Physics and
Astronomy are the sciences that study why and how the universe works.
The
Department of Physics and Astronomy offers a major and minor in physics, and a
minor in astronomy. In addition, the Department offers on a regular basis at
least ten different courses a year appropriate to fulfill Dickinson graduation
requirements.
The Physics
program is designed to meet the needs of several types of students: those preparing
for graduate school in Physics, Astronomy, Engineering, or related fields;
those preparing for careers in fields in that require some technical expertise
and background, but not planning on attending graduate school; those preparing
for medical school or a career in the biological sciences; and those who wish
to study Physics or Astronomy out of interest, but have no professional
aspirations in the field.
Introductory courses that fulfill distribution
requirements
The following courses help satisfy either the Division IIIor
the Quantitative Reasoning requirements (i.e., one course cannot satisfy both
at the same time):Astronomy courses
PHYS 109 & PHYS 110, Astronomy
w/lab
Physics courses
PHYS 131
& PHYS 132, Introductory Physics
(calculus-based course)
PHYS 141
& PHYS 142, Physics for the Life
Sciences (algebra-based course)
Course offered by the
Physics faculty
SCIE 101, Scientific
Investigations (a.k.a. Explorations in Physics)
Information for students not
planning to major or minor in Physics or minor in Astronomy: It
is strongly advised that students who are not planning to major
in Physics but are interested in Physics or Astronomy take PHYS 109/110, PHYS
131/132, or SCIE 101 as first-year students, when they will have the best
chance of being admitted to an introductory class. Upper-class students have greatly
diminished chances of being admitted to these classes, due to the
priorities the Department has set.
PHYS
141 and PHYS 142 are especially designed for students who are interested in
health-related careers.
Information for potential
Physics majors, Physics minors, and Astronomy minors:
The introductory course
for those students planning to major or minor in Physics or to minor in
astronomy is PHYS 131, Introductory
Physics, which is always offered in the fall. Students are strongly
advised to take this course preferably as first-year students and definitely no
later than the sophomore year. The student will take PHYS 132 the following spring semester. Students intending to
pursue the College’s 3-2 Pre-Engineering program must take PHYS 131 and PHYS
132 during their first year.
In unusual circumstances,
a prospective major may take PHYS 141 as the introductory course; the student
should consult the Physics and Astronomy chair.
Students starting the Physics major in their sophomore
year (or who plan to go abroad): While the ideal mode of completing the Physics
major is over four years, many students have either started the major at the
beginning of their sophomore year or spent a year abroad (in either case,
taking three years to complete the major).
However,
this takes careful planning in close consultation with the student’s academic advisor
and should be done as soon as the student decides to major or go abroad.
Course descriptions, requirements for the major refer to the College Bulletin: Physics and Astronomy.
Additional remarks
Careers: About 60% of our graduates in the last 10
years have graduated from, or are currently enrolled in, graduate or
professional schools. Twenty percent
have received Ph.D. degrees or are in a Ph.D. program; 33% have received an
M.S. or are in an M.S. program; and 6% are enrolled in or have completed
medical or dental programs. Our
graduates have attended over 20 different graduate schools including Cornell,
Purdue, MIT, Penn State, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Univ. of Texas, and
Bryn Mawr. Some occupations of our
recent graduates (with or without advanced degrees) include university or
college professors, research associate in private industry, assistant planetarium
director, Army and Navy researcher, design engineer, and medical physicist.
It has been
found that Physics majors have the highest acceptance rate into medical school
and law school.
Engineering: In conjunction with Case Western Reserve
University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), a student can enter the
field of engineering through the 3/2 binary engineering program. After three years at Dickinson and two years
at one of these engineering schools, a graduate will receive a B.S. degree from
Dickinson and a B.S. degree from the engineering school. For more information, see the Pre-Engineering
section of this handbook.