Undergraduate Advisors

Degreeworks Access | Listing of Courses Offered by Term | Four-Year Plans at a Glance

Contacts:

Interested in majoring in physics? Contact Dr. Brooke Hester (hesterbc@appstate.edu), our Undergraduate Program Director
Interested in teaching high school? Contact Dr. Tonya Coffey (coffeyts@appstate.edu), our Secondary Education Program Director, or Madeline Hinckle (hincklemt@appstate.edu), our Teacher-In-Residence
Interested in pre-engineering? Contact Ms. Carla Ramsdell (ramsdellcs@appstate.edu )
Interested in concentrating in astronomy? Contact Dr. Daniel Caton (catondb@appstate.edu)
Interested in the university or departmental honors program? Contact Dr. James Sherman (shermanjp@appstate.edu)
Are you a graduate student or interested in our M.S. Engineering Physics program or Accelerated M.S. Program? Contact Dr. Michael Briley (brileymm@appstate.edu) or Dr. Chris Thaxton (thaxtoncs@appstate.edu)

Programs of Study:

These outline the details of the requirements for your degree in Physics and Astronomy.

Undergraduate Bulletin (Students, make sure to select your correct catalog year. Students can change their catalog year ONLY ONCE.)

Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Arts

Physics, BA (Note: Requires Foreign Language and Minor)

Minor

Other Minors and Certificates of Interest

General Education Guidance

General Education Program
College of Arts and Sciences Advising and Support Services Hub (CASSH) - This is the office of advisors and administrators within the College of Arts and Sciences. These are the folks that we work with to update Degreeworks, to ask College-level advising questions, and the folks we work with to iron out senior contracts.
University College Academic Advising Center - University College houses the ‘General College’ advisors and advising. For most departments, students interact only with the University College advisors until their majors are declared.
Troubleshooting Registration Error Messages - Registrar’s Office

Financial Aid Requirements

Students on financial aid must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours each semester that are required for their degree to qualify for full financial aid that semester, although some financial aid might be granted for part-time students. Talk to your financial aid advisor for details.
This means that even the student's last semester must have 12 credit hours of required coursework for full financial aid. Again, talk to your financial aid advisor for details.

Other Important Guidance

Students are encouraged to take PHY 2700 when taking PHY 2020 - SPRING ONLY.
The PHY 2010 support class is FALL ONLY. This course is a 1 credit hour support course for students who feel that they need extra support in PHY 2010. Students who take PHY 1121/1124 instead of PHY 1170/1180 and students earning below a B- in PHY 1170 or PHY 1180 are particularly encouraged to enroll.
PHY 3310 (Intermediate Lab, SPRING ONLY) should be thought of as a junior level course and be taken either the second-to-last or last spring that a student is enrolled. If taken the second-to-last spring, students can take 4210 in their last fall, summer, or spring. If PHY 3310 is taken in their last spring, students can take 4210 in their last summer or fall.
- If at all possible, taking PHY 3310 with PHY 2020 (Intermediate II) should be avoided.
- We STRONGLY encourage that students NOT take PHY 3310, PHY 2020, and PHY 3001 (Math Methods) in the same spring semester.
Senior seminar (PHY 4210) is offered in FALL, SPRING, and sometimes SUMMER. Check the most recent banner course listing here. Talk to your advisor before assuming you can take PHY 4210 in the summer.
Prerequisites for PHY 2010/2020
- PHY 2010 requires a C- or better in PHY 1123/1170
- PHY 2020 requires a C- or better in PHY 1124/1180

Notes Regarding Introductory Courses

All introductory physics and astronomy courses require both lecture and lab sections.
Introductory physics (PHY 1121/1122, PHY 1123/1124, and PHY 1170/1180) have separate course registration numbers (CRNs—5-digit numbers identify the section) for each lecture and lab section; you must enroll in one of each for each semester you take it. If you attempt to enroll in one with the other, you will get the LINK error message. Note that PHY 1121/1122 do NOT count toward the major.
Introductory astronomy (AST 1011/1012) are combined lecture/lab CRNs, so you enroll in one CRN and get both the lab and lecture that way.
All of these introductory courses must be taken in sequence. For instance, you must take PHY 1123 before you take PHY 1124*, and you must take AST 1011 before taking AST 1012. *In certain circumstances, a student may receive the chair’s permission to follow PHY 1123 with PHY 1180 or to follow PHY 1170 with PHY 1124, but this is not normally done.
If you fail a course with a lab in our department, you must retake the lecture as well as the lab, even if you passed the lab portion the first time.
The math department offers a 1 cr. calculus support class for students are nervous or feel slightly underprepared for calculus I.
Students who decide to major in physics after taking PHY 1123 are encouraged to take the PHY 1180 majors section if they are able to take calculus II.
If a student takes PHY 1170 and then decides to not major in PHY, they can take PHY 1124 their second semester and satisfy their Science Inquiry theme with PHY 1170 and PHY 1124. Conversely, if they take PHY 1123 and decide to become a physics major then take PHY 1180, they can satisfy their Science Inquiry theme with PHY 1123 and PHY 1180. They need to have the department chair contact the General Education office to make the substitution.

Department of Physics and Astronomy