Need help figuring out my future (keep doing physics?)

[randomperson8]

Need help figuring out my future (keep doing physics??)

Hello. I'm an undergrad finishing up my sophomore year, and I really need help figuring out what I should do with my life. I think I'd just like to tell you how my college career has gone so far and then ask for advice.

I started out my freshman year as a physics major and was very excited and very motivated. I was more or less on top of things, but despite trying as hard as I could in freshman physics 1 I still got a B. (however rumor was only a couple people got As out of like 50). I also had calc 1 and that was an easy A. Getting a B in my major class was disheartening though, but the next semester I was still determined and motivated to do well.

So second semester started and at first things went well, probably better than they went 1st semester. I had a high B or close to an A throughout most of physics II and a solid A in calc II. However in the last month or two of the semester things went really bad. I lost my A in physics and it got to the point where it was impossible to get it in that class. When this happened I just lost it and sunk into a deep depression and started smoking cigarettes. All my motivation was gone and I even bombed my calc II final and ended up with a B in there too.

I wanted to just drop out of college temporarily to figure out my life, but my parents wouldn't let me and forced me to go back. So I did but still had almost no motivation to do well. I dropped the physics major and switched to math but with a physics minor, thinking it'd be easier. I didn't really care about my classes so much that semester and tried to be more social, and I ended up getting Bs and even Cs. I took like 3 math classes that semester and realized I really didn't even enjoy math the way I liked physics, and also found it to be just as difficult. So I switched back.

Now this semester I'm in Mathematical Physics and Modern II. Modern II is going well, I have a high B and might even be able to pull off an A if the final goes well, but I'm struggling a LOT in Mathematical Physics. I'll be getting a C in there or maybe even WORSE, which would mean I'd have to retake it or something.

so that's where I'm at now and I don't know what I should do. My overall GPA after this semester will be a tad above a 3.0 and my physics GPA is even worse (like 2.6ish). I don't see how I'm going to survive upper level classes after kinda screwing up my first two years. Also these grades surely aren't good enough for grad school and without going to grad school I don't even see what the hell there is to do with just a physics bachelors degree and low GPA...

Should I just give up and switch to something COMPLETELY different that I might actually be competent at? Should I drop out for a while and just try to figure out wtf to do with my life? Should I keep plowing through it and end up a subpar physicist that can't get into grad school? I just don't know anymore. What are my options?

 

[micromass]

There are some things you're not telling us. What is the reason that you're not getting A's? Do you understand the material well? How much do you study? Do you simply suck in calculations (like me) or do you also have conceptual problems?

You're clearly interested in physics, that's good thing. So there has to be something wrong with your method of studying. It's either not enough or not efficient enough. Try to continue physics a little while and find out what's the matter. It's certainly not to late to fix it!

 

[randomperson8]

thanks Micromass. Well, freshman year I studied A LOT, and that's why getting those Bs were very disheartening. I literally read the book over and over and did practice problems until I thought I understood everything, but I'd always get thrown curveballs and not know how to handle them or I just wouldn't understand something on a quiz that I thought I had understood. It was a while ago but thinking back I probably could have been more prepared and done even more to be on top of things. I hardly ever went to office hours and I imagine that could have helped a lot...

now this year I'll be honest and say the main reason for my failures has been lack of trying. The motivation just has kind of left. I'm hoping to change that around though next year and this summer (taking a course this summer). I can feel it coming back and hopefully I can get just as motivated if not more so than I was freshman year...

still though, I'm not sure what I should be doing really or how to improve or if it's just too late. I mean this material builds and if I don't have a good foundation how am I going to survive the higher level classes?

 

[micromass]

thanks Micromass. Well, freshman year I studied A LOT, and that's why getting those Bs were very disheartening. I literally read the book over and over and did practice problems until I thought I understood everything, but I'd always get thrown curveballs and not know how to handle them or I just wouldn't understand something on a quiz that I thought I had understood. It was a while ago but thinking back I probably could have been more prepared and done even more to be on top of things. I hardly ever went to office hours and I imagine that could have helped a lot...

Yes, I can understand that you felt very bad after studying so much. I think I understand what happened in your first year. First of all, you didn't know what to expect on an exam, so you just study at random not knowing what to focus on. My first year was also my hardest year because of that.
Secondly, you could have reflected the material a little more. Studying a lot stops being good after a while. You also need some time to put the books away and to think about the material. Maybe pose yourself some nice problems and try to figure them out.
Again, my first year, I just studied the course, nothing more. The exams where very hard. OK, I got an A on most courses, but I felt I didn't understand the material. So next year I studied less and I had more fun in the material: thinking up problems and solving them, doing hard problems that I tought would be fun, trying to create a philosophy behind the course, constructing counterexamples to all statements in the course,... And behold, my grades improved, I had fun and I knew that I mastered the material. In my point-of-view, this is how one should study...

The good thing about your situation is that you have the experience and you know what professors expect. So try changing the way you study...

now this year I'll be honest and say the main reason for my failures has been lack of trying. The motivation just has kind of left. I'm hoping to change that around though next year and this summer (taking a course this summer). I can feel it coming back and hopefully I can get just as motivated if not more so than I was freshman year...

Well, the good thing is that the problem is with you. You don't try as hard as you can. I call this a good thing because you can work at it. You can start trying again and maybe it'll work out. But whatever you do, try to have fun!

still though, I'm not sure what I should be doing really or how to improve or if it's just too late. I mean this material builds and if I don't have a good foundation how am I going to survive the higher level classes?

I'm not going to say it's easy what you're going to do, but it's certainly possible! But you'll need to be very motivated and you'll need to work very hard!
Not only that, but you'll also need to change the way you study, that is: look at the course more critically. Instead of just swallowing the material, try to understand it all well. This WILL require you to discuss the material with more experienced people. This can be through office hours, but it can also be by posting here a lot of conceptual questions. A lot of people post on PF, and I think they all benefit from it (given they are ready to think about the answers they've been given...).

Grad schools are not stupid, if they see somebody with B's in the first and second year, and then straight A's, then you'll be a decent candidate.
Furthermore, try to get some research experience, maybe you'll like this.

It can also be very possible you'll be not willing to put the effort in. This is an understandable choice, but then you'll need to find another thing to study. Make up your mind and go 100% for what you choose. If you continue with physics, go for it! If you choose to stop, go for the alternative.

To summarize: do what you think you will be happier with. I found that to be a good direction for my decisions...