<p>Follow your passion... Mstee, it sounds like your older son really likes physics - he's kept at it until he gets it. If he gets a job in the field he'll be a happy working man.</p>
<p>I was a computer science/engineering weed out at a large UC 30+ years ago, landing as a math major instead. I've always wondered "what if". My D is at a LAC and weed-out isn't even a term used there. D is a junior chemistry major, and truly has a passion for the subject even though she had subpar grades in O-Chem after practically working 24/7 on those courses (2 semester sequence). Fortunately, that isn't the only chemistry field, and she's finding analytical and physical chemistry very stimulating and more suited to her "mathiness". After being below average in O-Chem, she found herself at the top of her classes in A-Chem and P-Chem, with a plum summer research position. If she had been at big U, she may have bailed after (during) O-Chem and never gotten to the areas where she possesses a stronger chemistry aptitude. She says she still doesn't get O-Chem even after working as a lab assistant for the course last term. I really hate that atmosphere that "half of you will be gone by the drop date". Most 18-20 year olds don't have the experience to get past that message.</p>