Bachelor in Physik

Overview

Undergraduate research, public outreach, summer internships, publications, and R&D projects…there’s a lot going on in the Department of Physics at High Point University. We invite you to browse our website, blog, course materials, and photo galleries. But if you really want to know what we are about, we encourage you to come to campus and spend time with our faculty, our physics majors, and our alumni. We love to talk physics and astronomy, and we love to show you our results. So check out our annual reports.

2013-2014 Annual Report (79 MB, long download)

2014-2016 Annual Report (272 MB, long download)

What can I do with this major?

With strong problem-solving skills and theoretical understanding, experience in designing and carrying out experiments, and extensive application of computational modeling and computer programming, our graduates are prepared for a variety of careers and graduate programs in science that is as diverse as our students themselves.

Traditional areas: physics, engineering, atmospheric science, nanotechnology, microelectronics, computer programming and technology, instrumentation, materials science, astrophysics, biophysics and medical physics.

Non-traditional areas: teaching, medicine, finance or law.

Opportunities for experiential learning

In their first or second year, majors take a year-long, one credit course in undergraduate research where they complete an independent research project with a faculty member.

Every physics course includes at least two of the following experiential learning components in order for students to apply what they are learning, develop critical thinking skills, and demonstrate problem-solving:

• Experimental physics (laboratory)

• Computational modeling

• A culminating project that is theoretical, experimental, or computational.

Physics majors become proficient in using the programming language Python for computational modeling and numerical problem-solving. Python and computational modeling are first taught using Matter & Interactions in our introductory, calculus-based physics course, typically taken by physics majors in the freshman year.

What can I do with a physics degree?

Our graduates do whatever they want to do! There is no single career path that they choose. With strong problem-solving skills and theoretical understanding, experience in designing and carrying out experiments, and knowledge of computational tools, our graduates are prepared for a variety of careers and graduate programs in science, engineering, and technology. Our graduates’ career choices are as diverse as our students themselves. Many physics students choose to double-major or minor in biochemistry, chemistry, math, or computer science in order to develop a broad theoretical and experiential background.

Course Requirements

The Department of Physics offers both B.A. and B.S. degrees in Physics. To graduate from High Point University with these degrees, students must complete the following:

B.S. in Physics

B.A. in Physics

In 1924 High Point College opened as a cooperative venture between the Methodist Protestant Church and the City of High Point. The campus consisted of three partially completed buildings, there were nine faculty members, and student enrollment was 122. Today the University has 122 buildings, is attractively landscaped, the full-time faculty numbers nearly 300, and approximately 4,600 students are enrolled in a wide variety of daytime, evening, and summer programs. Much has changed over the years. Yet the mission of High Point University may still be best expressed in the words of its founders more than nine decades ago: “to help us to appreciate and to love our own, to know our needs and opportunities, and to make ourselves more efficient servants of Christ.”