VCE Stuff > VCE University of Melbourne Extension Program

UMEP Physics, yay or nay?

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schnappy:
Hey all,
Has anyone done UMEP physics and can comment on it? It's location is fine and I've heard good things of Sid Boydell... I'm considering doing it next year. What's actually on the syllabus for it? The website really isn't all informative on the difficulty level... MM is a pre-req (study score of 40) so I'm thinking it might actually involve a lot of maths which isn't my thing, but considering my intended career path may as well get over it now.

The only challenging VCE subjects I intend to do next year is chemstry... and further maths D:

Thoughts?

appianway:
Ooh, I do uni physics.

Dr Boydell is a legend. He's a great teacher and makes it interesting - irrespective of your skill level. If you're good, he'll go out of his way to find challenging things. If you're struggling, he'll try really hard to make you understand. He's fantastic. Thought I'd just say that :)

What's on the syllabus?

Semester 1:
+Mechanics
+Relativity
+Optics - physical and geometrical
+Waves

Semester 2... I don't really know because I haven't gone to any of our classes yet, but I'm presuming it's:
+Electromagnetism
+Thermodynamics
+Quantum
+Circuits
+Nuclear

The maths needed isn't insane. This is coming from me - the person who, despite doing generally OK in physics related things, is quite mediocre at maths. Maths doesn't come naturally to me as it does to some other people, probably because I don't do much (I don't do specialist or competition maths), but yet I'm doing fine in UMEP physics considering the amount of work I do (I'll do more this semester, I swear!). You can always go over the maths you need in advance. I'd recommend knowing how to do vector notation and how to integrate (and what integration actually means - try moments of inertia to get it into your head). The physics isn't complicated at ALL - it's about the same level as VCE physics, but just different content. If you're like me, you'll lose your marks for carelessness (although you're probably not as careless as me, so it's all OK).

Don't worry too much about the score requirements - if you're below them, you can just take a test (which most people do, as no one in the class did both methods and physics last year). Alternatively, if you sit the National Qualifying Exam for the Physics Olympiad (are you taking it? If not, it's no big deal) and score a high distinction, you can skip the test. That's what I did :)

You do lab in physics though, which is fun. :D I like lab xD

schnappy:
Thanks for a good response :) I got a notice from my school saying that they've paid for me to do it and so I think I'm expected to do it... looking at the passed ones though I'm not gonna do well in it. I'll give it a crack though.

I've often watched lectures on youtube and the like (MIT, UC Berk etc) on thermodynamics, and some other things ive been interested in... it definitely sounds like the sort of thing I'd like to do (Largely semester 2). Since I'll have a year of not doing any maths (except further) I'd like to keep my knowledge there.

Out of curiosity, how large is the class? I've noted on the UMEP site that Maths has a fair few classes, where as physics has only the one on a Thursday night at Scotch... Wondering if that's because there are not many people or there are a lot in that one class?

I'm hoping it won't be a large distraction from VCE, as I've tried to articulate it's largely out of my own interest... not really fussed about the 4-6 ATAR points contribution. Are the assessments/examination 'hard'? Akin to VCAA Physics exams? They're pretty easy...

The pre-entrance test you did, is that just based on the VCE3/4 syllabus? I'm expecting to get 35-40 in methods. I really don't like it... it's just so boring and seamingly pointless I've no motivation to really do well in it. Physics tends to just come to me though... most of it anyway.

Thanks :)

appianway:
It's free, so you don't need to pay... well, it is this year.

You don't really have lectures - it's on a Thursday night at Scotch, and it's more like a class. In saying that, the class moves through the content a lot faster than the uni students.

The class this year has 6 students, which I think is the smallest ever. There were about twice as many last year, I've heard. It's all OK though - we get along well.

It's not a distraction from VCE. I'm not sure how good my perspective is - after being involved in the olympiad program, I didn't really need to learn the content, but I don't think many people find that it's a lot of work. The assessments aren't hard - the tests are straightforward, but you don't have much time for them (in saying that, you can still get 100% if you're careful... which is the hard thing!), and the assignment would be fine if you didn't do it right before it was due. The exams aren't hard but they're long, so you need to be careful.

I didn't do the pre-entrance test because of my olympiad NQE results, but I've heard it's very, very basic. You probably need to be able to differentiate a function and do some basic kinematics. I've never heard of anyone failing it.

/0:
I would highly recommend UMEP Physics, it was a blast :)

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