@QB18ND23
What potential GPA are you fearing?
He works for Google doing incomprehensible (to me) stuff with the Linux kernel. He’s wanted to be a “computer programmer” since he was in fifth grade at least. He earns more than his parents if you add in the bonuses.
@mathmom
Interesting. Perhaps discovering what I want to do with my abilities as a career will make me less grade-dependent. Then again, maybe not.
@agreatstory
Any that would be below the standards of the most selective graduate schools in my chosen field. I haven’t yet decided that graduate school is for me, and acceptance will hinge on far more than just my GPA, but being on par in that sense with the students that do attend is the goal. Anything short of that leads to the conclusion that I do not belong among the best, and I could never accept that.
This is similar to what happened with my SAT and ND admission. I got in with a 1390, which is subpar for ND. I therefore retested for an acceptable score of 1540. I considered anything below 1500 to be a failure rendering me unworthy of attendance.
@QB18ND23 Let me explain something to you.
The acceptance rate to ND is 18.7%, and that includes students with a wide range of stats and accomplishments.
The percent of applicants who received Questbridge scholarships in 2018-2019 was 6.4%, and the applicants themselves are almost all top-notch students. The stats of QB finalists look like those of the students who are accepted to the most selective colleges in the USA, and the scholars themselves are the best of those. You are, in essence, the cream of the cream of the crop.
You were selected as a QB scholar for Notre Dame not because you have a profile of an “average” ND student, but because you have the profile that matches that of the best students who are accepted to ND. Not only that, but you achieved that profile with a fraction of the resources that the other best kids at ND had.
Think about it this way - most applicants for ND are good enough to be accepted. You are good enough that ND is willing to offer you a full ride just so you will attend. ND is not doing you a favor - they really want you. They want you to the tune of almost $300,000.
You not “on par” with the other students. You left “on par” behind you a while back. You were probably too busy studying to notice “on par” as you whizzed by it.
As for your course choice. You are no longer in high school and you are not expected to find the most challenging courses in every topic. You need to take the courses that are required and which you need for your major. If you are a physics major, you do not need to take the most challenging math courses. You need to take the math courses which will provide you with the mathematical background so that you can understand physics. The most challenging math courses are there for math majors.
As for physics courses - you take the same into courses as every other physics major, and see which particular subfield of physics interests you. You will take challenging courses in that subfield, and you will enjoy them immensely.
I am an ecologist. My undergrad is in biology, and I took all of the required intro courses in bio, physics, chem, etc. The challenging courses I took were in zoology, ecology, evolutionary biology. I wasn’t taking them because they were challenging, but because they were teaching stuff that I wanted to know. I found those 300 and 400 level courses extremely enjoyable. They may have been challenging, but in the way that a hiker will find a a steep climb challenging. It’s hard, but it’s fun, and when you get to the top, it’s even better. My grades in the 300 and 400 level courses are all much higher than the grades on most of my intro courses.
BTW, the reason that AP physics is so difficult is that they are teaching you mechanics using algebra, and that is a very roundabout, confusing way. Learning the exact same physics, but using calculus, is so much easier. If AP physics were taught using calculus, you would have had an easy time getting that 5.
@MWolf
Thank you for the encouragement. It means a lot.
I was in AP Physics C Mechanics, which is calculus-based, so I don’t think that was the issue.
@QB18ND23
There is wisdom in @MWolf’s post. Highlight the part mentioning the enjoyment in mastering challenging material that aligns with interests. Allow yourself to feel the joy. You’ve earned it.
@agreatstory
You know, there is truth to that. AP Physics was easily my most challenging class in high school, but it was also the one I enjoyed the most. I took great satisfaction in getting a hard problem right, or even getting a particularly challenging problem wrong if my solution was lengthy.
Oh my goodness, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I just got my AP scores and received 5’s on both calculus and physics.
