The plan listed below is designed to provide suggestions for sequencing your major courses, but there are also other ways to sequence most majors. This plan is meant to provide aid in early, provisional planning. Please consult with your academic advisor to make strategic academic decisions about which courses to take each semester.

Download PDF

Sample Four Year Plan: Physics (BS) – General Physics Track, Start with Calculus I

FALL - Semester 1

PHYS 185: College Physics I
MATH 198: Analytic Geometry and Calculus I

SPRING - Semester 2

PHYS 186: College Physics II
PHYS 190: Calculus for Physics I
MATH 263: Analytic Geometry and Calculus II

FALL - Semester 3

PHYS 191: Calculus for Physics II
MATH 264: Analytic Geometry and Calculus III
STAT 290: Statistics
CS 170: Introduction to Computer Science I

SPRING - Semester 4

PHYS 250: Modern Physics I
PHYS 310: Intermediate Laboratory
PHYS 275: Vibrations and Waves
MATH 365: Ordinary Differential Equations

FALL - Semester 5

PHYS 351: Modern Physics II
PHYS 320: Electronics
PHYS 382: Mathematical Physics

SPRING - Semester 6

PHYS 386: Classical Mechanics
PHYS 446: Advanced Laboratory
PHYS 345: Junior Seminar

FALL - Semester 7

PHYS 580: Quantum Mechanics
PHYS 486: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

SPRING - Semester 8

PHYS 518: Advanced Topics
PHYS 482: Electricity and Magnetism


Dialogues Curriculum: The Dialogues Curriculum requires a certain number of courses/credit hours in the following Perspectives: Social, Arts and Humanities, STEM, Communications, and Statistics. The exact number of courses a student will be required to take during their undergraduate career varies individually according to the credit transferred in.

Department Chair: Please contact the Center for Academic Excellence with any updates to the plan above. Rev. 2-16-24

This is a sample course sequence to illustrate class offerings for this major. The Office of the Registrar is responsible for certifying completion of degree requirements based on requirements specified in Truman's Official Catalog.

All Sample Four-Year Plans