LAS Science & Letters Physics Elective Options
Technical or Professional Option. In consultation with his/her adviser, each student will elect a set of technical or professional courses that address an intellectually coherent body of knowledge. At least 9 hours must be at the 200 level or higher. Required courses may not be included in the set. Students may select from a list of pre-approved options or design a custom option, subject to departmental approval.
Physics courses listed in the elective option do not satisfy option requirement if those course are used to satisfy the Flexible Physic Core (Lists A & B).
| Astrophysics | ||
|---|---|---|
| ASTR 210 | General Astronomy | 3 |
| ASTR 350 | Introduction to Cosmology | 3 |
| ASTR 404 | Stellar Astrophysics | 3 |
| additional 300 or 400 level astronomy course | 3 | |
| choose 2 of the following: | ||
| ASTR 405 | Solar Sys and IS Medium | 3 |
| ASTR 406 | Galaxies and the Universe | 3 |
| ASTR 415 | Astronomical Techniques | 4 |
| Total: | 18-19 hours | |
| Biophysics | ||
| CHEM 104/105 | General Chemistry II & Lab II | 3/1 |
| or CHEM 204/205 | Accelerated Chemistry II & Lab II | 3/2 |
| or CHEM 232/233 | Elementary Organic Chemistry I and Lab I | 3/2 |
| or CHEM 236/237 | Fundamental Organic Chem I and Structure and Synthesis |
3/3 |
| BIOP 401 | Introduction to Biophysics | 3 |
| BIOP 420 | Molecular Biophysics | 3 |
| choose 1 of the following: | ||
| PHYS 427 | Thermo & Statistical Mechanics | 4 |
| MCB 446 | Physical Biochemistry (note prerequisites*) | 3 |
| BIOE 498 | Special Topics | 3 |
| * CHEM 440, Physical Chemistry Principles, or 344, Physical Chemistry I; MCB 350, Introductory Biochemistry, recommended | ||
| Total: | 18-21 hours | |
| Computational Physics | ||
| CS 125 | Introduction to Computer Science (to replace CS 101) | 4 |
| CS 257 | Numerical Methods | 3 |
| or CS 450 | Intro to Numerical Analysis | 3 |
| CS 225 | Date Structure & Softw Princ | 3 |
| or CS 400 | Data Structure, Non-CS Majors | 3 |
| MATH 415 | Linear Algebra | 3 |
| choose 2 of the following: | ||
| CS 455 | Numerical Methods for PDEs | 3 |
| CS 458 | Numerical Linear Algebra | 3 |
| CS 459 | Numerical Approx and ODEs | 3 |
| CS 418 | Computer Graphics | 3 |
| CS 420 | Intro to Parallel Programming | 3 |
| MATH 461 | Probability Theory I | 3 |
| MSE 482 | Phys and Soc Sci Simulations | 3 |
| ATMS 502 | Numerical Fluid Dynamics | 4 |
| MCB 417 | Computational Neurobiol Method | 4 |
| (CS 125 doesn’t count toward option, rather toward degree requirement.) | ||
| Total: | 19-21 hours | |
| Earth Science | ||
| GEOL 107 | Physical Geology | 4 |
| GEOL 108 | Historical Geology | 4 |
| choose 2 of the following: | ||
| PHYS 460 | Condensed Matter Physics | 4 |
| OR | ||
| GEOL 432 | Mineralogy and Mineral Optics | 4 |
| and GEOL 450 | Physics of the Earth | 3 |
| Total: | 12-15 hours | |
| Environmental Science | ||
| coursework for Environmental Fellows Program http://www.environ.uiuc.edu/efp/ (General Chemistry sequence is recommended: CHEM 102/103, CHEM 104/105) |
||
| NRES 244 | Sci-Values of Envt Decisions | 3 |
| CEE 330 | Environmental Quality Engineering | 3 |
| choose 2 of the following: | ||
| CHEM 460 | Green Chemistry (many CHEM prereqs) | 3 |
| CPSC 432 | Plants and Global change (prereq IB 103, Intro to Plant Biol) | 3 |
| ENVS 431 | Toxic Substances in the Environment (prereq: basic bio/chem.) | 3 |
| GEOG 408 | Watershed Analysis | 4 |
| GEOG 466 | Environmental Policy | 3 |
| ENVS 380 | Environmental Geology | 4 |
| NRES 420 | Restoration Ecology (prereq: intro plant bio or ecology crs) | 4 |
| IB 452 | Ecosystem Ecology | 3 |
| UP 446 | Ecological Numeracy | 3 |
| * GEOL 481 | Earth Systems Modeling | 4 |
| * CEE 430 | Managing Wastewaters in Aquatic Ecosystems (prereq: CEE 330) | 2 |
| * NRES 449 | Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy | 4 |
| Total: | 12-14 hours | |
| Science Writing | ||
| (There may be enrollment restrictions on the journalism courses.) | ||
| JOUR 200 | Introduction to Journalism (satisfies Adv Comp requirement) | 3 |
| BTW 261 | Principles Tech Commun (Adv Comp) | 3 |
| JOUR 47 | Magazine Writing | 3 |
| JOUR 400 | Reporting 1 | 4 |
| JOUR 415 | Reporting 2 | 4 |
| Total: | 17 hours | |
| Pre-Med | ||
| Consult with the Career Center Pre-Health Professional Counselors http://www.careercenter.illinois.edu/services/prehealthadvising.asp 715 S. Wright Street, Champaign, IL; 217 333-7154 |
||
| Pre-Law | ||
| See the pre-law advising office in the LAS College (270 Lincoln Hall) and consult with your physics adviser to approve pre-law option courses. You need to take a minimum of 12 hrs beyond courses used to fulfill general education requirements in the one or more of the following subjects: history, political science, speech communication (SPCOM 111 & 112 recommended), psychology, sociology, business administration, philosophy, literature, economics, accountancy classics, computers, other courses that deal with law and policy . http://www.las.illinois.edu/students/advising/prelaw/intro/ | ||