majoring in physics/math, gpa, etc. ?

[CalDud]

Next fall I'll be double majoring in Math/Physics and finishing two bachelor degrees by 2014. However, I am a transfer student and I've had three years of community college under my belt. I know some schools have this last 60 unit policy, but I am not really sure how that all works with me being a transfer student and all in the beginning. As a transfer student, I will have 95 units by the end of this semester. I've settled on a school, but they are only transferring 47 units. When you apply for grad school, do they take into account your last 60 units that you spent at both institutions or at one? Also, do they take into account fall grades (fall 2013)? I have to take full semesters to graduate on time anyways and I can only accumulate 58 units once I start at my new school by the end of Fall 2013.

I'm also wondering about taking classes over again because a lot of my classes didn't transfer. For instance, I took Linear Algebra and Differential Equations. I will have to take both of them again to earn a bachelor's in math at my new school. Will they take my community college grade into consideration over my 4-year university grade?

Also, is it generally better just to stick with one major to prove you're not having problems deciding which one you want to do?

[vertices]

It depends on the program how they're going to weight your coursework. All the programs to which I applied asked for all post-high school coursework, so they had transcripts showing my grades and classes from both community college and four-year. They asked for the GPA associated with each one too. The four-year incorporates some of the community college grades in its GPA. I just used the GPA as reported by the school.

I get the feeling the adcomm didn't look too closely at my transcripts (if at all) and only checked that the GPAs were solid or otherwise explained in my statement of purpose. They're far more interested in publications, research experience, letters of recommendation and of course, what you want to study and work on in their program.

My POIs liked my extra majors, but I think they're less common to have than Math & Phys together. If you write about how your math major bolsters what you want to do with your physics degree, I think it will be helpful. Though, if you can drop the extra major and devote more of your transfer time to getting in research experience and building good relationships with letter writers, that might be better to your overall application. It really depends on the opportunities available to you and the specifics of what you want to do in graduate school.

If you can, talk to your future professors at your four-year for advice at reaching your goal. It's great that you're thinking about graduate school early. Keep at it and you'll put together a strong application.

[SeriousSillyPutty]

FWIW, my school also asked for all post-high school transcripts. It's also worth taking to your math/physics adviser at the university (if you haven't yet) before re-taking classes. I had some classes that couldn't officially transfer for credit hours, but that my adviser still could look at to say, "okay, you met this requirement." That can be especially true for getting out of prereqs.

[SymmetryOfImperfection]

I'd say just go for one degree. Pure math is useless for 90% of physics.

Here's whats useful (that I've been forced to use) in decreasing order of relevence:

High school math. Basic calculus. Multivariable calculus. Integral transforms. Applied Linear Algebra. DiffEq (mostly ODEs and knowing how to separate variables on PDEs). Basic complex variables. Basic group theory (as applied to molecular spectroscopy).

Linear Algebra and DiffEq are lower division classes that are "services" to other fields like sciences and engineering, so they're taught with few proofs and focused on arithmetic. However, upper division pure math classes are heavily proof based and mathematical logic proofs really don't come up in physics.

The theoretical linear algebra, analysis, abstract algebra, number theory, proofs, logic and upper level geometry in a math degree is generally not very useful in physics. Maybe in some esoteric field of particle theory done with paper and pencil, but right now even theoretical physics is heavily focused on numerical solutions and not so much on analytical solutions.