<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I really like math and i really like computer science but the problem is physics has to come along with them and I HATE physics its so annoying and its not as fun as math and computer science. I want to specialise in computer programming so I'm taking computer science so will i have to study physics? and is it necessary to study it in high school?</p>
<p>CS may be an engineering-based or non-engineering-based major. Engineering-based CS majors will require physics and possibly additional math. Non-engineering-based CS majors are less likely to require physics (though some may require your choice of sciences).</p>
<p>Some schools (e.g. Berkeley) offer both engineering-based and non-engineering-based CS majors (College of Engineering EECS and College of Letters and Science CS at Berkeley).</p>
<p>Take a look at what each college you want to apply to requires. Go to a college website and see what the requirements are for a CS degree.</p>
<p>One word of advice, Physics in college will be a lot easier if you have taken it in high school.</p>
<p>Physics is just applied math!</p>
<p>I was in the same boat. Hated physics in high school. Even for a BS at my college, I don’t need physics- just any lab science, but this was not the case at other schools I applied to (such as CWRU). Many engineering schools will require two semesters of physics.</p>
<p>@bopper - Physics is not just applied math. I think you were being a bit facetious in that comment, but this is something I’ve heard quite a few times. Mathematics is the language of physics, but physics itself exists entirely independently of mathematics. We use math to quantify physical phenomena. Math is the easy part of physics. </p>
<p>In my experience, most schools will require at least some physics for CS. Many of them will only require a general physics sequence, i.e. non-calculus based physics. That’s going to depend a lot on the school though. A lot of them want the entire calculus based physics sequence. </p>
<p>My younger son is a CS major and his school requires a science based year long sequence for the major. He can pick from Physics, Chemistry or Biology. He was leaning towards Physics since Chem is not his favorite subject and Chem is also required for the Bio series. He still has to take 1 Physics elective also. I do not think you can get out of any Physics course but depending upon where you go, you can reduce the amount of courses required for the major.</p>
<p>My school has the same distinction that ucbalumnus mentioned. I’m a CS major in the college of letters and science and don’t need to take physics. We have 3 options: 1. Three quarters chemistry, 2. Two quarters chemistry plus one quarter biology, and 3. Three quarters physics plus an additional quarter of math (necessary for physics prereqs). I chose the first option.</p>
<p>Now, at my school the CSE majors (college of engineering) have to take four quarters of physics. So even if you were to pick the physics option in the letters and science CS, you would still taking less physics than your CSE counterpart.</p>
<p>As others have said, this will vary by school. Look at the specific requirements for the schools you’re considering.</p>
<p>Some schools don’t require Physics in Engineering CS, you can take Chemistry. But I think it’s helpful if you take AP Physics.</p>
<p>Some schools will require you to do physics for CS and some won’t. I don’t think most would. Either way, just go to the computer science page of each school you are considering applying to (easiest to just google “[school name] computer science”). From the CS page look for the degree plan (which could be under an “Undergraduate” tab). You can also separately google the core curriculum for the school too.</p>
<p>It depends on the college, you should look at the general graduation requirements and specific CS graduation requirements for each school on your list. For example, 3 semesters of Physics are part of the required core at Harvey Mudd. STEM schools like that may require physics of all graduates. But other schools may not. You just have to look at the websites of each school and suss it out.</p>