Mental Breakdown

[jjmcray]

I'm having a mental breakdown over my future.

I'm a senior in high school.

My GPA is 4.21

Class rank is #25 out of 50 people.

SAT score is 1710...

I'm okay in math and science (weakest subject was chemistry, barely passed it) but my grades could have been better (A's B's and C's).

I want to be an engineer (environmental or mechanical engineer) but any kind of engineering is going to require strength in math and science... I do believe I am very mechanically minded, but I'm not going to lie I slacked off a bit in high school and I let my grades slip. However I am going to try damn hard in college to do my best academically... (focus more on school than girls and partying and stuff)

I've been accepted to Baylor University but I applied as an "Undecided" major. I'm afraid they won't let me join the engineering program with my math/science grades. Also my SAT score is relatively low...

The one area I've always excelled in is English, but I just can't see myself having a career in that area, especially with the pressure of modern day society to have the highest paying job possible. And let's face it, anyone who majors in English is probably not going to make much money, especially if you become a teacher or something.

I feel like engineering is the only field that will make a sufficient amount of money, but like I said before I'm so afraid that I won't be able to become an engineer because of my grades...

If I can't do engineering I don't know what else to do that makes a decent amount of money...

Any advice from college students or people in the same position would be great...
I'm just really afraid of ending up moving from one job to another, barely paying rent, living from paycheck to paycheck... ya know?

[Aspiringanonymous]

Just off the top of my head, have you ever looked into the actuarial profession? Definitely one of the top-earning careers in this time and place, apparently it was also rated 'most recession-proof' not too long ago as well. I have intentions to enter this field myself.

Yet, I am your exact opposite. Material wealth has never meant anything to me; I fear deeply that a lack of finances will ultimately prevent me from pursuing career endeavors which are personally meaningful, that at some point I will grow familiar and content with slaving away for the great big dollar at an uninspiring 9-to-5 job for the rest of my life.

Though variant in manifestation, the source of fear is essentially similar; a fear of succumbing to an undesirable lifestyle, a fear of failure.

And I will not lie that, however unlikely it seems, there always is the possibility. The unknown is always accompanied with some degree of uncertainty. As long as you know honestly that you've tried your utmost best, that's all that matters; the rest is up to life itself to decide. Being able to accept calmly the fact that such a possibility does exist - and that if it unfortunately manifests for real, it does; that's life - really is the only way to become free of the paralyzing fear. Granted, not an easy process.

Perhaps a comforting fact: It is never too late to get up from where one has fallen, start over earnestly, and succeed as originally intended.

Due to unfamiliarity, I am unable to offer any insight regarding college studies at this time. But I trust that you'll be able to find your way.

[jjmcray]

Well... as much as I wish I could I can't really start over high school. It would be so great if I could.

[Aspiringanonymous]

There are many paths leading to the same destination. Some take longer than others, that's all.

[jjmcray]

How do we know what/where that destination is?

[Aspiringanonymous]

We don't. That's why we conceive a vision of the ideal destination, and use that as guidance in our daily lives.

[INFERNO]

I'm in my third-year of university and once you come to first-year, you don't have to declare your major. If you do, then it's meaningless and you can declare it later if you want. When I applied for university, I wanted to get into a life science or health sciences program (program you need pretty much the highest grades for). Anyways, I didn't get in but I got into biochemistry and chemical & physical sciences. In first-year, the courses are all introductory and you need to take a diverse load if you want to be a full-time student. I did some courses I didn't care for a whole lot and in university, the courses are different. What ended up happening is that I transferred over to the program I wanted once I got a decent enough GPA in university. So you can enter with whatever program you declare, doesn't matter what it is and you can flop to whatever you want. I've known friends who went from philosophy to physics, while another went from studying Italian, Arabic and English to being great in computer science.

For me, in high-school I did a course with 3-D math and modeling the intersections of planes and lines (all had to be done by hand with the exception of a basic calculator), along with some probabilities. In university, I hopped in a course for second-year statistics, thought it would be boring as hell but it was pretty fun. You'll find that some of the subjects you didn't really care for in high-school you may like in university. There's also more courses and subjects to take.

For engineering, if you're good with math, then there's computer science/programming (which is very big today), mathematical modeling (i.e. neuroscience uses mathematical modeling as does chemistry for modeling the systems and reactions), physics, architecture, just mathematics, etc... .

Have you thought of taking anything in biology? There is a field of biology, it's probably a third-year course or so but there's immense research and program in it for biophysics, which combines biology and physics with minimal chemistry.

[jjmcray]

What would I do as a biophysicist out in the work force though?
Btw I didn't mean to make it seem like I'm good at math. I just get by in math and if I'm lucky I'll make a B and if I'm super lucky I'll make an A.
I never saw math as a class I had to really "study" for since it was just numbers and graphing and blah blah blah, rather than just reading textbook definitions and stuff. However I do believe if I actually tried studying the same way I study for other classes I could perform much better. It's just too bad I can't go back and redo those classes...

