Majoring in physics/astronomy?

I’m currently a junior in high school doing a college research project, and I’ve found myself to be in a bit of a pickle. Everything I thought I wanted to do with my life just turned out to be much more unrealistic than I had anticipated.

I was always the nerdy kid in elementary school. I was the one who would look through my telescope on summer nights instead of going out to the movies. I was the one who asked Santa for a science kit instead of the newest toy at Toys R Us. I even authored my own (very short) book about the solar system in the 3rd grade (lol). I’ve always been passionate about science, specifically astronomy, since I was a little girl, and now that I’m taking an honors physics class I’ve grown to appreciate astronomy even more, as well as physics as its own.

Now is the time to start thinking about college and my life ahead of me, and I feel very confident that I want to major in either physics or astronomy, but as I’ve been researching for my project, I’ve found that all of my specific interests for career paths are just plain unrealistic.

I’m super interested in cosmology and I’ve been reading numerous threads that have all been saying that there are very few job openings and it’s just a bad idea to focus on it. Now I feel like I’m starting from scratch again becasue I don’t know what to do. I’d like to either major in astronomy or physics, but I don’t know what career options are out there. I’m not a genius by any means, as I scored a 28 on the ACT this fall, but I’ve got a great work ethic and a 4.3 (weighted) GPA.

Is it just a bad idea to major in astronomy? Should I major in physics, and if so, what options for careers do I have?

Physics opens so many doors, but you can also do astrophysics. Many astrophysicistss become well-payed engineers, if they cant find a suitable position.

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