u/Xx_DiamondDust

Context: finally figured out how to make a bootable drive and re partitioned my hdd (I know - I don't have an ssd) to make space for linux. I'm using Lubuntu (whatever the most recent version is). Everything works fine until I open Firefox.

I can't upload a picture here?? What??? Either way it looks like the browser is just completely glitched out and unintelligible. This does not happen for the home screen nor terminal nor any app I've tried. I've updated my kernel version and done the sudo apt upgrade and update and updated all nvidia drivers. Not sure what is up.

I applied for housing after April 1 because I was still deciding where I wanted to go, so IDK my dorm yet. I will probably be assigned one of the following dorms since I only selected these:

Honors

Stadium

Coconino

(I also selected cochise but it's full I think - the selection got cleared)

My question is how is the AC in these dorms? I'm used to living in 81 degree AC (my parents are frugal) and have never been able to use a blanket in the summer. Will I be able to use a blanket and should I bring a blanket?

Hey! Im going into college studying astro and want to get a macbook (i have no computer rn) but am worried about software limitations. Can any mac/ex-mac users lmk how y'alls experience was?

Hey y'all! Need a computer for college (had to retorno school chromebook) and the student discount on the Macbook Neo seems tempting. I​'m wondering if there are any software limitations on MacOS or things that are absolutely necessary for astronomy that you can't get as a Mac app file (not sure what the apps are called)

I have filled out over 100 questions, when does this end??

Hey!

Incoming Freshman here - I want to take notes on iPad as I've heard it's a lot more efficient and I tend to lose paper notes very easily. I've heard that if you have an iPad you don't need a computer, and can just use the magic keyboard and treat the iPad like a computer. Is this true?

Edit: astronomy and optical science major - decently coding and math heavy, might need specific programs and idk how LaTeX apps are on ipad

Hey! Started with 2 silkworms, now on the F1 generation. However, there are hundreds of eggs, and theres no way our tiny mulberry sapling can sustain them all. All of these eggs were laid a week ish ago, and none of them are diapause. Is it too late to refrigerate them? Can you even refrigerate non diapause eggs?

Hi y'all! I'm basically ready to commit to UArizona for Astronomy and Optical Science & Engineering. I plan on becoming an astrophysics professor (I know employment is cooked). Here are my pros and cons:

UCSB Physics: cost of attendance: 74k/year (15k scholarship) (can cut this down to like 70k optimistically)

• On the beach
• Best for physics department wise
• Unsure if I'll get CCS (I applied too late sadge)
• Has condensed matter machinery and undergrad opportunities for physics research

UArizona Astronomy + Optical Science: cost of attendance: 46k/year (22k scholarship + pending amount for national merit)

• Franke Honors (required senior yr research + quest project, priority enrollment, honors dorms, research grants)
• Astronomy hella good, optics strong too
• TIMESTEP program (summer internships, research apprenticeships, tons of other research opportunities)
• NASA space grants
• Steward Observatory
• Can't do pure physics since the department is cooked
• It's a lower quality school than UCLA or UCSB

Is it joever for me if I go to Arizona?

Hi y'all! I'm basically ready to commit to UArizona for Astronomy and Optical Science & Engineering. I plan to become a professor of astrophysics. Here are my pros and cons (allegedly):

UCLA Physics + Math: cost of attendance: 84k/year (can cut this down to like 80k optimistically)

• T20 Prestige
• Math is very good
• Very little access to physics or math research
• Classes curved down
• Can't get the classes I want or need

UArizona Astronomy + Optical Science: cost of attendance: 46k/year (22k scholarship)

• Franke Honors (required senior yr research + quest project, priority enrollment, honors dorms, research grants)
• Astronomy hella good, optics strong too
• TIMESTEP program (summer internships, research apprenticeships, tons of other research opportunities)
• NASA space grants
• Steward Observatory
• Can't do pure physics since the department is cooked
• It's a lower quality school than UCLA or UCSB

My questions are:

Am I wrong about any of the UCLA bullets?
Any other insight you might willing to be provide about UCLA?
Specifically, how is astrophysics at UCLA? I know the physics and astrophysics majors are tiny - like 160 undergrads total.

Hi y'all! I'm basically ready to commit to UArizona for Astronomy and Optical Science & Engineering. Here are my pros and cons:

UCLA Physics + Math: cost of attendance: 84k/year (can cut this down to like 80k optimistically)

• T20 Prestige

• Math is very good

• Bad physics research

• Classes curved down

• Can't get the classes I want or need

UCSB Physics: cost of attendance: 74k/year (15k scholarship) (can cut this down to like 70k optimistically)

• On the beach

• Best for physics department wise

• Unsure if I'll get CCS

• CCS is hella good - closer relationships with professors, summer research grants, travel stipends for conferences etc

• Has condensed matter machinery and undergrad opportunities for physics research

UArizona Astronomy + Optical Science: cost of attendance: 46k/year (22k scholarship)

• Franke Honors (required senior yr research + quest project, priority enrollment, honors dorms, research grants)

• Astronomy hella good, optics strong too

• TIMESTEP program (summer internships, research apprenticeships, tons of other research opportunities)

• NASA space grants

• Steward Observatory

• Can't do pure physics since the department is cooked

• It's a lower quality school than UCLA or UCSB

Hi y'all! I'm basically ready to commit to UArizona for Astronomy and Optical Science & Engineering. Here are my pros and cons:

UCLA Physics + Math: cost of attendance: 84k/year (can cut this down to like 80k optimistically)

• T20 Prestige
• Math is very good
• Bad physics research
• Classes curved down
• Can't get the classes I want or need

UCSB Physics: cost of attendance: 74k/year (15k scholarship) (can cut this down to like 70k optimistically)

• On the beach
• Best for physics department wise
• Unsure if I'll get CCS
• CCS is hella good - closer relationships with professors, summer research grants, travel stipends for conferences etc
• Has condensed matter machinery and undergrad opportunities for physics research

UArizona Astronomy + Optical Science: cost of attendance: 46k/year (22k scholarship)

• Franke Honors (required senior yr research + quest project, priority enrollment, honors dorms, research grants)
• Astronomy hella good, optics strong too
• TIMESTEP program (summer internships, research apprenticeships, tons of other research opportunities)
• NASA space grants
• Steward Observatory
• Can't do pure physics since the department is cooked
• It's a lower quality school than UCLA or UCSB

Calmate, I know this sounds like a no brainer but hear me out.

