astrophysics/physics help

There are a couple of OU modules that might interest him, but they are a bit pricey and he probably wouldn't want to do them as well as GCSE astronomy.

They are: Introducing Astronomy and How the Universe Works, but this last may be discontinued.

hullygully - have PM'd you due to identity-revelation paranoia.

Agree entirely with hogsback about advantages of physics.

I'll just add one final point that it is a bugbear that physics and physicists are viewed so often in a pejorative, nerdy way. There may be an element of nerdyness, but it's an absolutely fascinating, beautiful subject.

Mini-rant over.

Hullygully - I've ordered a load of these recommended books. Play.com is worth a look as their second hand books are often cheaper than amazon when you add postage.Got the Flatland one on kindle for 56p.
Also been on the local library website and ordered a selection for DS which won't cost me anything.

Fascinating thread!

HullyGully -

As might be apparent I did Physics - here's what a few of my friends from college have gone on to do:-

• Research physicist on Mars probes at NASA
• Senior lectureships/professorships in universities and research establishments worldwide - many with connections to CERN/SLAC/FermiLab/JET/ITER etc
• Chief aerodynamicist for a Formula 1 team
• Head trader for large US energy derivatives trading firm
• Senior consultants in consultancies like Accenture/BCG/Deloitte/Mckinsey
• City jobs - quantitative trading/risk analysis/derivatives pricing
• Research jobs in major aerospace firms (BAe/Lockheed etc)
• IT startups

Physics is a rock solid subject and gives you a fantastic grounding for working in just about any sector involving quantitative data and complex, abstract concepts. It's particularly useful in the financial sector as many of the mathematical concepts used there have parallels in Physics and the computing models used are also very familiar.

He'll probably want to do art history come this time next year.

Physics, Maths and further Maths!!!
I did maths (scrapped through) , physics, biology and chemistry. Studied the first year of the astrophysics course. Failed the maths exam twice and became a biologist (given I have an A and a distinction at S'level in biology I clearly should have done this first, but university applications don't work like that )
And yes a little bit off me still looks up at the night sky and would love to be researching its mysteries (my user-name is a bit of a give away), however I did meet DH and without him there would be no DC and I would be filling the dishwasher not MNing )

Under Scottish system (highers) I did maths, physics, chemistry and English. I then went on to do physics (to post grad level) however I think doing English was great. I have a passion for literature and my writing skills (much underrated/hated side to some scientists) are probably considerably better as a result.

Physics is a great choice of degree btw, it has opened many, many v interesting (and not particulary obvious) doors for me.

Astronomy is quite an unusual GCSE, dd is doing it and really enjoying it - no other subject requires homework to be done outside at 3am! It's obviously not essential, but I think it would make his application stand out a little over other peoples and show enthusiasm and commitment to the subject as well as giving him a better idea of what it's about. I imagine that admissions bods will still want high grades in maths + physics A level over anything else though, so he shouldn't let his grades in those slip as a result.

I asked DB ( a research physicist) on DD1's behalf a while back. DB's opinion was Maths, Physics, Chemistry (he also said as astronut did that Futher Maths is good for study though not so useful as a qualification). DB also said that the fourth should be something the student is interesting so long as it is academic. His view was that it would give an applicant something to talk about once they had done the funny handshake!

As a side thought, DB was very much in favour of the Erasmus scheme (up to one year at an EU institution). Not many UK students go out so one planning to and expressing interest at the application stage would stand out. DB thought that students benefited both academically and personally from that year at a foreign institution.

Leicester has a very good repuation for astrophysics when I was there - DH shared a flat with 2 lads doing it - both have gone on to interesting empoyment - one of them in the US.

There is a computing A level, but it's not offered at all schools. It's quite a nice A level and isn't regarded as soft, but it's not actually a required A level for many/any courses (even computer science), so perhaps not as versatile as maths or physics. One to consider if he is interested in it and enjoys that sort of thing perhaps though?

As Guacamole says, any hard science involves a huge amount of computing. IT GCSE is a waste of time as there is no programming in it AFAIK, not sure what A level Computing involves. He might be better off teaching himself Java, C, Perl and Python on his home computer.

Practical skills are really useful for Physics, and Electronics might be good for this, particularly if it teaches how to lay out boards, solder, use an oscilloscope etc. I did an AO level (do they still do those?) Electronics at the same time as my A-levels and found it really useful in a lot of the practicals in undergrad Physics - I could mount a transistor on a breadboard without snapping the legs off for a start!

My son is hoping to do the same and was advised maths, further maths and physics. He has been fascinated and really interested in doing astrophysics for many years. Cue many visits to Space centre at Leicester and Jodrell Bank. Mind you it does have it's advantages, namely Brian Cox, especially the science night he did recently where I spent most of the night looking at his bum but pretending to listen!

Not read the whole post so forgive me if I'm repeating... I'm a Physicist and I would say he obviously needs Physics and Maths but the other A-level/s can be absolutely anything... A language is always good, but something he enjoys. Incidentally I do a shed load of computer programming/modelling and most of the Physicists I know do too... Do they offer any computing A-levels nowadays?

Nooo, Hawking's a mathmo at the Dept of Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics.