I didn ' t even start jogging until I was 160 lbs . my knees and back truly shudder at the thought of running with 230 lbs of fat and not muscle . I ' m still cutting weight to get to a good running weight , and I ' m 119 freaking lbs . <| sep |> Client server networking is such a unique programming model <| sep |> ah i see . thanks for the information ! <| sep |> On point 1 , I strongly recommend going the clinical route . For reference , I have a PhD , did a postdoc , and currently work in industry . Even if you are convinced you want to go the PhD route , I would recommend spending a few years in industry working in a field that interests you . If you continue to like it after earning a paycheck for a few years , then go back to school . It ' s even better if you ' ve identified a specific area that really interests you , because you can then locate professors working in that area and try to join their labs . You will have a much more successful graduate career because of the additional skills and practical experience you ' ve acquired , and you ' ll be even more motivated if its a topic you ' ve established some interest in . Grad school is long , and it ' s hard , and you ' re going to hate it at times . Motivation cannot be understated . I also want to comment on how a number of senior academics have been encouraging you . There is an excellent chance that they do not realize what it is like for aspiring junior faculty these days . It is much , much harder today than it was when they were in your shoes . Do your own research , but here is a bit about my experience . I always wanted to be a professor and spent months agonizing over whether or not to leave academia . The main issue is that , at least for me , there was a huge difference between what I thought it would be like when I was your age vs the practical realities I saw as I progressed in my academic career . What I thought I love science ! I ' ll be a professor and spend most of my time teaching and doing research ! Reality You are a middle manager . You will not be in the lab . You will be primarily judged on your ability to bring in grant money , which will be used to fund graduate students and postdocs working for you . This involves contacting program managers to ask about their funding priorities and then tailoring your research proposals to match these priorities . This is literally your most important job function . This is also why students complain that professors don ' t care about teaching . Schools largely prioritize grant money , not teaching , and the professors then respond logically . More reality Do your own research on this topic , but a quick Google search will show you that funding rates are at an all time low and the age of first time grant recipients has been steadily rising . I expect basic research funding to get even worse under Trump although I admit that is speculation at this point . Your primary goal bringing in research money for the university has been getting more challenging every year for decades . The trend appears to be continuing and will probably be even worse by the time you finish your PhD and postdoc . Even more reality The above has been assuming that you get a tenure track position . Even that is much harder than it used to be . Of the people I went to grad school with , something like 50 % were initially interested in the academic route . Less than 5 % are currently in academia , and about half of that is part time teaching in adjunct positions if you haven ' t already , read up on adjunct and visiting professors . If you are absolutely convinced that you want to be a professor , it is possible . Several of my friends have gotten tenure or are on the tenure track and are doing extremely well . Despite all the negatives that I ' ve listed , I still entertain thoughts of going back into academia down the road . If its what you really , really want it is possible , but I still do recommend working in industry for a few years first . On a slightly different note , the best advice I can give you is about this line in your post I ' ve really realized that despite being smart , I ' m also 22 and can probably avoid learning things the hard way if anyone here is willing to share their viewpoints on some topicsWhen I was young I quickly learned that I was much smarter than average . It took me years to realize that being smart matters much less than I thought it did . There are smart people everywhere . Some of them are lazy and don ' t amount to anything . Some of those smart people are going to work harder than you . Showing potential is sometimes enough to get your foot in the door at 22 . If you ' re 30 , no one cares about your potential anymore , they ' ll care what you ' ve actually with that potential .