Experimental Methods of Physics

Junior-year lab course where you actually do the modern physics experiments you've only computed problem sets about — Franck-Hertz, electron diffraction, photoelectric effect, ESR — while learning the unglamorous craft underneath: vacuum systems, cryogenics, error propagation, least-squares fitting, and how to keep a clean lab notebook. Most of your time goes to running experiments, reducing data in LabVIEW/Python, and writing up reports, with a term project on top. It's the bridge between the theoretical core (quantum, stat mech, E&M) and real experimental work, and it's where you learn that "measurement" means uncertainty budgets, not just reading a number off a display.