--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hard to be a physics major at Rice…" description: "\"Hard to be a physics major at Rice University if you have flunked calculus.\" — Elizabeth Moon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/elizabeth-moon-9310_calculus_hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-unive_2037284.png" --- # Hard to be a physics major at Rice University if you have… ![“Hard to be a physics major at Rice University if you have flunked calculus.” quote by Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/elizabeth-moon-9310_calculus_hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-unive_2037284.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/elizabeth-moon-9310_calculus_hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-unive_2037284.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/elizabeth-moon-9310_calculus_hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-unive_2037284.png) > “Hard to be a physics major at Rice University if you have flunked calculus.” [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Studying physics at Rice is extremely difficult without a solid calculus foundation. **In simple terms:** Physics requires strong calculus skills. Key Takeaway Strengthen calculus before tackling physics. Themes education challenge preparation Mood cautious realistic Type advisory critical When to use this quote - college enrollment - curriculum design - student advising Key Concepts STEM rigor academic prerequisites Questions to Reflect On - Should calculus be a strict prerequisite? - How can we support students lacking calculus? A Different Perspective Some students may succeed despite gaps, but risk deeper misunderstandings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Calculus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calculus/) [Flunked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flunked/) [Flunked Calculus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flunked-calculus-3350176/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [Physics Major](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics-major-3773680/) [Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rice/) [Rice University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rice-university-3773681/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [University Flunked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university-flunked-3773679/) ## Related quotes > [My first degree came years before my second. I had wanted to be a physicist, but I flunked calculus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/my-first-degree-came-years-before-my-second-i-had-wanted-to-be-a/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [I almost flunked pre-calculus back in high school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-kornacki/i-almost-flunked-pre-calculus-back-in-high-school/) [Steve Kornacki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-kornacki/) > [Music pulled me like a gravitational force. 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I could never hear what the instructor was saying!!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-leckman/i-flunked-out-of-mime-school-i-could-never-hear-what-the-instructor/) [Neil Leckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-leckman/) > [“I flunked out that semester, but I got my money's worth learning about people that don't have hearts no bigger than bird shot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gautreaux/i-flunked-out-that-semester-but-i-got-my-money-s-worth-learning-about/) [Tim Gautreaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gautreaux/) > [I flunked my exam for university two times before I was accepted by what was considered my city's worst university, Hangzhou Teachers University. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/i-flunked-my-exam-for-university-two-times-before-i-was-accepted-by/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [I got kicked out of high school, went to 3 different high schools and summer school and extra night school just so I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisol-nichols/i-got-kicked-out-of-high-school-went-to-3-different-high-schools-and/) [Marisol Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisol-nichols/) ## More by Elizabeth Moon > [Most eyes have more than one color, but usually they're related. Blue eyes may have two shades of blue, or blue and gray, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/most-eyes-have-more-than-one-color-but-usually-they-re-related-blue/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [“My advice is, the next time you see someone you think you need to rescue, walk quickly away on the far side of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/my-advice-is-the-next-time-you-see-someone-you-think-you-need-to/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [When a person responds emotionally to intellectual things, or emotionally only to traditional emotional things - I find that an interesting break between myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/when-a-person-responds-emotionally-to-intellectual-things-or/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [“I do not think God makes bad things happen just so that people can grow spiritually. 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I had wanted to be a physicist, but I flunked calculus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/my-first-degree-came-years-before-my-second-i-had-wanted-to-be-a/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [No, but a cello is the perfect string bass for an accordion. Works with it beautifully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/no-but-a-cello-is-the-perfect-string-bass-for-an-accordion-works-with/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [“...it forces concentration, and thus opens up the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/it-forces-concentration-and-thus-opens-up-the-world/) [Elizabeth moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [What it boils down to is that parenting a child with autism is a difficult job; writing about it is far easier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/what-it-boils-down-to-is-that-parenting-a-child-with-autism-is-a/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [Fantasy allows you to get past defenses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/fantasy-allows-you-to-get-past-defenses/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [I had, of course, no model for that sort of woman being married, but I can make that up as I go along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/i-had-of-course-no-model-for-that-sort-of-woman-being-married-but-i/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [No matter what I do, no matter how predictable I try to make my life, it will not be any more predictable than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/no-matter-what-i-do-no-matter-how-predictable-i-try-to-make-my-life/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [When I was starting out, I did not do short fiction well, because I kept wanting to write books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/when-i-was-starting-out-i-did-not-do-short-fiction-well-because-i/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) [Explore all 70 Elizabeth Moon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) ## More Calculus quotes > [Tell them you came, and saw, and looked into my eyes and saw the shadow of the guard receding. 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Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-jurek/it-s-a-hard-simple-calculus-run-until-you-can-t-run-anymore-then-run/) [Scott Jurek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-jurek/) > [We can't exempt ourselves from the same moral calculus that we are willing to apply to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/we-can-t-exempt-ourselves-from-the-same-moral-calculus-that-we-are/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [The analytical geometry of Descartes and the calculus of Newton and Leibniz have expanded into the marvelous mathematical method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-murray-butler/the-analytical-geometry-of-descartes-and-the-calculus-of-newton-and/) [Nicholas Murray Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-murray-butler/) > [Calculus works by making visible the infinitesimally small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-devlin/calculus-works-by-making-visible-the-infinitesimally-small/) [Keith Devlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-devlin/) > [God created infinity, and man, unable to understand infinity, had to invent finite sets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/god-created-infinity-and-man-unable-to-understand-infinity-had-to/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [In the calculus of feelings, you never really know how one person's absence will affect you more than another's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/in-the-calculus-of-feelings-you-never-really-know-how-one-person-s/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [Everything tries to be round.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/everything-tries-to-be-round/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [“It is an unfortunate fact that proofs can be very misleading. Proofs exist to establish once and for all, according to very high standards,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-s-gaskill/it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-proofs-can-be-very-misleading-proofs/) [Herbert S. Gaskill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-s-gaskill/) > [Looking at numbers as groups of rocks may seem unusual, but actually it's as old as math itself. The word "calculate" reflects that legacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/looking-at-numbers-as-groups-of-rocks-may-seem-unusual-but-actually/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Andrew Hacker argues that algebra and trigonometry and calculus are subjects that almost nobody used after they graduate, and so why should we continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anya-kamenetz/andrew-hacker-argues-that-algebra-and-trigonometry-and-calculus-are/) [Anya Kamenetz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anya-kamenetz/) > [Aerodynamics is mathematics for those who haven't learned to do calculus. 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But the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-robinson/arithmetic-starts-with-the-integers-and-proceeds-by-successively/) [Abraham Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-robinson/) [Browse all 190 Calculus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calculus/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Hard to be a physics major at Rice University if you have flunked calculus.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Moon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-university-if-you-have-flunked/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Calculus" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-university-if-you-have-flunked/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/elizabeth-moon-9310_calculus_hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-unive_2037284.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/elizabeth-moon-9310_calculus_hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-unive_2037284.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/elizabeth-moon-9310_calculus_hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-unive_2037284.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Hard to be a physics major at Rice University if you have flunked calculus.” — Elizabeth Moon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elizabeth Moon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Hard to be a physics major...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-university-if-you-have-flunked/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/hard-to-be-a-physics-major-at-rice-university-if-you-have-flunked/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```