<p>I am a senior in high school. i want to major in either mechanical or electrical engineering, but i did not take any physics in high school though, my friend who is majoring in civil engineering told me that it will be so hard for me to major in engineering because i did not take any physics in HS. Can/Should i still major in engineering? Thanks</p>
<p>Did you take thermodynamics in high school? How about fluid mechanics? Mechanics of materials? Numerical computation?</p>
<p>Just because you did not take a class does not mean you cannot major in some field. Haven't you checked out the requirements for an engineering major at the schools you applied to? It's standard to take 1 year of physics for most programs.</p>
<p>Don't listen to him. The only physics you would take in high school is mechanics and E&M for AP students. </p>
<p>You'll be fine.</p>
<p>If you apply and get accepted into a school, you will be fine. If they feel that you have some "deficiency" with regard to your coursework, they will provide a way for you to make it up.</p>
<p>btw I know from my college physics courses, high school physics was not a pre-rec. Most only need Cal I, trig & basic algebra skills. Since it is a intro class, they will teach the class as if you know nothing about physics.</p>
<p>I didn't know jacksquat about anything in highschool and I'm doing fine. Junior in EE atm. If you care enough, you will do just fine.</p>
<p>Most engineers end up taking Physics I (mechanics) in their second semester of freshman year. I took HS physics and it was basically the same course, just a lot more in depth. I pretty much spent the first month bored out of my mind as they taught the course like we had no physics experience. You will be fine. Your friend sounds like one of those cocky AP kids. Enjoy watching him fail. :)</p>
<p>Well, I took HS physics, but I still found Phys I somewhat difficult just because it went more in depth and the way they teach physics at my school makes it seem like it's a more advanced course. You won't be any worse off if you didn't take physics in HS, but you're just have to get the concepts down. Chances are that you'll be on the same page as most everyone else. Also, HS physics only touches on the bare minimum of what you'll come across in Phys II (Electricity and Magnetism). (I'm so glad I'm done with that class; it was hell)</p>
<p>Don't worry about having physics experience, some calculus I is useful to know before hand but even then its not needed much unless you want to understand the derivations.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly knowing basic derivation and integration was somewhat important when I took mechanics.</p>