Curricular Guidance

• Physics 350: Biophysics
• Physics 433: Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics
• Physics 304: Physical Optics
• Physics 410: Advanced Topics and Experiments working with Prof. Metzler on biophysics research
• Biology 182: Molecules, Cells, and Genes
• Chemistry 263/264: Organic Chemistry
• Biology 204: Molecular Biology
• Biology 334/Math 334: Systems Biology

• Physics 451: Computational Physics
• Physics 458: Real-time Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
• Physics 410: Advanced Topics and Experiments working with Prof. Crotty on computational neuroscience research
• Computer Science 101-102: Introduction to Computing
• Math 308: Differential Equations
• Math 311: Partial Differential Equations
• Biology 334 / Math 334: Systems Biology

• Math 214: Linear Algebra
• Math 250: Number theory and mathematical reasoning
• Math 308: Differential Equations
• Math 311: Partial Differential Equations
• Math 313: Functions of a Complex Variable

• Physics 453: Solid State Physics
• Physics 433: Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics
• Physics 434: Quantum Mechanics
• Physics 410: Advanced Topics and Experiments working with Prof. Segall or Prof. Parks on condensed matter physics experiments

In addition to upper-level physics electives, choose:

• English 365: Science and Nature Writing
• English 379: Literary Journalism

• Physics 453: Solid State Physics
• Physics 433: Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics
• Physics 410: Advanced Topics and Experiments working with Prof. Tseng wastewater treatment or Prof. Parks on home insulation experiments
• CORE 128: Global Change and You or CORE 101: Energy and Sustainability
• Economics 328: Natural Resource Economics
• Environmental Studies 240: Sustainability: Science and Analysis
• Environmental Studies 242: Sustainable Urbanism: Energy and Design
• Environmental Studies 336: Renewable Energy:  Research and Implementation
• Environmental Studies 390: Community-based Study of Environmental Issues

• Physics 433: Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics
• Physics 451: Computational Physics
• Physics 458: Real-time Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
• Economics 375: Applied Econometrics
• Economics 378: Mathematical Economics

Future engineers at Colgate have several great options to choose from, including cooperative plans with several prestigious engineering schools. Students interested in this program can review a sample course schedule.

In addition to taking a wide variety of physics courses, students should complete Basic Studio, Drawing, Sculpture, and an Architecture Studio course.

Colgate offers three paths to teacher certification: a normal four-year degree, a ninth semester, and a masters in teaching.  Students in both the ninth semester and the MAT receive significant aid from Colgate.  The ninth semester is tuition-free, and the MAT has an 80% tuition reduction.  Sample schedules are found further down on this web page, and more information can be found at the teacher preparation program website.  Students with questions are encouraged to contact Prof. Beth Parks in the Department of Physics and Astronomy or Prof. Meg Gardner, the Director of the Teacher Education Program.

[Make our names link to our faculty web pages, and make the Teacher Education Program link to its site.

There are no specific course requirements for law school admission. However, to the extent that many legal cases involving physics arise from today's most important technologies, you might especially wish to take:

• Physics 434: Quantum Mechanics
• Physics 304: Optics
• Physics 453: Solid State Physics

The sample schedules show ways to fill the requirements for majors within the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The schedules use these terms:

Physics or physics/astronomy elective: These can be satisfied by any 300- or 400-level course in physics or astronomy, with some restrictions as noted in the course catalog.

Elective: This can usually be any course at all; you need it to fill the requirement of 32 credits to graduate. Some are listed as “optional elective” because P&A students will have enough laboratory credits to allow them to take slightly fewer than 32 courses. Some of the electives will be used to fill the requirements for the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum.

There are three Liberal Arts Core Components: Communities, Conversations, and Sciences, and students choose three from a limited range of courses designed specifically to fulfill these requirements. Some FSEMs fill these requirements. They cannot be filled by transfer courses or AP credit. These are listed as CORE in the sample schedules. They should be completed by the end of the sophomore year. Juniors and seniors cannot pre-register for CORE courses, so students who still need to fill the requirement in their final two years may have extremely limited options that are offered at inconvenient times.

There are five Liberal Arts Practices: Confronting Collective Challenges, The Process of Writing, Quantitative and Algorithmic Reasoning, Language Study, and Artistic Practice and Interpretation. Students in a P&A major will fulfill Quantitative and Algorithmic Reasoning through their major coursework. The other four requirements are likely to be filled through normal academic curiosity.

Areas of Inquiry: Students take one course from each of three Areas of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression, Social Relations, Institutions, and Agents, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Students in a P&A major will fulfill Natural Sciences and Mathematics through their major coursework.

