I Have a Confession

And if you're gearing for Cosmology and Princeton....



I would say you should be married to browsing the following books



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Cosmology

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1 JV Narlikar - Introduction to Cosmology

[Considered THE introductory textbook - you need a solid background in physics and math]



2 Kolb and Turner - The Early Universe

[a standard reference]]



3 Peebles - Principles of Physical Cosmology

[comprehensive]



4 Peebles - The large-scale structure of the universe



5 William Kaufmann - Black Holes and Warped Spacetime



6 MV Berry - Principles of Cosmology and Gravitation



7 Dennis Overbye - Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos



8 Joseph Silk - The big bang

[a must for the basics of big bang cosmology]



9 James Cornell - Bubbles, voids, and bumps in time: the new cosmology



10 Padmanabhan - Structure formation in the universe



11 Krasinski - Inhomogeneous Cosmological Models



12 Weinberg - First Three Minutes - pop science



13 Timothy Ferris - Coming of Age in the Milky Way and The Whole Shebang - pop science



14 Alan Lightman - Origins: The lives and worlds of modern cosmologists

[interviews on people with their cosmological theories]



Astronomy

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Frank Shu - The Physical Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy



Mechanics

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1 Halliday and Resnick - Physics [first year physics]

2 Introduction to Mechanics - Kleppner and Kolenkow - 1973

2 Symon - Mechanics - 1971



Electromagnetism

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1 Purcell - Berkeley Physics Series Volume 2

2 Griffiths - Introduction to Electromagnetism

3 Reitz Milford Christy - Foundations of Electromagnetic Theory

4 Lorrain and Corson - Electromagetism, Princes and Applications



Quantum

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1 Liboff - Introductory Quantum Mechanics

2 Griffiths - Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

3 Eisberg and Resnick - Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles



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Math

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a. Take Calculus I II III IV - right to Vector Calculus

b. Take one textbook of Differential Equations



All the hard stuff is accomplished.



You wanna get to Mathematical Physics Standard?



a. One textbook on Analysis [suitable for 2 classes - after that you can handle Topology or any high end math course rigor]



b. Differential Geometry [Spivak or DeCarmo usually] - Think of this as Vector Calculus II



That will set you up for Tensor Calculus, Relativity, Bending of things with Space Time....



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care about the books, not the teachers, not the exams, not the schools....the real learning is in the books, and your real references for decades will be those books. for fun and browsing or for sheer uh strain..



Do every chapter, do every problem in a chapter, if you hit a roadblock just apply more hours into the chapter. Merely master one chapter at a time [deeply!] , rather than thinking about finals and midterms and exams.

*hug*



ALL IS NOT LOST. Take a bit to deal with your realisation but don't let it defeat you, let it motivate you. Remember this rule, and it's a hard one: someone of moderate intelligence who works hard will go farther than a genius who procrastinates. You have not destroyed your future though.



A few things you need to focus on:



- You can retake classes and the SAT (I'm Canadian but Google tells me you can do that)

- Grades are the #1 consideration for the Ivy League. They are not the only ones. You need to look at your extracurriculars, recommendation letters, and strength of your personal essay. How are your extracurriculars and do you have recommendations lined up?

- Princeton is never a guarantee for anyone. You need a Plan B and Plan C, even ambitious ones.

- There is no shame in taking a gap year to make yourself more appealing to Princeton.

- You've worked on a few theories. Who knows about them? Who have you shown them to? If you've done something remarkable for someone your age, then you need to get some notoriety off of that before you start applying. Are there professors you respect you can show your work to? If you can get even a small amount of notoriety before you hit the application process, that will help.



You are too smart to not succeed wildly and even if you do not find yourself in Princeton -you have not ruined your life-. Good luck and remember to keep busy. Busy people work harder - I struggle with procrastination to this day and that's the #1 thing I use to keep me motivated.

Now looky here missy. Chin up, mind alert.







No one gives a flying monkey eating a pillow what papers say. You are procrastinating because your mind is still developing, and you are not ready to pursue the expectations set before you. While you CAN do it, it isn't to centre of your attention, and how could it be? Your theories are a result of your true aspiration. (I really hope I didn't make a spoof in that assumption). I am attempting to be genuine, the systems in which humanity has formed it's education facilities and the requirements it lays on the minds of its youth are imperfect in timing. You should be required to learn, when you want to learn, not while you are struggling to figure yourself out. With that in mind, do not forget that you are this strange little human on speck of microscopic dust who's constructs mean little to nothing to the rest of the universe. Be an explorer, be an observer, be content with having that ability alone. You don't have to be perfect, you do not have to have a perfect record, you just have to pursue what you find to be curious and if you are feeling charitable, sharing it with the rest of us ;)



P.S.

I have completely forgotten that I have an Anthropology assignment due tomorrow. Fark, arse, girls, drink! (Reference Youtube: Father Ted, Father Jack Quotes). Yours dearly, that creepy female alien thing that keeps following you around.

The most important skill is self-study, where you master textbooks and subjects, before you get hit with teachers, exams, and required 'texts'....



Some people rarely get into their top school, even with straight A's, and some things are just fussy where only 3% of people are accepted...



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Even if you go to university or now, Ivy League or not, the key thing is owning the key textbooks.... If you like Cosmology, you'll be getting the books.. sooner or later....



And from what i gather, schools like consistency of grades...



the ideal is to get straight A's in all the fundamental math and physics classes, first and second year, and some people say that in some ways, those are the most enjoyable times and everything else is downhill.



Keep yer theories to yourself, till you got a B.A. or PhD... and even then it's no guarantee of being 'awesome'. Michio Kaku only half his books are any good, and he's always babbling about Hyperspace and Geometry.

I think you're stressing yourself out for pretty much no reason. A 3.4 GPA is still pretty good and your SAT score is well above the national average. Stop stressing yourself out. Everything will work out one way or another. It could always be worse, trust me.

*BIG HUG* *gives you a pillow n blanket.*