I'm planning on getting a PhD in some field of physics l. At UCLA I'll study physics and math. UCSB physics and unsure. UArizona astronomy and optical science.

Since I plan on getting a PhD, it's my understanding that my undergrad prestige really doesn't matter.

Here goes:

UCLA: cost of attendance: 84k/year

T20 institution. LA is awesome. Its math department is super strong. It has celebrity names like Terence Tao and Andrea Ghez. I have no worries with the quality of education I'd get here. However, I'm worried about not having any access to research and most labs not taking undergrads like, say, a bio lab would. Physics and math require a lot of computation and a lot less hands-on bench work. Not sure how good UCLA's experimental physics is.

UCSB: cost of attendance: 74k/year (15k scholarship)

Campus is literally on the beach. It has very strong physics faculty. Its physics department is better than UCLA, and the Kavli Institute has a bunch of brilliant minds congregated at UCSB. However, the main draw of UCSB is the CCS program, which I don't know if I'll get (and I'll only know after I submit my SIR, so it's a gamble). CCS is basically a LAC within UCSB, with cohorts of 400 ish people annually. It offers smaller class sizes and closer relationships with professors, summer research grants, travel stipends for conferences, and a lot more pathways into research. UCSB is especially good for condensed matter research and has actual machinery to facilitate it. One thing that makes the UCSB gamble less risky is being able to accept my conditional offer to University College London. If I don't end up getting CCS, I could just go to UCL. Though even without CCS UCSB Physics is still strong and there are still technically the same opportunities, I'd just have to work harder since I'd be a normal L&S Physics student.

UArizona: cost of attendance: 39k/year (22k scholarship)

On paper, this has the best opportunities. It's a global t10 for astronomy and optics (though that's mostly the grad program). I got into the W.A. Franke Honors College which facilitates research from day 1 through 1:1 collaboration with faculty, research grants; and literally requiring a senior thesis requirement. It also offers a unique optical science major. The TIMESTEP program offers specific undergrad-focused advising and a host of internship opportunities. The NASA Space grant internship program is also serious. Plus, it has its own observatory with 5 telescopes an hours drive from campus and 1 on campus. My main concern is being locked into astrophysics and not being as well versed in other aspects of physics (the optics major is a physics major, but with a concentration on e&m and optics obviously, so I'd have less wiggle room to do, say, theoretical physics.

I need to choose by May 1st... 😭😭😭

Calmate, I know this sounds like a no brainer but hear me out.

I'm planning on getting a PhD in some field of physics l. At UCLA I'll study physics and math. UCSB physics and unsure. UArizona astronomy and optical science.

Since I plan on getting a PhD, it's my understanding that my undergrad prestige really doesn't matter.

Here goes:

UCLA: cost of attendance: 84k/year

T20 institution. LA is awesome. Its math department is super strong. It has celebrity names like Terence Tao and Andrea Ghez. I have no worries with the quality of education I'd get here. However, I'm worried about not having any access to research and most labs not taking undergrads like, say, a bio lab would. Physics and math require a lot of computation and a lot less hands-on bench work. Not sure how good UCLA's experimental physics is.

UCSB: cost of attendance: 74k/year (15k scholarship)

Campus is literally on the beach. It has very strong physics faculty. Its physics department is better than UCLA, and the Kavli Institute has a bunch of brilliant minds congregated at UCSB. However, the main draw of UCSB is the CCS program, which I don't know if I'll get (and I'll only know after I submit my SIR, so it's a gamble). CCS is basically a LAC within UCSB, with cohorts of 400 ish people annually. It offers smaller class sizes and closer relationships with professors, summer research grants, travel stipends for conferences, and a lot more pathways into research. UCSB is especially good for condensed matter research and has actual machinery to facilitate it. One thing that makes the UCSB gamble less risky is being able to accept my conditional offer to University College London. If I don't end up getting CCS, I could just go to UCL. Though even without CCS UCSB Physics is still strong.

UArizona: cost of attendance: 39k/year (22k scholarship)

On paper, this has the best opportunities. It's a global t10 for astronomy and optics (though that's mostly the grad program). I got into the W.A. Franke Honors College which facilitates research from day 1 through 1:1 collaboration with faculty, research grants; and literally requiring a senior thesis requirement. It also offers a unique optical science major. The TIMESTEP program offers specific undergrad-focused advising and a host of internship opportunities. The NASA Space grant internship program is also serious. Plus, it has its own observatory with 5 telescopes an hours drive from campus and 1 on campus. My main concern is being locked into astrophysics and not being as well versed in other aspects of physics (the optics major is a physics major, but with a concentration on e&m and optics obviously, so I'd have less wiggle room to do, say, theoretical physics.

I need to choose by May 1st... 😭😭😭

Is it joever? Everyone I see is doing some variant of biology research (biology, BME, MCDB, etc). Is physics cooked?