A course may simultaneously satisfy the Liberal Arts Practices requirement and an Area of Inquiry requirement. Most students will fill the Areas of Inquiry requirement while filling the Liberal Arts Practices, so the total number of electives used to fill requirements is 3 Liberal Arts Core Components + 4 Liberal Arts Practices = 7 courses. The Process of Writing requirement may be fulfilled by a course that simultaneously fulfills another Liberal Arts Practice requirement, so by carefully choosing courses, all these requirements can be filled in 6 elective courses.

This schedule will be used by students who start in Math 161 (Calculus I) and do not accelerate to Calculus III in the spring semester.

See the “Guide to general Colgate requirements and terminology” for more information about the requirements in this schedule, including how electives should be used to fill other Colgate requirements.

This schedule is possible for students who enter with credit for Math 161 (Calculus I) or who earn at least a grade of B- in Math 161 and are allowed to move directly to Math 163.

See the “Guide to general Colgate requirements and terminology” for more information about the requirements in this schedule, including how electives should be used to fill other Colgate requirements.

See the “Guide to general Colgate requirements and terminology” for more information about the requirements in this schedule, including how electives should be used to fill other Colgate requirements.

Since the astrogeophysics requirements span several departments, the ordering of the courses can be easily re-arranged. For example, a student might start with an interest in geology and complete courses in geology and mathematics in his/her first year, and then take physics courses in later years. The schedule below may not be possible for all students because not every course is offered in every year. Students should therefore consult with their advisors to map out their course schedules.

This schedule takes advantage of lab credits gained in other semesters to allow the student to take reduced loads both semesters (3.75 credits in the fall and 3.5 credits in the spring). Note that students who choose this option cannot go abroad in the spring of their junior year because they need to take Physics 336 while on campus.

This approach is not recommended for students who know in their first year that they may be interested in a physics major. Many upper-level physics courses are offered only in alternate years, so students who don’t complete the sophomore-level courses until their junior year will only have fewer options in choosing their advanced classes. Also it may be quite challenging to study abroad because it is hard to find courses equivalent to Physics 205 and Physics 334 that you will need to take in your junior year.

If you realize after your first semester that you are interested in a physics major, it may sometimes be possible for you to enroll in Physics 232 in the spring semester. Please speak with the instructor and/or the department chair. You will need to take an extra upper-level course in order to complete the major, but the advantage is that you will be able to take both years of upper-level physics electives.

But, for those who don’t get started in their first year, it is still possible to complete the major in this way. Some graduate schools will allow students to enroll in undergraduate classes to make up for classes they missed. Better late than never!

This schedule includes extra math courses—take as many as you can—and suggests that in addition to the fundamental sequence Physics 431-432-433-434, you also enroll in as many physics electives as possible in order to discover areas you’d like to study in graduate school. Check with the math department to see which courses will be offered in which semesters. Note that if you complete Math 250 in addition to these courses, you are eligible for a minor concentration in applied mathematics.
Students who enter with calculus credit or who are able to advance to Math 163 in the spring of their first years will be able to complete Physics 205 in the fall of their second year.

You’ll find additional helpful guidance on our health sciences advising page and by talking to the health sciences advisors. Elective courses should normally include psychology, sociology, statistics, and English, and biochemistry is recommended. These courses may need to be chosen carefully in order to also fill some of the Liberal Arts Practices including Confronting Collective Challenges and The Process of Writing.

This schedule assumes that the student has no AP credit in chemistry or math, and also wants to complete all the pre-med requirements by the end of junior year in order to be able to take MCATs before senior year. (Students with more advanced high school chemistry courses may be able to enroll in Chemistry 111 instead of Chemistry 101/102. These students should take Biology 182 in the spring of their first year.)

Students can gain flexibility by postponing some of these courses to the senior year and planning to spend a year gaining other experiences while applying to medical school. Students who want even more flexibility might consider the Physical Science major, since it’s possible to fill all the Physical Science requirements and pre-medical requirements in a total of 17 courses.

For maximum flexibility, consider enrolling in a “post-baccalaureate” program in which you can complete pre-medical requirements in a one-year program.

You’ll find some general guidance and a description of the pre-engineering program on our pre-professional planning page. 

This schedule prepares students to enter an engineering program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Washington University (St. Louis), or Columbia University. At the conclusion of the five-year program, students will earn a B.A. degree from Colgate University as well as an undergraduate engineering degree from the cooperating institution.

It is also very common for students to complete a four-year degree at Colgate and then earn a master's degree in engineering in 1.5–2 years. There are no universal formal requirements for these programs, although the schedule below is a useful starting point. Additional physics electives that are particularly useful for engineers include Physics 451: Computational Physics, and other courses related to their area of interest within engineering, such as biophysics, electromagnetism, or optics. Colgate students are normally very successful in gaining admission to master's programs in engineering and related fields.

