Adivce...

Pre-College Issues High School Life
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<p>Alright everyone. I'm kinda-really-SERIOUSLY nervous about my schedule next year. I'm only (by CC standards) taking 4 APs (well 1 of them is like half AP..Italian IV) but everyone that I've talked to, some who have taken less, say its SOOOO much work. They go to sleep, on average, at about 1 in the morning without any breaks; homework straight through.</p>

<p>I also play sports which consumes a lot of my time. Practice nights I usually won't get home until about 5:30-6. Game nights I could get home as late as 10. I'm also going to be starting a club very soon, and will be prob be in 3 others; I love them all. I might even be getting a job on the weekends.</p>

<p>I'm pretty nervous about going insane next year, always having to do homework and reports and studying! I deff don't want that and I'm not willing to give up any of my ECs since I'm sincerely passionate about all of them (I actually am...not just saying that). The classes that I am taking next year will be classes that I WANT to take; not just so they look good on an application so I don't need a lecture promise (believe me...I opted for the the easier math class because I dislike math quite a bit and prob won't do anything I'll need EXTREME math for anyway...I opted for the "more fun" sci AP too). I think all of my classes will be a TON of fun (ohhh...debates and discussions!) and I'm REALLY excited about the new chances I'll have for next year in all my ECs.</p>

<p>OK so that was my rant; here's my cry. I know a lot of people on CC have even more hectic academic schedules and a crazier EC list than mine. So, any advice? How do you fit so much into a day besides doing homework in class? How do you fit a fun EC list and social life with a crazy amount of homework and responsibility? Any tricks/tips you wish you would have known before you started your year that you learned throughout your year? Anything at all or just "suck it up and do it. people have done it before." ???
How do you fit in SAT prep, SAT II prep, AP prep, and regular test prep? How do you keep on top of everything without become completely stressed?</p>

<p>BASICALLY ANY TIPS AND ADVICE.</p>

<p>PS Lecture if you must, but I seriously don't think I need one. The APs I'm taking I think I'll enjoy. The ECs I do I am seriously passionate about. In no way am I trying to create the perfect application or anything like that; what I do I truely think I'll enjoy. It's just a lot of work!</p>

<p>PPS Do you think getting an AP review book for my AP classes over the summer and beginning to just look over everything than will help me next year do better and not be completely stressed or do you think that's a waste?</p>

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<p>and I spelt advice wrong oh well.</p>

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<p>Being able to handle it depends on the person and how quickly that person learns new concepts. If you aren't going to be struggling for hours each night on the concepts, and are able to instantly understand them in class, as well as complete at least some of your homework that day as well, then you should be fine.</p>

<p>With all of this, you might not have time for test prep. Some people can walk into the test without studying at all and get super high scores. Would you be able to do that? Or with minimal studying, at least. An hour or so to familiarize yourself with the format.</p>

<p>You might consider holding off on getting a job until later in the schoolyear, when you are sure that you can handle losing your weekends.</p>

<p>If you need to study for SATs, do it this summer.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the response pcp. I hope I'm one of those people, but I really am not sure at all.</p>

<p>BUMP?</p>

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<p>Don't sleep.</p>

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<p>What APs? Different AP classes give different amounts of hw. For example, in my school, the sciences don't require you to do hw at all; hw is considered just a tool for students. This will probably give you a lot of time. </p>

<p>Other than that, I can only say, don't ever procrastinate, prioritize whatever you have to do, and be efficient. </p>

<p>You might find yourself a new friend in this thing called caffeine.</p>

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<p>Sleep is for girls.</p>

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<p>Nox: it's AP Bio (which I hear at my school is all reading/outlining; buisy work that will take up my time) AP Lang (LOTS OF WORK THIS IS MY BIGGIE) and APUSH (i hear its not that bad if you keep on top of the stuff that they give you weeks to do...)...</p>

<p>and dank, hey, i am a girl...i guess i wont be sleeping though...but uhh...sleep is for boys too</p>

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<p>yeah, i'm in the same boat...perhaps even worse:
Math 12 Honors
French 4 Honors
AP Physics B (don't really want to take it, but the only other option is Regular, which would be stupid)
Physics Lab/Gym
AP Stats
AP Gov't and Pol't
AP Macro/Micro Econ
AP Lang (which is taught be the hardest teacher in our school, +she takes of points if you are absent)</p>

<p>that should be a fun junior year
+soccer
+SATs
+ECs
+work</p>

<p>not exactly looking forward to it.</p>

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<p>Just do your homework in other classes. Don't use the internet for things other than projects/schoolwork</p>

