<p>I want to go into civil engineering, but I would rather focus on water resources, population growth, and environmental concerns, and generally stay away from bridge construction and other stuff like that. Is that possible? Do civil engineers have to take just as much calculus and chemistry as a nuclear engineer would?</p>
<p>Yes, that is possible.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, the math and science requirements for engineering degrees at most schools are satisfied as part of a curriculum that is shared between all engineering majors. There may be another math or science class for certain engineering disciplines, but 90% of it is shared.</p>
<p>Take a look at a sample curriculum for civil. You’ll likely see a lot of exposure to the stuff you don’t want to study, after which you have some latitude with your electives. ANY subset of civil will probably require three semesters of calculus and a chemistry lecture/lab at minimum.</p>
<p>If it’s still too technical for what you want, you might consider something like urban planning, environmental design, or geography, all of which could lead you to a similar end point. It might help to talk with professors in those departments when you visit a campus to get a better feel for your options.</p>
<p>As well as the 3 semesters of Calc, a course in chem, and a year of physics, I’ve seen some of the more environmental paths of civil having to take biology as well.</p>
<p>I am in a similar situation. You may want to see any school your considering has something along the lines of Bio systems eng, Agri. eng, etc. as they may have a land and water resource concentration that can be more towards your interest, and that major usually has a smaller class. Though there may be a decent amount of chemistry with that if that is your concern. At my school BSE requires year of gen chem, semester of OChem, and a semester of PChem, plus 3 semesters of biology courses.</p>