Prerequisites for degree in materials science

[CWatters]

In the UK you would need good grades at A-levels (age 18) in maths, physics and chemistry to start a three year BSc or four year MEng in Materials science. Some universities offer an additional 1 year foundation course if you don't quite have the required grades or possibly a missing subject.

Whats the equivalent in the USA? Can you start such a degree with missing subjects? What level of maths do you need? Calculus?

 

[jasonRF]

In the US most materials science programs are in engineering colleges (usually a part of a larger university); the required high school preparation tends to be the same for all majors in an engineering college (in the US, many or perhaps most colleges allow students to pick their majors after a year or two of college). The high school requirements are typically 4 years each of math, science and English, and 2-3 years each of social science and foreign language. Most engineering colleges expect students to have taken biology, chemistry and physics with labs; calculus in high school would be recommended but not required by many colleges, especially the less selective ones. The more selective colleges expect to see the "most rigorous" versions of those classes offered by an applicant's high school - but no two high schools in the US are the same. Some offer a bunch of honors and/or advanced placement (AP) science and math classes, while some high schools just have one version of any given course and it may not be rigorous at all. I went to college with students that could not take calculus in high school because it was not offered! And different high schools will cover different material at different levels in classes with the identical title. We have no equivalent to A-levels.

jason

 

[CrysPhys]

In the UK you would need good grades at A-levels (age 18) in maths, physics and chemistry to start a three year BSc or four year MEng in Materials science. Some universities offer an additional 1 year foundation course if you don't quite have the required grades or possibly a missing subject.

Whats the equivalent in the USA? Can you start such a degree with missing subjects? What level of maths do you need? Calculus?

In the US, studies in materials are typically offered in a consolidated Department of Materials Science and Engineering, usually in a school of engineering, that grants a BS in Materials Science and Engineering. There are some exceptions. Also, in the US, a BS degree is typically structured as a 4-year program. The first year courses typically comprise general education requirements, and a student doesn't need to declare a major until the second year. Again, there are exceptions. Each university sets its own prerequisites for admission.

 

[PCJJSBS]

If you have a high school degree, you can major in whatever program you want here.
I have never heard of needing specific classes from high school to declare a major in the US.