AboutSue Kayton Expertise I can help with recommendations for high school students interested in math / science oriented fields at the highly-selective universities.
Experience I have been interviewing high school students for MIT for 29 years, and keep on top of what other competitive universities are doing. My website http://www.suekayton.com/college.htm provides a lot of information - read this first before asking a question, please.
Education/Credentials I graduated MIT and so did my son.
Question QUESTION: Hi, I'm fourteen-years-old and I just finished my freshman year of high school. I would like to major in Aerospace Engineering or even possibly Mechanical Engineering. Science and math are sadly not my strongest subject and, admittedly, I have to work to understand physics and algebra II. My strongest subject is English and it's also my least favorite because it's incredibly easy, although I'm excelled. My GPA is a weighted 4.1 and an unweighted 3.5 and my class standing is 53/185. I obviously haven't been very serious about my schooling until the last two years. My senior year I will graduate with a full IB diploma which I have already begun classes for.
Thank you,
Nora
ANSWER: Most people who go into engineering as a career are people for whom math and science are easy and fun. If you're having to work at physics and algebra 2, then imagine how much harder the more advanced subjects are.
You may want to consider a field like science journalism or science writing, where you don't need to know the math and science as well as engineers do.
I'd like to recommend the books What Einstein Told His Cook 2 by Madeline Parrish, or The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and The Ancient Engineers by L. Sprauge De Camp, as examples of the kind of thing written by people who like English and math/science. These books should all be in your public library.
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QUESTION: Science journalism and the such wouldn't work for me since I want to build and create! Math and science are fun for me because they take bit of work. You see, I like challenges. I guess I must be one of the only people in the world who likes their hardest subject the most and their easiest the least. I don't want to build a career around a subject I don't enjoy, such as English.
Answer See if you can locate someone in your community who does engineering. During your summer vacation, see if they will let you join them at work for a few hours to see what they do.
Most high school students who want to study engineering will take math through Calculus and AP Physics if they are offered at their high school.
Another good book to read is To Engineer is Human by Henry Petroski. The other books I recommended are all excellent and appeal to math/science/engineering students, so make time to read them over the summer. If you're interested in the biosciences, then also read Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, and The Hot Zone by Robert Preston.
And don't miss Yeager: An Autobiography by the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. Fun and informative look at the earliest days of space travel.
