I’m a first year student and my major is civil engineering. I really like it and I’m taking an intro to civil class right now and I’m really enjoying it. I understand that engineer majors have a lot of classes to take and need to thrive in math and science. My problem is that I’m not that good at math and I’m in a very low math class right now (Intermediate algebra) so this is a huge setback. It will take me a long time to catch up in math and I’m just wondering if it’s even worth it and if I’ll even pass my higher level math classes. I really want to stick with it but I just don’t want to be in school for such a long time trying to get my degree. Should I consider another major or stay with what I have now? Any advice is great.
Here’s the thing: intelligence is not immutable. Studies have shown that yes, there is some degree of genetics involved with certain factors that affect intelligence, but that these are much less important than all of the learning you do throughout life. In other words, your IQ does not represent some hard ceiling, and just because you may have historically struggled with mathematics doesn’t mean that you are doomed to stay that way. It just means you might have a little catching up to do, but if you go into it confident and determined to learn, you absolutely can do it.
Whether or not the time it will take you to catch up is worth it is another question entirely since college is expensive, but in terms of innate ability, you seriously shouldn’t worry about that.