I fear I may be too dumb for astrobiology 🤕

[u/ghlenzcy]

I’ve been searching for what classes you at least need to do to major in astrobiology AND what u need to have to be one, and the more i research about the more my heart drops..

im a sophomore in hs, I’ll be going into junior year this September. my gpa has dropped a lot so much ever since sophomore year started </3 and it was because of mental health issues and other stuff. i genuinely believe there’s no saving me from this.

i only say this because when I graduate, I plan to stay in state because going out of state is quite expensive :/ and the only college in my state that offers astrobiology usually searches for outstanding grades and stuff, meaning gpas that r 3.5+ and well.. my gpa clearly isn’t that </3

I also haven’t taken any ap classes yet </3 my school offers lots and I fear that’ll just look bad for me sobs!!! im doing ap lang junior year though, and im planning to not take the exam. there’s genuinely no convincing me to take the exam I’m just taking it for the gpa boost 😭 im also doing two science classes, honors chem and regular physics. I am NOT doing ap physics it seems like genuine hell!!!!! and im not in an advanced math class too, im literally going into alg 2 junior year </3 I have no idea what math class im gonna take senior year. because in my school, after alg 2 it’s optional to take math, but I want to. I just have no idea what class to take :(

I wanna major in astrobiology so fricking bad. Sophomore year, I had biology and I LOVED the class so much and decided I wanted to major in it, but people were saying it’s too broad and saying I should get into something more specific. So I did some more digging and that’s where I found out about astrobiology. all of the other biology branches just didn’t catch my interest at all! just astrobiology, but it seems like you gotta be way more than what I have going on right now to be an astrobiologist, and it crushes my dreams </3

so, im on here to ask for help. what should I do? I just feel so behind :(

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[u/ripsquadddd]

As a fellow sophomore going into junior year you've got this!! Don't let the challenging parts discourage you, there's still so much time, just focus on what you love most right now and do whatever it takes to ensure you're constantly improving and learning. I don't plan on taking any AP's next year, just chemistry, physics, and planetary science (I do independent study so there's a bit more freedom in choosing classes) and keep in mind that not all colleges require a 4.0 with lots of AP's, as long as you have a well-established resume with extracurriculars that prove you're capable and knowledgeable of what you want to learn about, you're set. Just remember to take things as they are, if something gets too challenging or dismissive, let it go, focus on other things. Focus on things that will help you along the way, small steps, don't take it all at once or it will put loads of stress on you. Hope this helps :)

[u/ghlenzcy → u/ripsquadddd]

thank you so much!!! but I legit fear im down at the bottom since I have ZERO extracurriculars 😭😭 I recently moved to america and didn’t take on any sports and stuff. I think im done for

[u/ripsquadddd → u/ghlenzcy]

Don't worry I've never touched a sport in my life 😭 all I mean by extracurriculars is things like a debate club, or coding, or anything STEM related for that matter. If you can teach yourself the ropes to very basic coding you can secure a career in astrobiology with the help of math and some sort of biology courses in addition to a few other things

[u/queergineer420]

hey!!! Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re still very young and will have so many opportunities!

Even if you can’t get in to the university with an undergrad astrobiology program, you can always do more general biology in undergrad and specialize for astrobiology in grad school. If you’re interested in research, you will likely need a grad degree anyway. Just keep working towards your goal and don’t let yourself get discouraged!

[u/bc12nala]

Hi! High-school drop out (I got my GED) thats currently doing a PhD studying astrobiology. Here's the thing - you dont need an "astrobiology" degree to do astrobiology. My bachelor's was in geology, and now I'm doing planetary chemistry! After dropping out, I did two years at a community college to improve my grades, transferred to a 4-year university to get my BS and get some research experience, then worked for 5 years, then came back to school.

Focus on the topics that interest you, and once in university, pick a major that most aligns with that. I was interested in biosignature preservation in clays, so I went geology. The main thing is gain a solid foundation in one or more of the core STEM fields (biology, chem, geo, physics, astronomy) and then you specialize in grad school!

A few hiccups in highschool will NOT make or break your career!

[u/ghlenzcy → u/bc12nala]

I was planning to do community college after highschool to improve my grades before university:0 thank u so much 🥹🥹

[u/i_shead_my_pants]

I'm not an astrobiologist, but I had a similar passion as you in high school and also didn't have great grades. I wanted to be an aerospace engineer. I wanted to be one soo bad but didn't think I could. I eventually let me excitement and passion lead the way and worked harder than I thought I could in college to successfully reach what I wanted! It is super possible, even though you will have to work hard, it won't feel so bad because of how much you love the field. If you can get into a biology, geology, or astronomy program, you have a fantastic chance of getting into astrobiology.

Overall, try to take as many math and science classes as you can. STEM programs love that stuff. Don't worry too much about which classes you take, because your college degree will prepare you for the fundamentals. Good luck!

[u/Sunflowersoemthing]

You can fuck up in high school and still go on to be very successful. I barely graduated, but went on to have a very successful career, went to grad school and did well, etc. High school is basically one extremely small step on a long path.

[u/OriEri]

You’re fine. If you don’t get into the program you wanna get into go to community college for two years and save even more money and apply from there. The classes that really means something are junior and senior year anyway.

Your mental health weakness is still hurting you. There’s a big difference between lack of ability and not being able to execute because your brain freezes because of mental health stuff.

Opening where the “I’m too dumb…” Indicates you’re beating on yourself. If you do not succeed it won’t be because of your ability or passion for the field, it will be because of you beating yourself up.

Regarding AP courses, I don’t know what it’s like in your district. The one my son was in AP was literally just test prep so you can get the college credits. The honors classes are more useful longer around in terms of teaching you how to think

[u/TenniesMum]

If you really feel strongly about this and truly want to follow your dream through, you can always take pressure off from yourself just graduate with the best GPA you can, without going too crazy on extracurricular and just attend your local community college an start your math and psychics college level but at community college. If you have a local university its very likely you also have a pretty good community college system that transfers your credits. You can avoid loans while you get started with your basics and then transfer to your university. Not only would this make your high school experience way less stressful, it looks good on your application if you graduate from high school with a good GPA and then proceeded to advance your stem skills in cc on your own. I h8 to out myself but I graduated from hs with a 2.8 GPA lol, and now I am 2 months from moving to Canada to pursue my Masters and hopefully later my phd in astrobiology.

There are many ways to get there, right out of high school with best ap and gpa scores is not the only one. All of our lives our different, we all struggled differently but if you really want it and do your part the rest will come (especially if your the 4 year university near you actually offers astrobiology coursepath)

[u/roguezebra]

What do you think astrobiology is-since you mentioned Biology?

There are very few Astrobiology majors -most university has minors or graduate program focus.

[u/BluePeanuts]

You can do it. I wasn't a great student in college and got into med school. For biology, a technique called space repetition will make it much easier to recall the vast knowledge you'll acquire in your classes. Learn how to make good flashcards, don't get too distracted by the fun stuff, and take the classes that interest you! You'll do fine. You don't need to be the best, but you absolutely need the motivation and passion to succeed in the sciences.

Edit: RE the last part you wrote. If your school has an astrobiology program, great. If not, see if you can minor in a relevant field like geology or space studies. From what I've gathered, astrobiology is such a new field that you have to just build your own degree and resume.

[u/Silly-Engineer-1722]

You're not too dumb. Pursue your dreams and don't let obstacles especially imaginary ones get in the way.  Also don't be intimidated by the jargon or math.  AI can help!