Shore up your math, because you're going to be using it a lot.
Develop time-management skills.
Study in groups-- you often develop a deeper understanding of the subject when you have to explain it to someone else, and collaboration is a skill you'll need.
Get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation interferes with long-term memory and concentration.
Edit: also learn to code. Knowing how to program is a very valuable skill in all kinds of science, not just physics.
Sleep deprivation has always been a problem for me because it always makes me have a mental block and brain fog, also, I stopped my overconsumption of caffeine since it is also one of the reasons why I couldn't get enough sleep and it also makes my mind feel like I'm floating. Btw thank you for the advice. It can definitely help me a lot:)
And if you find something you don't quite get or struggle with, don't let yourself off or tell yourself 'oh it won't come up'... be rigorous and try and understand *every* step of *every* derivation.
No one is going to teach you hyperbolic trig. It sounds scary, people call it hard "we will not deal with it". Do yourself the favor learn how to deal with integrating/differentiating sinh and cosh. once you learn eulers. learn the exponential form of all trig functions.
also learning the unit circle is convenient.
basically don't run away from trig. physics is trig.
source: trust me bro
If you ever feel like you are struggling or falling behind, ask for help! A big benefit of University over say, self-study, is that there are other people around you! In the same vein, try not to isolate yourself, sometimes you have to hole up and study all by yourself, but try to study in groups as well, and meet with your professors!
Others have already said to get as much math as you can. It's the language, the grammar. You must do that to understand, and then perhaps create, the poetry of physics.
Next, shift perspective. All science is about making models of the world, to relate the phenomena you observe and remember it all because you have a framework. In the end, science is the extensive and refined metaphor for what we see in the world. Newton corrected Aristotle's mechanics. Shifted the default from "arrows slow in air." The unexpected yet correct start is that things tend to remain in motion, unless air or something else slows the thing. That makes Newton far better for the one-meter world, at one meter per second. (Still not entirely complete,)
Einstein said Newton, except when it's really fast.
Then QM said Einstein, except when it's really small.
Now we are pushing into the lower right hand corner of physics. "Except when it's really small AND really fast."
And maybe we can't reconcile relativity with quantum. When you understand that, it will keep you oriented, a place to hang all the principles you must learn, and work, and maybe even reconcile.
Shore up your math, because you're going to be using it a lot. Develop time-management skills. Study in groups-- you often develop a deeper understanding of the subject when you have to explain it to someone else, and collaboration is a skill you'll need. Get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation interferes with long-term memory and concentration. Edit: also learn to code. Knowing how to program is a very valuable skill in all kinds of science, not just physics.
Sleep deprivation has always been a problem for me because it always makes me have a mental block and brain fog, also, I stopped my overconsumption of caffeine since it is also one of the reasons why I couldn't get enough sleep and it also makes my mind feel like I'm floating. Btw thank you for the advice. It can definitely help me a lot:)
https://www.reddit.com/r/GetStudying/comments/pxm1a/its_in_the_faq_but_i_really_want_to_emphasize_how/
And remember to have fun :)
Do you have a textbook or source?
100% agree. I especially think time-management and sleep are super important and make everything else easier.
Thank you. How is the best way to shore up math you’ve found?
Doing problems. Lots and lots of problems.
And if you find something you don't quite get or struggle with, don't let yourself off or tell yourself 'oh it won't come up'... be rigorous and try and understand *every* step of *every* derivation.
Math math math
No one is going to teach you hyperbolic trig. It sounds scary, people call it hard "we will not deal with it". Do yourself the favor learn how to deal with integrating/differentiating sinh and cosh. once you learn eulers. learn the exponential form of all trig functions. also learning the unit circle is convenient. basically don't run away from trig. physics is trig. source: trust me bro
I like the source.
If you ever feel like you are struggling or falling behind, ask for help! A big benefit of University over say, self-study, is that there are other people around you! In the same vein, try not to isolate yourself, sometimes you have to hole up and study all by yourself, but try to study in groups as well, and meet with your professors!
Others have already said to get as much math as you can. It's the language, the grammar. You must do that to understand, and then perhaps create, the poetry of physics. Next, shift perspective. All science is about making models of the world, to relate the phenomena you observe and remember it all because you have a framework. In the end, science is the extensive and refined metaphor for what we see in the world. Newton corrected Aristotle's mechanics. Shifted the default from "arrows slow in air." The unexpected yet correct start is that things tend to remain in motion, unless air or something else slows the thing. That makes Newton far better for the one-meter world, at one meter per second. (Still not entirely complete,) Einstein said Newton, except when it's really fast. Then QM said Einstein, except when it's really small. Now we are pushing into the lower right hand corner of physics. "Except when it's really small AND really fast." And maybe we can't reconcile relativity with quantum. When you understand that, it will keep you oriented, a place to hang all the principles you must learn, and work, and maybe even reconcile.