Choppy said:
Why are you attending a college that's not providing you with the education you want? Isn't that kind of like getting on a bus that's heading in the wrong direction?
I can't speak for the OP, but I see this happen an awful lot. Usually the cause comes down to parental, legal, financial, or geographical constraints. But when it comes to colleges and their ability to prepare students for physics degrees, I don't think many really take students in the "wrong direction."
It's more a matter of not being able to take students as far as they want to go combined with students not fully appreciating the need for prerequisite material before they get to "the good stuff."
But to advise on ones path, it is helpful to know more about what one has already accomplished and where one wants to go. Some appreciation of the constraints also helps, otherwise, we tend to give advice based on our understanding of "normal" opportunities and constraints which may be much different from the individual seeking advice.
But until one has completed all these, most paths to any field of physics or engineering includes the following:
High school math through mastery of algebra and trigonometry, in the US the course is usually called precalculus which builds on earlier algebra 1 and 2, and geometry.
High school physics - a year long course covering mechanics, thermodynamics, and electricity and magnetism that builds on an earlier physical science course and uses algebra and trig in lots of quantitative problem solving.
University Calculus through multivariable and vector calculus. In the US, this usually takes three semesters.
University Physics for Scientists and Engineers In the US this usually is two semesters, one focused on mechanics and the other on electricity and magnetism.
The paths for special subfields do not begin to diverge until at least these courses are completed. If you get this far and are still at an institution that does not offer the courses you really want, you can productively take a year of University Chemistry, as well as math courses commonly known as Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, and Numerical Analysis.