This is the basic schedule, and would work for 3-2 programs in electrical engineering or mechanical engineering. Some areas of engineering require additional courses. For example, chemical and biomedical engineering require additional chemistry courses, and environmental engineering requires both chemistry and environmental studies coursework. Some of the liberal arts electives taken outside the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics may not fulfill the requirement of non-technical courses to be taken for the engineering program at Columbia.  Pre-engineering students are encouraged to consult with the pre-engineering adviser as early in their careers as possible.

Certification Program to Teach High School Physics (4-year completion)

It is important for students interested in certification to consult with the education department as soon as possible in order to ensure that they will be able to fulfill the certification requirements.

 This schedule assumes that the student is initially placed into Calculus II (162).  Adjustments can be made for students who initially enroll in Calculus I.

 The provisional certification earned through this program allows the holder to teach for 5 years, during which time the masters degree must be earned.

 NYS teacher certification is recognized in 47 of the 50 states.  (The other 3 states review the candidates’ records before awarding certification.)

Certification Program to Teach High School Physics (includes 9^th semester)

The ninth semester is offered tuition-free.  The student is responsible only for housing, food, and miscellaneous expenses. 

The provisional certification earned through this program allows the holder to teach for 5 years, during which time the masters degree must be earned.  NYS teacher certification is recognized in 47 of the 50 states.  (The other 3 states review the candidates’ records before awarding certification.)

 It is important for students interested in certification to consult with the education department as soon as possible in order to ensure that they will be able to fulfill the certification requirements.

Certification Program to Teach High School Physics with M.A.T. (5 years)

The MAT year is subsidized at 80% tuition, so the student is responsible only for 20% tuition plus housing and miscellaneous expenses. 

 NYS teacher certification is recognized in 47 of the 50 states.  (The other 3 states review the candidates’ records before awarding certification.)

 It is important for students interested in certification to consult with the education department as soon as possible in order to ensure that they will be able to fulfill the certification requirements.

Look up the requirements for a physics or astronomy-physics major at most colleges, and you’ll discover that the real question you should be asking is, “How does Colgate manage to give me so much flexibility in choosing courses in my final two years?” Physics is a highly structured discipline, and each course builds on content and techniques learned in previous courses. At most colleges, this results in an extremely rigid schedule, with very limited opportunities for electives. At Colgate, we have worked hard to design upper-level courses that can be taken in any order, and with prerequisites limited to the sophomore-level courses. This gives students freedom to design a concentration program that best suits their interests.

It is sometimes advisable to delay some of your Core requirements until your junior or senior year. This is not a decision to be made lightly, since upper-class students cannot preregister for Core classes, so you may end up in a class that meets at 7:55 a.m. on MWF, or one whose topic just doesn’t excite you. But for some students, this is the best option.

You can have it all, just not all at once. You’re going to have to make some decisions about what you want first. Start by asking yourself some questions. Why do you want to complete both majors? You don’t necessarily have to complete all the requirements for a major in order to find a job in that area or study it in graduate school. What flexibility do you have? There are post-baccalaureate programs for students who want to complete pre-med requirements after graduation, and summer courses can give more flexibility, as well. You can also gain international experience by finding an international summer internship or applying for an international fellowship such as a Fulbright, rather than going on a Colgate study group.

Physics 410, Advanced Topics and Experiments, is the senior capstone course for physics and astronomy-physics majors. All students are given the opportunity to work individually with a faculty member on an independent research project. Students will describe the results of their research in a professional-style paper and also in several talks, culminating in a symposium at the end of the semester. In some cases, the projects may lead to publications or presentations at professional meetings and conferences.

Students who wish to continue their research projects, either for honors or for course credit, may be able to do so in the spring semester. In some years, as many as half the students choose to do so.

Prerequisites are Physics 233 or less
Physics 350: Biophysics, Spring odd years (2019)
Astronomy 313: Planetary Science, Fall even years (2018)
Astronomy 416: Galactic and Extra-galactic Astronomy, Spring odd years (2019)

Prerequisites are Physics 233 or less and Physics 205
Physics 304: Physical Optics, Spring even years (2018)
Physics 432: Electromagnetism, Spring (2018)

Prerequisite is Physics 334
Physics 431: Classical Mechanics, Fall (2018)
Physics 433: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, Fall (2018)
Physics 434: Quantum Mechanics, Spring (2018)
Physics 451: Computational Mechanics, Fall even years (2018)
Physics 453: Solid State Physics, Fall odd years (2019)
Physics 456: Relativity and Cosmology, Spring odd years (2019)
Astronomy 414: Astrophysics, Spring even years (2018)

Prerequisite is Math 308 or Physics 431
Physics 448: Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Spring even years (2018)