, they have a lot of data complied into tables so you can directly compare your uni choices to see whats best.
GF goes to UCL and does medical physics (basically physics) and says the course is good. She doesn't like the expense of London though! I definitely don't think its as laid back as any other universities simply because it costs so damn much to go out! I'm at Manchester and lived with a Physicist last year. He got picked to work at CERN this summer because of Manchester's strength in the physics field. He also enjoyed his course I think both universities would be good bets.
£120 a week for student accommodation is expensive! My girlfriend already owes more money than me in debt and she's 2 years into a course and i'm finished. We have the same lifestyle, and i probably spend more on silly computer bits No matter how the university spins it you are going to end up owing a lot more money if you go to a London university. It all depends on if you believe the degree or perceived status of your degree is worth the extra cash. In my opinion its not. For the record Manchester also has 3 unions. MMU, North UMSU (UMIST) and South UMSU (UoM).
Belfast is fantastic for research but having just finished second year I'm not that happy with the teaching... having said that they completely revised the second year course this year so maybe we're just guinea pigs and by the time you reach second year it'll all be peachy
Manchester, Cambridge and UCL are about the best place for Physics. I love Manchester, so I'm here and loving it to bits! All you could need in a town (excitement, fantastic night-life, great music venues), without the expense of London, and the snobbery of Cambridge/Oxford. In the end you make the place you study - if you go expecting to have a crap time, you'll have a crap time (as my girlfriend did with Liverpool U for a while, until she got herself sorted). The only thing I'll say with the program itself is that you have to really like Physics to commit yourself - it's not a course to half-heartedly do, because it gets very heavy, very quickly.
I've been reading up on this and there are a few places that are good. Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, Imperial (considering that one), Manchester, Durham, Surrey, etc. Whatever you pick you can't go too far wrong, there's not many unis doing physics these days.
Yep, I agree with that, I really enjoyed physics, but nearing the end of my A-levels my interest was starting to waiver a bit. When I went to uni to study physics, I just found the second semester to be horrible (partly due to my lecturers being boring).
Edinburgh uni isnt too bad, its top of the league tables for physics at the moment but I think thats more to do with research. Its a hard course and some of the teaching isn't great (but thats more of the maths stuff at the moment). On the other hand it /is/ a good course and the city is amazing - you get so much support from staff in form of written notes, online things to help you and they appear to take student suggestions into account. Also one of the several student unions here was the first purpose built SU in the world - and did I mention its a castle with turrets and all ? Best reason to come to edinburgh uni
Don't bother with a Scottish Uni, they aren't bad but you have to study for a year longer as the first year is just catching up with A level maths (that is because Scottish Unis only ask for Highers and you need to do Advanced Highers for English Unis). Sorry to thread hijack, but what do people think are good Unis for Mechanical Engineering with a view to getting into the automotive sector (F1 if I am good enough). I am considering Southampton at the moment, but it is miles away from home in Scotland.
you should go to Oxford brookes. numero uno for motor sport and they have the best student team in the country!
If you get good ALevels you can fast track straight into second year - though most people <3 the extra year
I <3 free uni I did physics in the first year of my electronics engineering course at Edinburgh and I really enjoyed it. I only had it for one semester so I'm not sure if the lecturers keep up the enthusiasm. Oh yeah, and Edinburgh is great!
The extra year at a scottish uni was great. Made the shift from school to uni a lot easier as there wasn't such a hugh leap in workload and understanding. Then again I was pretty much the last year to get the whole course paid for by the government.
SOTON (Southampton) Have a great Physics Dept. Other than that, Cambridge over Oxford for Physics any day, despite the slightly bizarre course structuring for sciences (What? You don't actually choose what science your going to study until year 2?)
