- #1
ExMusicMajor
- 2
- 0
Okay so this might be a little long, but I think it requires some length to explain and elicit answers.
I am a junior at the University of North Texas. I originally came here to be a music major and spent a year and a half as such. I was and am very passionate about music, but for many reasons I did not find the music program suitable. I don't want to get to tangential, but the method was bad and I was having physical issues related to my instrument that seemed unresolvable. I changed majors to English, under the wrong advice of my advisors. They essentially said I had taken too many credits and would have to graduate right away or suffer super-tuition fees. This information was false, but I was not to learn that until later. So I switched to English because I could graduate in roughly a year and a half and avoid the fees, and also I enjoy reading and thinking about literature. I found I was not enjoying my english classes and generally had low motivation so I started to look around at other majors. In my gen ed that I completing I was taking physical geography and stats. I enjoyed working the concrete problems that stats are uses, even if they are rather basic. I started to find geography pretty interesting when it got covered some physics concepts. I found out I still had roughly 80 credit hours left to me before I hit super-tuition around the end of spring of sophomore year. I spent the whole summer intensely debating many different majors but unable to reach a conclusion. I felt like I had an interest in science, but that I would have to cram it to study any of them, and that I couldn't really do it. So come fall of junior year I kept going with the English major. I wanted to drop out, but I have a scholarship that I lose if I drop out, so I couldn't just leave and come back. My english classes are not really intellectually inspiring me. I'm not worried about jobs that much, I had a nice internship this summer. I can do it again next one if I want, or something different. I'll be okay.
During my internship I excelled at helping my department by inventing new spreadsheet applications for Excel, such as a formula set to assign languages and time displacement based on countries. I also used what I had learned in my statistics class to manage a project that was given to me. I find I enjoyed this sort of work quite a bit there.
So here I am. I have three semesters of college left, not including this one. I only need a semester and some spare change to complete my English major. I'm considering doing a trial run of a science major this spring. Taking some gen chem, calc 1. Then over the summer taking Phys1 and 2, calc 2 and 3. If I did this theoretically I could finish a BA in physics by the end of senior year. I also could still finish my English major on time if I didn't enjoy my trial run. If I had to take summer classes I would probably not be able to work at my internship again, which may hurt my employment prospects. My college is not very well regarded, and a BA here is easier than the BS. For these reasons I'm not sure a BA Physics would really change my career much for the better.
I guess I want to try this because I feel so disinterested in school. Its so boring. I don't feel challenged, my classes are vague, I'm not sure how this helps me in the future, I'm disillusioned about many of my dreams (musician, professor, author, scientist.) I want school to feel meaningful, but I think I lost a lot of that when I quit the music program.
So the question is, what do you think of my plan? Am I managing my risks properly? Am I wasting my money/time? Will I stand a shot in hell at success (I did well in math/science in high school, but that was forever ago)? Is this all wishful thinking?
I feel very frustrated at the moment, or rather, have felt very frustrated the whole time I've been in college. I would quit and just return when ready normally, but my parents are supporting me and I'll lose my scholarship if I leave. Sorry if this is so rambling, and quite possibly completely unanswerable, but I guess what I really want to know is, is the scientific education deep enough to be valuable? Is it work-load doable (no more than 15 hours a semester/4 science classes a semester at most)? Will I gain anything meaningful for my career from this?
I am a junior at the University of North Texas. I originally came here to be a music major and spent a year and a half as such. I was and am very passionate about music, but for many reasons I did not find the music program suitable. I don't want to get to tangential, but the method was bad and I was having physical issues related to my instrument that seemed unresolvable. I changed majors to English, under the wrong advice of my advisors. They essentially said I had taken too many credits and would have to graduate right away or suffer super-tuition fees. This information was false, but I was not to learn that until later. So I switched to English because I could graduate in roughly a year and a half and avoid the fees, and also I enjoy reading and thinking about literature. I found I was not enjoying my english classes and generally had low motivation so I started to look around at other majors. In my gen ed that I completing I was taking physical geography and stats. I enjoyed working the concrete problems that stats are uses, even if they are rather basic. I started to find geography pretty interesting when it got covered some physics concepts. I found out I still had roughly 80 credit hours left to me before I hit super-tuition around the end of spring of sophomore year. I spent the whole summer intensely debating many different majors but unable to reach a conclusion. I felt like I had an interest in science, but that I would have to cram it to study any of them, and that I couldn't really do it. So come fall of junior year I kept going with the English major. I wanted to drop out, but I have a scholarship that I lose if I drop out, so I couldn't just leave and come back. My english classes are not really intellectually inspiring me. I'm not worried about jobs that much, I had a nice internship this summer. I can do it again next one if I want, or something different. I'll be okay.
During my internship I excelled at helping my department by inventing new spreadsheet applications for Excel, such as a formula set to assign languages and time displacement based on countries. I also used what I had learned in my statistics class to manage a project that was given to me. I find I enjoyed this sort of work quite a bit there.
So here I am. I have three semesters of college left, not including this one. I only need a semester and some spare change to complete my English major. I'm considering doing a trial run of a science major this spring. Taking some gen chem, calc 1. Then over the summer taking Phys1 and 2, calc 2 and 3. If I did this theoretically I could finish a BA in physics by the end of senior year. I also could still finish my English major on time if I didn't enjoy my trial run. If I had to take summer classes I would probably not be able to work at my internship again, which may hurt my employment prospects. My college is not very well regarded, and a BA here is easier than the BS. For these reasons I'm not sure a BA Physics would really change my career much for the better.
I guess I want to try this because I feel so disinterested in school. Its so boring. I don't feel challenged, my classes are vague, I'm not sure how this helps me in the future, I'm disillusioned about many of my dreams (musician, professor, author, scientist.) I want school to feel meaningful, but I think I lost a lot of that when I quit the music program.
So the question is, what do you think of my plan? Am I managing my risks properly? Am I wasting my money/time? Will I stand a shot in hell at success (I did well in math/science in high school, but that was forever ago)? Is this all wishful thinking?
I feel very frustrated at the moment, or rather, have felt very frustrated the whole time I've been in college. I would quit and just return when ready normally, but my parents are supporting me and I'll lose my scholarship if I leave. Sorry if this is so rambling, and quite possibly completely unanswerable, but I guess what I really want to know is, is the scientific education deep enough to be valuable? Is it work-load doable (no more than 15 hours a semester/4 science classes a semester at most)? Will I gain anything meaningful for my career from this?