Physics major but I don’t think she has what it takes.

[Anonymous]

DD (senior) is planning to apply as a physics major.
She took one physics class in high school and struggled and got a 3 on the AP test. She’s not taking physics now.
She’s currently taking linear algebra and struggling.
This doesn’t seem like a kid who should be a physics major. I don’t want to discourage her, but I also don’t want to waste money on tuition while she flounders.

[Anonymous]

She will figure it out. She can switch majors.

[Anonymous]

Let her find her way. Do you really want to send the message that you don’t think she’s good enough?

[Anonymous]

Let her take the intro physics class as a college freshman and see what happens. It’ll be ok, she’ll figure it out one way or the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD (senior) is planning to apply as a physics major.
She took one physics class in high school and struggled and got a 3 on the AP test. She’s not taking physics now.
She’s currently taking linear algebra and struggling.
This doesn’t seem like a kid who should be a physics major. I don’t want to discourage her, but I also don’t want to waste money on tuition while she flounders.

If she struggled with physics class, why she wants to major in physics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD (senior) is planning to apply as a physics major.
She took one physics class in high school and struggled and got a 3 on the AP test. She’s not taking physics now.
She’s currently taking linear algebra and struggling.
This doesn’t seem like a kid who should be a physics major. I don’t want to discourage her, but I also don’t want to waste money on tuition while she flounders.

If she struggled with physics class, why she wants to major in physics?

OP here. She says she thinks it’s interesting. She likes some of the theoretical ideas.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes people persist in things they find interesting. She will either find a way to be good at it or change course. Just encourage her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD (senior) is planning to apply as a physics major.
She took one physics class in high school and struggled and got a 3 on the AP test. She’s not taking physics now.
She’s currently taking linear algebra and struggling.
This doesn’t seem like a kid who should be a physics major. I don’t want to discourage her, but I also don’t want to waste money on tuition while she flounders.

Stem majors are hard but valuable. I know some people can do it and not struggle I think it is common to find it really challenging and to not get amazing grades in those disciplines.

[Anonymous]

I got a 1 on both physics 1 and 2, and a 3 on physics C mechanics. I am now going into a PhD program for physics at a school you’d approve of.

It’s a slow journey and you shouldn’t expect that people who do well in the beginning are actually better at physics. Linear algebra is a difficult class in general and makes sense to a lot of physics majors when they take upper division quantum mechanics. Don’t kill your daughters dreams just because she isn’t perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got a 1 on both physics 1 and 2, and a 3 on physics C mechanics. I am now going into a PhD program for physics at a school you’d approve of.

It’s a slow journey and you shouldn’t expect that people who do well in the beginning are actually better at physics. Linear algebra is a difficult class in general and makes sense to a lot of physics majors when they take upper division quantum mechanics. Don’t kill your daughters dreams just because she isn’t perfect.

This is impractical advice. For every one of you there are 100s of students who changed their major while blowing up their gpa or dropped out. Yes, you can argue that persistence, maturation, and college environment can (and often do) enable kids to persevere and succeed, but someone, especially a parent, has to let a kid know what they're up against. When she gets to college, there are going to be plenty of freshmen who can ace lower level math and physics classes so the question is going to be whether this will be a motivating or discouraging force.

Other than struggling with some classes, how is she doing otherwise? Does she still have a positive attitude? There are many free online courses she should try out to see if she can get a better handle on the concepts. See how she does without worrying about grades. GL to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got a 1 on both physics 1 and 2, and a 3 on physics C mechanics. I am now going into a PhD program for physics at a school you’d approve of.

It’s a slow journey and you shouldn’t expect that people who do well in the beginning are actually better at physics. Linear algebra is a difficult class in general and makes sense to a lot of physics majors when they take upper division quantum mechanics. Don’t kill your daughters dreams just because she isn’t perfect.

This is impractical advice. For every one of you there are 100s of students who changed their major while blowing up their gpa or dropped out. Yes, you can argue that persistence, maturation, and college environment can (and often do) enable kids to persevere and succeed, but someone, especially a parent, has to let a kid know what they're up against. When she gets to college, there are going to be plenty of freshmen who can ace lower level math and physics classes so the question is going to be whether this will be a motivating or discouraging force.

Other than struggling with some classes, how is she doing otherwise? Does she still have a positive attitude? There are many free online courses she should try out to see if she can get a better handle on the concepts. See how she does without worrying about grades. GL to her.

This is impractical advice if she doesn’t actually like physics. Not every physicist is Susskind- there are physicists who weren’t perfect throughout undergrad.

Physics isn’t specially different from other majors. You can struggle and still be successful- if you don’t like struggling, STAY AWAY FROM A PHYSICS MAJOR. Even the best students will have a moment where they realize a problem is too hard for them. I dont think high school physics is any actual measure of your ability to be a physicist- but it does help in the intro courses. Luckily, colleges today have so many resources to improve in your quantitative skills.

[Anonymous]

She’s going to like physics and math so much more once she’s in college. Most likely she isn’t so much struggling, as getting fed up with HS. But parents need to step off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got a 1 on both physics 1 and 2, and a 3 on physics C mechanics. I am now going into a PhD program for physics at a school you’d approve of.

It’s a slow journey and you shouldn’t expect that people who do well in the beginning are actually better at physics. Linear algebra is a difficult class in general and makes sense to a lot of physics majors when they take upper division quantum mechanics. Don’t kill your daughters dreams just because she isn’t perfect.

This is impractical advice. For every one of you there are 100s of students who changed their major while blowing up their gpa or dropped out. Yes, you can argue that persistence, maturation, and college environment can (and often do) enable kids to persevere and succeed, but someone, especially a parent, has to let a kid know what they're up against. When she gets to college, there are going to be plenty of freshmen who can ace lower level math and physics classes so the question is going to be whether this will be a motivating or discouraging force.

Other than struggling with some classes, how is she doing otherwise? Does she still have a positive attitude? There are many free online courses she should try out to see if she can get a better handle on the concepts. See how she does without worrying about grades. GL to her.

This is impractical advice if she doesn’t actually like physics. Not every physicist is Susskind- there are physicists who weren’t perfect throughout undergrad.

Physics isn’t specially different from other majors. You can struggle and still be successful- if you don’t like struggling, STAY AWAY FROM A PHYSICS MAJOR. Even the best students will have a moment where they realize a problem is too hard for them. I dont think high school physics is any actual measure of your ability to be a physicist- but it does help in the intro courses. Luckily, colleges today have so many resources to improve in your quantitative skills.

You really lack reading comprehension skills. Read it again or run it through a chatbbot. Nowhere does it say to do physics if you don't like it. The assumption from OP is that she does like it. So the advice was to weigh her current ability against her motivation/perseverance, and take some free classes online to see if the understanding comes. Literally, "try it out with zero consequences and see if you get it."

[Anonymous]

Tell your DD you love and support her interest in physics.

Suggest she begin with intro physics in college.

Offer to help find a tutor in advance to work with her, even in person on campus once per week.

Then re-evaluate later.

For people saying things about GPA and such, taking physics 1 for a single semester is not going to make a big difference over four years of college. Please chill. Even if she gets to physics 2 in spring, it still is two courses across all of college.

[Anonymous]

What grade did she get in the class? A 3 would be accepted by some schools as credit.