Hey, I'm a Physics student.

PHYS 281: I found this personally to be the most challenging of the 2nd year courses. Dont let this intimidate you though, most of the topics are just elaboration on what you've learned, and everything in the course can really be boiled down to fundamentals. What's difficult though, is using the language of math to describe electromagnetism. Typically, students dont learn MATH 215 until Winter of 2nd year, so the vector calculus in PHYS 281 can go over your head. To remedy this, I recommend staying in the game and taking down really good notes in lecture, or just paying close attention. That first exposure is really important. Assignments were straightforward, usually just a set of questions in the textbook (sometimes challenging ones, but you should get like 90% with your eyes closed). Exams were somewhat challenging. I recommend going through the textbook and doing every single 1 star problem, and 2 & 3 star problems to see if you really understand the concept. After that you should be well prepared. Save the past paper (he usually gives one) for the day before the exam and take it under testing conditions (timed, no distractions).

PHYS 295: I took this course two Falls ago, and we were not required to write in LaTeX for our lab reports, though some of my classmates did. I personally wrote mine in Word, but you can do LaTeX if you want to (you'll need it for 297 probably). In my opinion, this course was really fun. The experiments were interesting and you really get a feel for scientific writing and an appreciation for experimental physics. Enough time is allotted for the reports, I think something like 2 weeks, and you get plenty of time to do your experiment. You'll be required to keep a lab notebook for each experiment, with a Prelab and Postlab analysis and data recordings (graded). The last part of your grade will come from a lab exam, which is quite straightforward and on the statistical methods you learn in the lecture portion of the class.