APAM and SEAS Course Restructuring in the 2020-2021 Academic Year

Aug 26 2020

Please see the below sections on general features and more specific information on APAM courses, programs, and the provisional 2020-2021 course schedule. Other details can be found in the on-line Course Directory.

Some of the modalities listed in the schedule of courses may change or there may be additional details about the specific modality that you should know. If you are signed up for such a class, the instructor will contact you by Courseworks/email. Such changes should also be noted on the Courseworks site. 

We have changed APMA E4300 "Intro to Num Methods" and MSAE E4102 "Synthesis/Process of Mater..." from Fall B courses to Fall courses to help comply with announced University regulations. Note that APMA E4300 "Intro to Num Methods" will also be given in Spring 2021. Furthermore, APCH E4080 Soft Condensed Matter, jointly offered with Chem Eng, will remain Fall B.

 

1. General Features

The fall, spring and summer term calendars have been divided into A and B sections for the coming year. Courses can extend over an entire term, such as Fall or Spring (which would each extend across the A and B parts), or may instead be concentrated in half a term, such as Fall B or Summer A. There is some information about the calendar on University websites:

https://covid19.columbia.edu/content/academic-calendar-2020-21-0

https://covid19.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Documents%20%26%20Forms/Academic%20Calendar%202020-21.pdf

Some of the detail needed for courses specific to SEAS is now provided.

Full Fall Term Classes: Sept. 8 - Dec. 14, 2020
Full Fall Term Exam Period: Dec. 15 - Dec. 22, 2020

Fall A Classes: Sept. 8 - Oct. 19, 2020
Fall A Exam Period: Oct. 20 - Oct. 23, 2020

Fall B Classes: Oct. 26 - Dec. 14, 2020
Fall B Exam Period: Dec. 15 - Dec. 22, 2020

Full Spring Term Classes: Jan. 11, 2021 - April 15, 2021
Full Spring Term Exam Period: Apr. 16 - 23, 2021

Spring A Classes: Jan. 11, 2021 - Feb. 22, 2021
Spring A Exam Period: Feb. 23 - 26, 2021

Spring B Classes: March 8, 2021 - April 15, 2021
Spring B Exam Period: Apr. 16 - 23, 2021

Summer A Classes: May 3 - June 14, 2021
Summer A Exam Period: June 15 -18, 2021

Summer B Classes: June 28 - August 6, 2021
Summer B Exam Period: August 9 - August 13, 2021

The "immersive" courses (for example Fall A and Fall B) have the same number of points as their full-term analogs (e.g., Fall) and have double the number of contact hours per week. Students should avoid overloads that could be caused by taking multiple immersive courses in the same half term. Any limits on the total number of points you can take in a term involve all courses that term, such as Fall A, Fall B, and full Fall courses for the Fall term.

2. Courses and Programs

APAM has a provisional plan to restructure several courses (for this year only) that should provide some features needed for the coming academic year, but with minimal disruption to those in undergraduate, masters, and doctoral programs in applied physics, applied mathematics or materials science (and medical physics masters); these plans might change a bit. Courses not noted here will continue to be in the full-term Fall or Spring format. (Also, the modality of courses in the coming year: in-person, hy-flex or hybrid, or on-line, is currently being addressed and is not noted here.)

Applied physics courses:

1. APCH E4080 Soft Condensed Matter will be Fall B, instead of Fall.

Applied mathematics courses:

1. APMA E4300 Intro to Numerical Methods will repeat in the Spring as usual.

2. APMA E4990 Intro to Math for Data Sci. (by Prof. He) will be Summer A instead of Spring.

3. There will be another APMA Summer A course.

4. This year, APMA E4200 Partial Differential Equations will be repeated in the spring, and will replace APMA E3102 Applied Math II PDEs this year only (with the same initially designated instructor, Prof. Tippett). AM majors are instructed to take APMA E4200 instead of APMA E3102 for their major requirement.

Materials science courses:

1. MSAE E6251 Thin films/Layers will be Summer A instead of Spring.

2. MSAE E4301 Mat Sci Lab will be Summer A instead of Fall.

 

3. Provisional 2020-2021 course schedule (updated 8/26/2020)

Stay up-to-date with the Columbia Engineering newsletter

* indicates required