I used to be into computer science and programming but although I do agree with you about it being very big today, the pay and availability of those jobs is declining (in developed countries like ours), especially with the way companies and businesses are outsourcing labor from other countries...

Also I forgot to mention that I'll have my associate's degree (in general studies) by the time I graduate high school, so by the time I get to university I'll technically be a 3rd year.

[INFERNO]

What would I do as a biophysicist out in the work force though?

There's no one single role as it tends to work with other fields. It ranges from bioengineering, nanotechnology, evolutionary theories, pharmacological research, microbiology research (including infectious diseases), physiology research, research on various body-imaging techniques (i.e. MRIs), helping to form computer models for various biological systems, cryogenics, etc... . In other words, it can work with biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, pharmacology, biochemistry, cryogenics, etc... . All of this is stuff that is in high-demand.


I used to be into computer science and programming but although I do agree with you about it being very big today, the pay and availability of those jobs is declining (in developed countries like ours), especially with the way companies and businesses are outsourcing labor from other countries...

True but it still is in high demand. Doing research involving computer science is done a lot in North America and Europe including Asia.


Also I forgot to mention that I'll have my associate's degree (in general studies) by the time I graduate high school, so by the time I get to university I'll technically be a 3rd year.

OK, not entirely sure how that's possible but very well. University courses though tend to be a lot harder than college ones, so expect to go into a lot of detail, use immense amounts of research, etc... . Some of my courses involve doing research papers (using the literature only) and some courses have certain assigned books, however, the professor gives you extra readings from either papers or books and you have to go, find them and read them. He doesn't cover it in class as these papers and books go into even more detail. So just expect a much higher level of difficulty.

[jjmcray]

There's no one single role as it tends to work with other fields. It ranges from bioengineering, nanotechnology, evolutionary theories, pharmacological research, microbiology research (including infectious diseases), physiology research, research on various body-imaging techniques (i.e. MRIs), helping to form computer models for various biological systems, cryogenics, etc... . In other words, it can work with biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, pharmacology, biochemistry, cryogenics, etc... . All of this is stuff that is in high-demand.
True but it still is in high demand. Doing research involving computer science is done a lot in North America and Europe including Asia.
You keep saying research though... it is my understanding that scientists (who do research) usually don't get paid much. But to most of them it doesn't matter because they enjoy doing it.

Don't get me wrong I'd like to have a job I enjoy but I'd kinda like to make some money too.


OK, not entirely sure how that's possible but very well. University courses though tend to be a lot harder than college ones, so expect to go into a lot of detail, use immense amounts of research, etc... . Some of my courses involve doing research papers (using the literature only) and some courses have certain assigned books, however, the professor gives you extra readings from either papers or books and you have to go, find them and read them. He doesn't cover it in class as these papers and books go into even more detail. So just expect a much higher level of difficulty.
I go to a charter school that works with a local community college to allow me to take "dual credit" classes that count as high school and college credits. By the time I graduate I'll have had 60+ "dual credit" hours, thus giving me an Associate's degree and a high school diploma.

[INFERNO]

You keep saying research though... it is my understanding that scientists (who do research) usually don't get paid much. But to most of them it doesn't matter because they enjoy doing it.

Don't get me wrong I'd like to have a job I enjoy but I'd kinda like to make some money too.

There's clinical implications for biophysics but it's mostly a field of research, although there can be clinical work (i.e. studying with microbiology, pharmacology, certain physiologies, etc...). It'd most likely though involve research. One can also teach at university level and do research, and depending on the status of professorship, you'll get paid more. I'm not sure though as to what you define as not being paid much to mean. If you do research at a university or large company full-time, then you can get paid a decent amount and get paid more and more depending on your company and what you're researching. If you add in university professorship, you get paid for that also. I'm not sure what the exact figures are because it always varies in where you work geographically. If you work in, say, California vs. Louisiana, working in California gets you an exponentially higher salary. I assume though that these jobs come with benefits also, although I don't know for certain on that.




I go to a charter school that works with a local community college to allow me to take "dual credit" classes that count as high school and college credits. By the time I graduate I'll have had 60+ "dual credit" hours, thus giving me an Associate's degree and a high school diploma.

Ah OK, thanks for the clarification.

[jjmcray]

^I consider a decent salary around 60-70k a year

[INFERNO]

^I consider a decent salary around 60-70k a year

You'll probably make that but depending where you work, who you work for, how long you work and if you are a professor depending on your status, you'll make more.

[jjmcray]

Hmm.... I've always thought I'd be a cool college professor. :P