How To Know if Your Intellectually Capable.

[Electrons]

<p>I only get A’s/B’s, I only scored OK on the SAT, I am not really that gifted at all. But, I love math and science and can spend all day watching videos on cosmology, reading about quantum physics, working on intuitive math problems, pondering why and how. It is something I really enjoy but, now with college admissions and the decision of what to major in being a pertinent question I have to ask myself. How do I actually know if I am mentally capable of doing a degree in Math/Science?</p>

[aegrisomnia]

<p>If you can read and write and do basic arithmetic, and have a genuine interest in math and science (it sounds like you do), and get A’s and B’s taking even a normal (i.e., not advanced in any way) high-school curriculum in the US, and are prepared to work hard if the going gets tough, and especially if you aren’t aiming at the most elite undergraduate institutions (e.g., you plan on going to a good state flagship and not necessarily the advanced track at Princeton or something)…</p>

<p>You will be able to major in anything, do well (enough) in terms of grades so that you graduate in a reasonable amount of time, and compete for jobs somewhere doing something. Undergraduate degrees aren’t all that tough to complete; if you really want to do it and are willing to do whatever it takes (within reason), mental ability by itself will not be a big limiter (unless you have a learning disability or a significantly low IQ… which you’re not, if you’re making A’s and B’s in regular high school material).</p>

<p>Naturally, being brilliant would make things easier and might make better outcomes available in the end, but there’s a lot of wiggle room in the category “students who major in STEM, graduate, and get satisfying careers in STEM”. Where you fall in that spectrum is probably more influenced by things like natural aptitude, personality, and luck.</p>

[sschoe2]

<p>Actually statistics show again and again that most STEM graduates get satisfying jobs outside of STEM or unsatisfying/no jobs in STEM.</p>

[akashdip]

<p>you do NOT need to be a genius to get a degree in science or math. well tbh, most people getting degrees in these disciplines arent genii. what you however need is effort and dedication. without these even a genius cant do a thing.
yeah being a genius does help when you are all set out to disprove Einstein’s theory or do cutting-edge research. but for getting a degree, being a genius is absolutely not mandatory.</p>

[akashdip]

<p>which year of HS are you? id love to get into a discussion on Quantum Physics and Astrophysics with you. PM me if you like.</p>

<p>p.s. im in my junior year.</p>

[GodintheFlesh]

<p>I’ve had this question since I got into high school. There’s people much better than me at math, and it makes me feel depressed that I probably won’t make it in astrophysics.</p>

<p>But then I realize two things:
–I’m not a genius, but I am able to understand all concepts (at least the ones that have been thrown at me) with practice and effort.
–I have the drive to succeed. Which is basically what it takes. There’s a physics major at another forum I frequent that said that in terms of mental capacity, someone who passed 10th grade can become a physicist. The issue lies in whether we’re willing to work hard enough. </p>

<p>For example, Amy Mainzer worked extremely hard. She probably didn’t have to work as hard I will when I get into studying my major, but she still needed to put in pretty much everything she had. </p>

<p>Work hard and you will succeed. If you fail, you fail. Worry about that later, though.</p>

[MaineLonghorn]

<p>GitF - it’s funny you mention astrophysics. I was engaged to a brilliant astrophysics major. He was the type who took college classes in high school as a 16-year-old senior, before that was hardly ever done. I also did well in school, but I had to work HARD. He hardly ever had to study.</p>

<p>In college, I took an astronomy class that I LOVED. I talked to the prof a lot. I told him it was kind of discouraging having to work so much harder than my genius BF, and the guy told me he would much rather have a hard-working, bright student than a genius who didn’t have to put in much effort. So see, you’ll do fine! I have! I’m a structural engineer who co-owns a firm with my husband. Life is good! :)</p>

[jfac]

<p>sschoe2, do you have a link by any chance? I just wanna take a look at it.</p>

[SocraticIrony]

<p>Step 1: Look up imposter syndrome.
Step 2: Major in what ever makes you happy.</p>

<p>Experience is what matters.</p>

[sschoe2]

<p>[Where</a> have all the science majors gone? - Jun. 9, 2010](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/09/news/economy/few_science_majors.fortune/index.htm]Where”>http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/09/news/economy/few_science_majors.fortune/index.htm)</p>

<p>

more than half of those with bachelor of science degrees still enter careers having nothing to do with science.

</p>

<p>[PayScale</a> - Chemist Salary, Average Salaries](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chemist/Salary]PayScale”>Chemist Salary in 2024 | PayScale)
Chemists<br>
Years of Experience </p>

<pre><code>Less than 1 year
11%
1-4 years
51%
5-9 years
20%
10-19 years
13%
20 years or more
5%
</code></pre>

<p>The field empties out quickly within 5 years only to be replaced with a new batch of suckers.</p>

<p><a href=“http://scienceprogress.org/2009/12/voting-with-their-wallets/[/url]”>http://scienceprogress.org/2009/12/voting-with-their-wallets/&lt;/a&gt;

But the reason is not, as some people say, that young Americans lack the smarts or the skills to succeed in those fields. Instead, it appears that longstanding U.S. policies have destroyed the incentives that used to attract many of the nation’s best young minds into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (the so-called STEM fields).</p>

<p>“It’s a labor market story,” not an education story, says one of the report’s authors, Harold Salzman, of the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. Rather than staying with STEM for graduate studies or a first job, many of our most able college graduates are now opting out of the pipeline that the nation used to count on to carry gifted students into STEM careers.</p>

<p>But the new study reveals an ominous trend among the scientifically gifted. Although the numbers of young Americans studying STEM in high school and college are as strong as ever, the very best of those students, as indicated by their SAT scores and college grade point averages, are less likely than in decades past to stay in STEM when they leave college.

</p>

<p>[[Vanishing</a> science jobs–Josh Bloom - NYPOST.com](<a href=“http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/america_vanishing_science_jobs_V3TzWwPRZsmTh1sGmtVr8L][Vanishing”>America’s vanishing science jobs)</p>

<p>

To trim expenses, companies began to outsource research to India and China. It started as a trickle, but soon became a tsunami, leaving many thousands of highly intelligent and well-trained professionals with nothing to do – a shameful waste of talent.
It wasn’t always this way. The mid-1990s saw a shortage of chemists, with drug companies hiring like crazy. Bristol-Meyers Squibb, for one, offered cars as signing bonuses. But the company has fired over 10,000 employees since 2000; one wonders if any of them are now living in those cars.

</p>