Can I become an Engineer or physicists?

[johnvicious]

Hey guys for the first to years of high school I totally ignored science and maths as I figures I could never achieve a whole lot in those (although I usually got high grades). Then my cousin got his Ph.D. in Mechanical engineering, and after some long conversation with him I discovered that I might have gone down the wrong path. Over the last few months I have been reading up on science ( as well as watching a bunch of Sagan,Feynman, and Tyson on youtube), and I've found myself fascinated with all of this. My question is weather it is possible for me to pursue an education in these fields. I am in algebra II and I am a junior, but I'm breezing right trough it (w/ a 97). Will not have taking calculus ap physics course pushed me so far behind everyone else going into these fields that it not even worth it to try to catch back up?

 

[Phyisab****]

Definitely not too late. Now would be the perfect time to start working toward that goal. Not taking calc definitely won't be a huge problem for you. Depending on how serious you are, you could also make significant progress with some disciplined self study, compared to the snails pace most high school courses move at.

 

[chiro]

Hey guys for the first to years of high school I totally ignored science and maths as I figures I could never achieve a whole lot in those (although I usually got high grades). Then my cousin got his Ph.D. in Mechanical engineering, and after some long conversation with him I discovered that I might have gone down the wrong path. Over the last few months I have been reading up on science ( as well as watching a bunch of Sagan,Feynman, and Tyson on youtube), and I've found myself fascinated with all of this. My question is weather it is possible for me to pursue an education in these fields. I am in algebra II and I am a junior, but I'm breezing right trough it (w/ a 97). Will not have taking calculus ap physics course pushed me so far behind everyone else going into these fields that it not even worth it to try to catch back up?

Even if you decided at the end of your degree that engineering wasn't for you, by doing this degree you would opened up a lot more options than you realize. If its a means to an end for you then your motivation will get you through no matter if you are struggling.

Hard work trumps talent any day. There are ways of studying smart but generally your lecturers are there to guide your learning as they are "experts" in that area. If you do the work chances are you'll get what you put in.

I myself am doing mathematics and I think that engineering can be a more valuable degree than doing a straight science degree with the exception of doing a stats or applied math major (not counting sciences like chemistry or physics which are also valuable).

Good luck with your future and hopefully things work out for you.

 

[sydneyfranke]

I'm kind-of sort-of in your same situation . . . I'm in algebra and will be taking pre-calculus this summer so that I can get started on my calculus this fall. From my understanding, calculus is just an advanced combination of algebra and trig. You can also usually take a trig class to prerequisite into a calculus class. I'm assuming you have all of your electives out of the way now so maybe even by next semester you can really dive into the courses for engineering. Good luck.

 

[Poker-face]

Definitely not too late. I am 31 and have a Bachelors of Political Science, and I have just started College Algerbra and Trig to prepare for Calc 1 this upcoming fall. I have decided to go back to get enough credits to teach math. I felt the same way, but you are at the very beginning of your acedemic career. Believe me, switch gears now because there is too much competition in the Social Science fields.

Good Luck!

EG