The University Physics Competition 

Top Ten Reasons to do the University Physics Competition:

10.  The contest is less about what you know going in, and more about what you can teach yourself in the process!

9.  You’ll learn how to mix physics, teamwork, and writing into an unstoppable force to command the cosmos!

8.  Competition and deadlines bring out the best in us:  You’ll work harder and learn more as you defend your University’s honor!

7.  You’ll learn what you can do without any faculty help, no training wheels, just you and your team armed with the laws of the universe!

6.  You’ll practice struggling with open-ended problems, where there isn’t only one “correct answer” but where there are many possible approaches that give insight.

5.  You’ll learn what you’re made of and see how you stack up against the competition!

4.  Because physics gives you the keys to unlock the mysteries of reality!

3.  Because you need more caffeine in your diet!

2.  Schrodinger’s cat would do it!  Or maybe it wouldn’t.  I’m uncertain...

1.  Because physics is awesome!!!!!!!


More seriously, the essential skills of this competition are teamwork, technical writing, time management, working without outside assistance on an open-ended problem, and of course the process of applying physics to an applied scenario.  Those are some of the most important things that anyone can get out of an undergraduate physics education in general, and you get to practice them in the University Physics Competition.


Looking to the future, the University Physics Competition is a chance to go above and beyond the requirements of ordinary University life.  When you apply for a job or graduate school, it can make a real difference to have completed more than just the compulsory projects and assignments of your regular classes.  When you volunteer for a 48 hour extracurricular physics competition, it says something about your energy, your enthusiasm, and your spirit.  This isn’t for credit or for a class.  How many students seek out serious learning experiences purely for the fun and for the challenge?  The University Physics Competition is an opportunity for you to prove that you are willing to go that extra mile, demonstrating something vital about who you are.

  

Bottom Line:  In any learning experience, the more that you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.  The challenge of an international competition, the pressure of a deadline, and the camaraderie of teamwork can bring out the best in you, motivating you to work in ways that you might not usually do for a regular class.  The University Physics Competition uses the structure of a competition to create a uniquely fun and exciting physics learning experience.