<p>I’ve (almost) decided that I want to major in civil engineering and I’m not sure what subjects to take. </p>
<p>At my school we have the CIE system and I will be in what Americans call ‘Junior year’
Next year I will have 5 subject slots and so far I am definitely taking</p>
<p>AS Spanish
A Maths
AS Physics
AS English</p>
<p>next year and</p>
<p>AS Spanish
A Physics
English or History*</p>
<p>for my senior year</p>
<p>*I’m thinking of dropping English in my last year and taking US history instead since I pretty sure I would enjoy it more. </p>
<p>I’m thinking I need to take Chemistry as well somewhere but I’m not sure how much Chemistry I’m going to need for Civil Engineering.(?) Also, there is no Calculus offered at my school for A-levels but there is for my country’s own exam system (which is generally seen as easier). There is Further Mathematics instead though?</p>
<p>I’m not sure how good the A-levels are, but if they are about the same quality as the AP courses in the US, then really, they aren’t much compared to college courses. </p>
<p>Of course, if you can take the most advanced math/physics/chem courses your school offers, do it. You won’t really need to, though. The only hard prerequisite to engineering school is high school algebra and a good feel for the functions e, cos, sin, tan, and log. (at least in the US, I’m not sure in other countries)</p>
<p>If you can take exams to get out of gen-eds (subjects like economics, history, english), do that as well, so in college you can study the subjects you want as a civil engineer.</p>
<p>Guess I’ll probably be taking Chemistry though…:x I don’t mind it but I’m not too big of a fan either. Is it very important in civil engineering in particular? Would AS be enough? (the first year of the A-level)</p>
<p>Treetopleaf, I finish A-level in my 2nd to last year and since my high school is for 5 years I’ve done enough to cover the requirements. I think I might take some kind of maths but I’m not sure whether to take Calculus or Statistics (through the ‘easier’ exam system at my school) or Further Maths.</p>
<p>It’s not a matter of whether it’s important or not (which it is), it’s the basic fact that you’ll have to take it in order to get your degree, and you want to have a decent background in it.</p>
<p>Take calculus. You’ll end up having to take statistics later, but it’s kind of a side course. Calculus is fundamental to engineering in general.</p>
<p>Why do you want to be a civil engineer, if you don’t mind my asking? It seems like you’re not very interested in science or math.</p>
<p>definitely try to take as much Physics and the highest level of math possible. In most U.S. colleges, the 1st 2yrs in civil major concentrate on Physics and Calculus I-III and Differetial Equations. A semester or 2 of Chemistry would also be good.</p>
<p>Well, for ages I wanted to become an architect but after taking art so far this year I’m not so sure I want to. It’s kind of a love/hate thing and I’m not sure I want that. :x I’m interested in buildings/structures though so I thought…how about civil engineering? I really like physics but I’m kind of ehh…on maths and chemistry. About half the time I like them but the other half of the time it’s just another class to me. Will that be a problem?</p>
<p>Also, from what I’ve read about civil engineering it seems like something I’d like doing but I’m not sure if I’d enjoy studying it so much. I love the idea of building structures and I like how there is some design involved but not too much like in architecture. I also want the mix of outside on-site work and inside office work that civil engineers have (I think - is it only managers and the more senior engineers that get out more?)</p>
<p>ChiZealander, I majored in architectural engineering and loved it. We had a couple of architectural design classes, and also classes in building materials, plumbing, engineering project management, etc. We DIDN’T have to take civil engineering classes related to wastewater treatment, highway design, etc. That appealed to me, because I knew I wanted to concentrate on structures right away. The architecture classes were good because they made me realize that architects really do have a useful role. If people like me tried to design buildings, they would all be boring cubes! I had no ability at all in that area.</p>
<p>After my BS in Architectural Engineering, I went on to get my Master’s in structures. I would do the same thing if I had to do it over again.</p>
<p>There is a good mix of inside/outside work, at least in my case. It might be different if you worked on new construction exclusively. Up here in Maine, though, we do a lot of renovations and work on existing structures, so we have to check the buildings out before we do the structural design.</p>
<p>I rarely see anybody from the structural engineer’s office on my construction site. Their engineer of record, who is a VP, comes down here for a few hours once in a blue moon, usually when there is an issue.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I see young engineers from our geotechnical engineers offices all the time. They’re usually doing inspections.</p>