Freshmen Applicants

UCSB is a great place to study physics. Our program is one of the largest in the nation. The undergraduate experience at UCSB presents opportunities for students to learn, contribute, and develop in an academic setting of unmatched beauty with a supportive and collaborative intellectual climate that prepares students for the challenges ahead.

Mathematics Preparation

Take the Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus BC exam or one year of calculus prior to admittance to determine your schedule in fall.

Take the Math Placement Exam if you have not taken a calculus course.

PHYS 8, Introduction to Mathematical Methods for Physics, covers derivatives, integrals and ordinary differential equations and will help prepare you for the first physics course, PHYS 21, General Physics.

Enroll in PHYS 8 in fall if you have not taken calculus, are not confident in your calculus preparation or received a score of 3 or 4 on the AP Calculus BC exam. You will be enrolling in PHYS 21 during the winter quarter. Also consider enrolling in PHYS 29, Introduction to Computer Programming for Physical Sciences.

PHYS 8 is optional if you received a score of 5 on the Advanced Placement Calculus BC exam. Enroll in PHYS 21 and MATH 4A/B this fall. Consider enrolling in PHYS 29.