<p>Haha. That will help.</p>

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<p>Okay, I'm in a similar position to you, but since everyone's different and my classes are different too, this may or may not be true. But this is how it is for most people at my (big, public) school.</p>

<p>I'm taking 4 AP's this year. Like you, one of mine is foreign language and barely any work (I don't think I've ever had to do homework at home for this class).
I am also taking AP Lang, which is exactly as you assume it is, at least at my school. The workload is absolute hell. We do about 1000 words/week in completely out-of-class assignments only. This is NOT counting things we do in class and have to finish at home, preparing for tests/quizzes (which are extremely hard), etc. It's also not counting reading assignments, and we've been known to have to do an entire novel in one weekend. Also, since it's a language exam, it's not really easy to "prep" for. Thus half the work you do is useless in preparing you for the test anyway, so it's basically a whole load of really hard busywork.
My other two are Physics C and Calculus BC. Neither of these have unreasonable homework loads, although Physics in particular is just really hard for me.</p>

<p>I will warn you that in my school, taking AP Lang and APUSH at the same time is basically looked upon as suicide, because APUSH has an equal or greater workload to AP Lang. (Although in CC-land, where everyone takes 7 AP's and is a genius, this is probably considered no big deal).</p>

<p>Basically my grades this year have not been the grades of my other years of high school. I've managed to keep up with a LOAD of EC's (varsity sports, a part-time job, 2 hours/day of practicing music, youth orchestra, private lessons, etc etc etc), but I'm not a straight-A student anymore. In fact if I have all B's or B+'s in my AP classes, I'm usually satisfied. That was never the way it was for me before, but I've never been so overloaded in stressed in my life, so I've learned to change my standards.</p>

<p>As for test prep, I didn't prepare at all (only one night and all I did was read the blue book) for the PSAT's and I still ended up with a 229. SAT's and ACT's I probably won't study much for either. You should note that you can take these AFTER the AP exams (which is what I'm doing), and that'll give you more time to study for them.</p>

<p>Anyway, sorry to write a novel, but I really wish somebody'd told me all this before I signed up for these classes. Best of luck.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone this is exactly what I'm looking for and I think others are getting some good stuff out of it too! THANKS AND KEEP IT COMING!</p>

<p>lostinthemusic...thanks so much! and i hope your having an amazing year besides the stress...</p>

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<p>Incidently, you have no connection with "lostincode" right? (<em>doubts it but posts anyway with little intention of returning to this thread to find out the answer</em>)</p>

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<p>You can sleep when you're dead.</p>

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<p>I know what you mean about hectic. I'm going to be a senior next year, I'm taking 7 classes, 5 of them AP and pretty difficult AP's, I'm going to be an officer for at least 3 different clubs, plus I participate in NHS which is completely pointless if you ask me, do cross country in the fall which takes up a huge chunk of time, am volunteering at the hospital 4 hours a week, volunteering during the summer, plus all of the other volunteering through extracurricular clubs. I don't know what I'm going to do. Plus I have college apps, senior projects, and everything else.</p>

<p>I'm merely only taking 3 AP's this year, and pretty easy ones. SO, I basically am scared for my life.</p>

<p>Advice I can give you? Manage your time extremely wisely and carefully. Don't use the internet unless you absolutely need it. In fact, don't turn on your computer unless you need it. That always helps. When it's on, you're always tempted to go on collegeconfidential or myspace or facebook or any other networking site. And try and really focus. Don't have any distractions. At all. Don't pick up your phone, call them later.</p>

<p>And don't go to bed early, but then wake up at 3AM or something to finish the homework you couldn't do earlier. Just finish it all at once, even if that means staying up later than usual once in awhile. It's a LOT easier than going to bed early to take a nap then waking up again. Set up goals and time deadlines for yourself, and DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. You probably will as everyone does, but not procrastinating is honestly one of the best pieces of advice anyone can give you for high school. Be smart about the amount of work and time you have.</p>

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<p>I've got 5 maybe 6 Ap's next year... sounds fun to me</p>

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<p>And if you find that your grades are dropping or you literally feel like you're going to drop dead at any second, stop and drop something. I wouldn't get a job, personally. It'd be good, but with all of the stuff that CCers and you do, I wouldn't recommend it because it's just going to be more and more work.</p>

<p>And try as much as possible to study for standardized tests coming up; especially during the summer where you'll have the most time. Then take it at the beginning of the year and end there, or see what you need to do. I recommend at least studying one or two hours a weekend mandatory, then fit in more time when you can. But make room if you're not a great test-taker.</p>