Geophysics

I'm not really sure what you mean by 'career in geophysics' (can you be more specific, what do you want to do?) - if you mean research then yes, you will need a PhD.

Most likely petroleum geophysics, or maybe environmental. I'm still in school so don't know exactly what I would like to do. Thanks for your help.

To get into petroleum, you'd likely need a separate MSc after your BSc- eg Petroleum Geoscience (RHUL, Manchester, Imperial, Aberdeen), Exploration Geophysics (Leeds). Depending on the state of the industry when you graduate, you might have a chance with a 4 year undergrad course (MGeol/MSci).

Geophysics is a good route to get into engineering/geotechnics/near surface geophys because of the maths skills you get from the course. You can do this with just a BSc!

If you think you want to go into academia/research a PhD is necessary, I'd advise a 4 year MGeol/MSci course to give you a taste of doing a research project.

If you think you'll get the grades, I'd look at applying for four year courses (five years in Scotland) - if you change your mind once you're at Uni you can easily change to a BSc but it's harder to switch the other way around!

PS - Most courses will ask for 2+ sciences at A-level for a Geology degree, and for geophys you will usually need Maths and/or Physics.

thank you v much. i currently take maths physics and geography...I'm slightly concerned that geography isn't as credible as a purer science such as chemistry