该主要课程的结构设计使得在开学的头两年几乎所有学生都上相同的课，并且在开学的后两年中必须完成相同的核心高级课程清单，但是可以选择高级别的选修课。到四年末，他们对经典力学，电磁学和量子力学有了共同的了解，并获得了物理实验室技能，这些技能将在研究生院或许多其他活动中为他们提供支持。该课程旨在通过科学或工程学科的高级水平补充核心物理课程。
At Johns Hopkins, physicists are people with the ability to think quantitatively about real-world problems. That definition covers a lot of territory, so we offer undergraduate degrees designed for a wide range of future career goals. Students can opt for a BA degree that leaves plenty of room for electives outside the realm of the sciences, or they can choose a more concentrated BS program, in which upper-level electives are focused in physics or a related field. Both tracks prepare students for graduate work in physics or many other paths. From the day students walk through the door, they are in small classes designed specifically for physics majors. Our special first-year class for prospective majors sets the tone for the rest of the four years. Its intellectual style is geared to the way physicists think. Its size (typically a few dozen students) is small enough for individual attention, it also ensures that each year's cohort of majors forms a strong social bond early on. Unlike at some universities, none of our faculty teach only graduate classes, most rotate back and forth between different kinds of courses.<br>The major program is structured so that nearly all students take the same classes during the first two years and must complete the same list of core upper-level courses during their second two years, but permits a variety of choices in upper-level electives. The total number of credits required for the B.S. in Physics degree is 126. By the end of the four years our students share an understanding of classical mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical physics and quantum mechanics, and have acquired physics lab skills that will support them in graduate school or in a host of other pursuits.