Physics/CS double major at Waterloo?

[ChrisLeonard]

I'm wondering if anyone knows whether Waterloo offers a double major in physics (either theoretical or mathematical) and CS. I recently received acceptance into CS (top 6 average was maybe 94%) and I've been looking through the courses that CS students take. The required courses in each semester are just a CS course and then a few maths, so ideally for my two non-math electives I would take physics courses (I assume they don't consider physics a math course). Does anyone know if I can receive some sort of a physics degree alongside my CS degree if I devote enough of my electives to it?

[DemonWasp]

It's technically possible (at least, it used to be) to get a Double Honours Bachelor of Mathematics, Honours Computer Science, Honours Mathematical Physics. I don't know if those programs still exist, though, since I haven't considered that in years.

You don't have to declare your intention to take that degree right away, but you would have to start taking physics courses right away.

I don't want to discourage you, but I do have to warn you: five and a half years ago I was in exactly the same position you are now: entering UW CS with an admission average of 93+% and hopeful to pursue a CS+Physics option. Since then, I have nearly failed out of CS. The difficulty of what you're describing is completely insane. Unless you are willing to dedicate upwards of 60 hours a week to keeping up with your courses (and keeping all of your marks in the lofty 80%+ region), you will have a very hard time. If you intend to have a social life, relax, sleep, play games or read reddit, completing that program will be very difficult. If you want to do all of those things, it will be nearly impossible.

This program will also make it much harder to find the time to take the really interesting courses in CS (basically, the 3rd and 4th year courses). You will have so many other demands on your time that it will be pretty much impossible to fit in any of the "project" courses (Compilers, Real-Time OS, Graphics).

Again, this isn't to discourage you. It's just a warning: university redefines "difficult".

[ChrisLeonard]

Thanks for the advice. I'm finished preparing for the Calculus BC and Physics C AP exams if that's worth anything (probably not), but if it really is that hard I'll have to look into it more carefully.

[DemonWasp]

You'll probably get a much better idea of whether you're up for it after a couple of terms of university. I knew for sure after my first 2 terms that I wasn't about to get a Double Honours. You don't need to worry about actually deciding for quite a while -- UW is generally pretty flexible, especially for students who are trying to excel academically (and succeeding).