I Have No Idea What I Want To Study In College.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a 16-year-old student contemplating their future academic path, specifically whether to pursue studies in physics, mathematics, engineering, medicine, or business. The conversation touches on concerns about job opportunities, personal interests, and the pressures of making a decision without sufficient exploration time.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • The original poster expresses a strong interest in physics and mathematics but is worried about job prospects and salary in those fields.
  • Some participants suggest that college offers a chance to explore various fields before making a decision.
  • One participant emphasizes the importance of hard work and warns against a casual attitude towards college, suggesting that delaying college might be beneficial if the poster is not committed.
  • The poster clarifies that they perform well academically but feel pressured by the need to choose a path soon due to their educational system.
  • Another participant recommends starting in engineering, arguing that it is easier to transition into other fields from engineering than vice versa.
  • Some participants discuss the potential for double majoring in physics and pure mathematics, noting that many courses may overlap.
  • Concerns about the poster's perceived laziness are raised, with suggestions to find a passion that motivates them.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the poster should take time to explore their options, but there is disagreement on the urgency of making a decision and the implications of their current academic performance and interests.

Contextual Notes

The discussion reflects the complexities of choosing a career path at a young age, with varying opinions on the importance of immediate specialization versus broader exploration. The educational context in Lebanon, where the poster has a different high school structure, influences their decision-making timeline.

anthonych414
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Hello, I'm 16 in the 10th grade honors section, and I don't really know what I want to do in life. I'm fascinated by physics and mathematics I'm also really good at both and I think it would be cool to study either pure math or theoretical physics but I'm concerned about the lack of job opportunities and limited salary, I've also considered going into computer engineering because I'm really good at computer stuff but I don't think a job in computer engineering would be fun, I've also considered becoming a doctor because the idea of solving medical problems and mysteries thrilling but I'm a little lazy and I don't study much and i think I might not be able to spend 12 years in college memorizing textbooks I'd rather be solving them. And some days i just feel like i should move to the regular section and study something easy like business so i could have more free time to surf and skate and enjoy life.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help.
 
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College will give you the opportunity to take many different courses and meet many different people and find out what you will like. You should take advantage of this chance to explore as many areas as feasible. But none of them will offer fulfillment if you continue to be lazy and only want to ski and skateboard and goof off. That would be a tremendous waste of your time, your professors' time, and of a chance to prepare yourself for a rewarding life, and will result in a huge loss of valuable opportunity. If that is your plan it might be better to delay going to college, earn your own way for a while and find out how tough it is to make a go of life on your own.
 
Actually I can't in my country I have an extra year of high school(I'm from Lebanon) so I go directly into sophomore year so I don't have a freshman year to explore. And I think you've got the wrong idea about me I do well in school I just don't have to study as much as others in scientific subjects but I'm not a slacker.
 
I would suggest that you really don't need to decide this for a while. Work hard in high school, get into a good college that's strong in many programs, and decide what to major in 4 years from now.
 
Actually I can't I have to choose next year because I hve to decide whether I want to Go to the Life Science section (Doctor), General Science(Engineering, Physics, or Math), or Sociology and Economics(Business).
 
Do you know anyone who is a doctor, engineer, scientist, or businessperson? If you do, perhaps you can ask them what it is like to work in their field.
 
If I were you, I'd start in engineering. It's easier to transfer from engineering than it is to transfer to engineering. Besides, the first year of engineering is physics, chemistry, math, and some basic engineering classes like statics and dynamics. The first year of physics and mathematics is pretty similar, but minus the basic engineering classes.
 
anthonych414 said:
Actually I can't I have to choose next year because I hve to decide whether I want to Go to the Life Science section (Doctor), General Science(Engineering, Physics, or Math), or Sociology and Economics(Business).

I think your big choice is between Life Sci and General Sci. IMO it doesn't make any sense to start specialising in "Business" so early. You can do something like an MBA later on starting from any other qualifications, if that's what you want.

The choice between the other two IS a big one. Eng, Physics and Math probably leave more options open to you. With a physics or engineering background you could work in biomechanics or medical physics (developing Xray machines, body scanners, etc) later, but if you don't have the basic math and physics courses it would be harder to move from medicine into science or engineering.
 
If you plan it out correctly, you could double major in physics and pure math. I imagine that at any uni, a lot of the requisite classes for these two majors overlap, so you won't be taking twice the course load; more like 1.6 the course load. With these two majors you can specialize in a variety of areas later on. And although your future school's physics and math program may or may not require it, programming has become a requirement for doing physics and math in the real world, so you can use some of your skills with computer "stuff."

As for the lazy thing, there isn't really much to say besides; stop it now... or find something you enjoy enough so that this isn't a factor.
 
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