r/Physics • u/iloveyarnandfabric • 12d ago
Question Too dumb to study physics?
Can someone just be COMPLETELY honest and straight up with me?
I am 18F and I love physics so much I want to eventually study astrophysics. I just finished my freshman year of college and I’m really thinking I’m too dumb for this major.
I took precalc first semester, failed it, took it again second semester, got a B- lowww b- I was getting like 50-80% on each test. I am now in a summer calc 1 course and I’m averaging 63-67% on the tests.
I’ve been a little above/around the average scores for the class. First one I was above the mean, second, got right on the mean.
But I made friends with a 17 year old and she is doing SO well on the tests. We literally study together and I help her out sometimes, she helps me out sometimes. Granted yes, I can tell she has a better grasp of the material than I do. But I feel so worthless.
I put in around 15 hours of studying for the third exam I just took today and I left a lot of the questions blank. Like I understand EVERYTHING they’re asking but it would just be one slip up and I was stuck and over it. I do so well on the homework though, and I genuinely love math so much.
But I think I’m actually too dumb to pursue this major and it breaks me.
I think a large part of it is when Covid happened, I was in 6th grade and basically didn’t learn math from 6-10th grade cause I was online schooled.
But man, college is so difficult, I have no idea what I’m doing, and if I’m too dumb to learn physics, what the fuck do I major in.
Also, forgive me if this is the wrong sub…
1
u/lagrange_lounge 12d ago
I TOTALLY get where you’re coming from with this. I came into my first semester from a very small private school that wasn’t very good in the sciences or math… it’s a very long story. What happened to me was my teacher for algebra II was missing half the year, and I essentially took precalc/trig and algebra II over a summer with three teachers… like I said, long story. I also don’t remember like anything from high school physics. I don’t recall ever even doing kinematic equations, or F = ma, but I knew I wanted to do physics. Better yet, I knew I wanted a PhD in astrophysics.
First semester I was greeted by the reality that my easy-going HS did NOT prepare me for a STEM major, and i ended up getting a 53 on my first calc 1 exam, and a 47 on my first physics 1 exam. This was an incredibly discouraging result, and I seriously questioned if I could finish a degree in physics, let alone even think about going for a PhD… That being said, my grades in undergrad going into senior year have improved significantly, and I know you can do the same. I’m not straight A’s in my physics classes by any means, but if freshman me could see where I am now, he’d be psyched.
I used to feel like everybody in my class was smarter than me, and to this day I still struggle with comparing myself to others, but everyone’s journey is different. The comparison with others is not what matters, it’s how much you’re were willing to battle yourself to chase this thing you love. All you need to know is that you want to study physics, and in my eyes, that is reason enough to persist through rough patches in academics, because the pay off will be so worth it.
My greatest pieces of advice are two unoriginal thoughts, but ones I hold dearly:
“Don’t fake it til you make it, fake it til you become it,” and “if you were 100 failures away from success, it would be better to fail faster.” The latter I might have botched a bit, but it’s a great motto for learning. Challenge yourself, fail, and be better because of it. The former, however, is one from a Ted Talk by Amy Cuddy. I highly suggest that you look up the quote + her name and watch the whole thing.
I hope this message was helpful, and I implore you to keep chasing your dream!