Another interesting development, for anyone still interested: I was accepted into the Building Bridges Mentoring Program. I’ll be assigned a professor from my major to act as a mentor throughout my undergraduate career. Apparently, I may also get the chance to be involved in physics research as early as this year. I think this is a good confidence boost; they seem to believe enough in me to have a professional devote time to interacting with me.
Your idea that you can take a basic Russian course to satisfy language requirements when you are a native speaker may not fly at ND. I would suggest you contact their language department and discuss your options. You may need “Russian for Heritage Speakers” or some advanced literature class that may not be offered every semester.
@Tanbiko
A professor contacted me about that and offered advanced courses. However, I read I can take an exam to satisfy the requirement without taking courses, which I would much prefer.
@Tanbiko
Now that I think of it, how would they know the level of my Russian? I don’t see how they can force me to take advanced courses.
You’ll have a placement test.
In addition, taking Russian 1 with complete beginners is both a waste of your time (you’ll STILL be expected to clock 2 hours online every day) and an unfair practice for your fellow classmates.
This is how it’ll go:
You’ll be in a class with 8 or 9 other people.
Your professor will make a short introductory speech in Russian, which you’ll be the only one to understand, something the professor will notice. Then you’ll learn how to say What’s your name? My name is … Then everyone will practice. For eight of your classmates, it’ll be sounds like wot ya…Nim… The professor will notice you have no trouble at all and will ask you to come at the end of class. You’ll be asked to switch classes (likely messing your schedule). You may choose not to show up for the 4 or 5 hours a week but it’ll dock your grade (in intensive beginning Foreign Language classes presence is mandatory and homework time is generally clocked online).
If you bombed a placement test on purpose you may be warned for academic dishonesty.
In short: take the pre-study abroad culture/literature/grammar/conversation level class of your choice, don’t try to cheat.
@MYOS1634
I read that the placement exam is optional for students who haven’t had prior coursework in the language. Therefore, there’s nothing stopping me from taking the basic courses. I’m obviously not going to do that because I would much rather take some sort of exam to test out of that requirement and focus on my major.
@MYOS1634
You must also realize that my Russian certainly isn’t native; it’s foreign to me, just like English (where my English is several orders of magnitude better than my Russian). I severely doubt I’m prepared for Russian language literature courses.
There’s usually a sophomore level/pre study abroad course that isn’t literature (= junior/senior level) but above beginning Russian, that would likely be appropriate. The point is you’d test into it. If you place out and get 2 more elective courses, good for you. If you get placed into level 3 and only have one semester to take, good for you, too. But trying to take level 1 would be problematic both for you and your classmates.
So take the placement test and see where you end up. Don’t want to take Russian because you may place in a high-level class that requires more work? Take a completely new language and start from the bottom with your fellow students - Mandarin if you embrace challenges or maybe Spanish as an easier alternative. College is a time to try new things. Our S was fluent in speaking Spanish but still took some Spanish classes to improve his writing. He also wound up taking some Mandarin as a stretch goal. Why not?
You should have taken some foreign language in high school that was not Russian. You have an option to take an appropriate class of that language.
Alternatively there may have a class for Russian Heritage Speakers that will include a lot of grammar, reading and writing and will be intense with little practical use for a physics major. But you benefited from the Russian elementary school math instruction - now it is a payback time - go and study some Russian grammar!
Now that I look at the requirement again, it says that a student must demonstrate intermediate proficiency in a given language, which can be satisfied by a sufficiently high score on a placement exam. As bad is it is, I’m pretty sure my Russian is at least at the intermediate level by foreign language standards. If I can demonstrate that on the exam, then I should be able to avoid taking any language courses whatsoever.
Now I just need to figure out how to “register online” for said exam.
Edit:
I did an online placement test about a month ago (a high score on which resulted in being contacted by a professor of Russian as I previously mentioned). I somehow doubt this was the test that could exempt me from language classes due to its short length, but the score I got is officially listed among my grades along with AP scores, SAT scores, etc.