Honest Chances @ attending grad school
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:23 pm
I need honest advice.
My academic history has been tenuous at best. While in my pre-pubescent days I exhibited a strong interest in physics I quickly lost my intellectual curiosity in high school and barely ended up in college. I went to a pretty poor state college and dropped out in three semesters. I spent the next 4-5 years knocking around not truly knowing what to and having a mix of part time jobs and part time school. For awhile I thought I wanted to be a programmer but it wasn't right for me. I rekindled an interesting science and am pretty sure that it is the right thing for me. I feel like my academic past was resultant of having a lot of problems within my family during my teen years and not being properly encouraged too peruse my interest at a young age. I have suffered depression over the past 6 years and it further effected my schooling. I have 11 W's in my academic past but never one from being in danger of failing a class, it was more often a result of depression keeping me not going to class or disliking my classes. I've done very well for the most part in math and sciences, A's or so up through differential equations.
Now 6 years after high school I am trying to improve my life in many area and will be going to a top 50 or so school to finish a dual physics and astronomy degree. I want nothing more in life than to pursue a Ph.D.and feel that the sort of intellectual stimulation I get through studying physics is transformative for me.
Despite my frankly uninspiring academic past if I can turn things around in the next 2 or so years do I have a serious chance of becoming a physicist?
I feel I am sufficiently motivated now to work at an academic level I never have before and know that I will be competing with people who had much more straightforward paths.
Are there any specific things I can do, besides getting good grades and getting involved in research, to ameliorate my past?
Frankly, I feel like physics is my one chance to be something meaningful in life and want to it to the absolute best of my ability.
My academic history has been tenuous at best. While in my pre-pubescent days I exhibited a strong interest in physics I quickly lost my intellectual curiosity in high school and barely ended up in college. I went to a pretty poor state college and dropped out in three semesters. I spent the next 4-5 years knocking around not truly knowing what to and having a mix of part time jobs and part time school. For awhile I thought I wanted to be a programmer but it wasn't right for me. I rekindled an interesting science and am pretty sure that it is the right thing for me. I feel like my academic past was resultant of having a lot of problems within my family during my teen years and not being properly encouraged too peruse my interest at a young age. I have suffered depression over the past 6 years and it further effected my schooling. I have 11 W's in my academic past but never one from being in danger of failing a class, it was more often a result of depression keeping me not going to class or disliking my classes. I've done very well for the most part in math and sciences, A's or so up through differential equations.
Now 6 years after high school I am trying to improve my life in many area and will be going to a top 50 or so school to finish a dual physics and astronomy degree. I want nothing more in life than to pursue a Ph.D.and feel that the sort of intellectual stimulation I get through studying physics is transformative for me.
Despite my frankly uninspiring academic past if I can turn things around in the next 2 or so years do I have a serious chance of becoming a physicist?
I feel I am sufficiently motivated now to work at an academic level I never have before and know that I will be competing with people who had much more straightforward paths.
Are there any specific things I can do, besides getting good grades and getting involved in research, to ameliorate my past?
Frankly, I feel like physics is my one chance to be something meaningful in life and want to it to the absolute best of my ability.