I’m a junior in high school in my third quarter, and I really feel like I’m burning out. I go to an extremely competitive school, where grades are seen as the most important thing and people look down at you if you aren’t taking all APs. I, personally, am taking 2 AP classes this year, as well as an honors class.
The past month has probably been the worst of my life so far. Since elementary school I have been very self-motivated and focused on getting good grades in school, but lately I’ve lost all of my motivation. I’ve stopped caring about studying for tests and find myself getting distracted and feeling depressed every time I try to. The other week I had two essays due for AP Lang that I didn’t even finish on the due date. I decided to finish them that night and turn them in one day late instead. That night, every time I tried to write I would just find myself crying. I ended up staying home the next day to finish writing them, and they were still terrible.
I just don’t see the point in working so hard anymore. I don’t have the money to attend a good, private school that I would be able to get into with my gpa and sat score. My school puts a LOT of pressure on us to attend these schools, and I’m not going to be eligible for much financial aid due to the fact that my parents are divorced and they count all 3 incomes (but don’t consider the fact I have three other siblings on their way to college as well). I’m fine with going to a public school, not trying to sound snobby, I just can’t stand the pressure being put on me.
I don’t like any of the classes I’m taking or most of my teachers. I wake up every morning and wish I didn’t have to go to school. I just want to be in college already where I can take classes on subjects I actually enjoy and want to learn about. I miss having free time to do things I actually enjoy, like creative writing (throwback to when I had so much free time I wrote an entire novel in 9th grade).
If anyone has felt something similar and has advice to get over it and become motivated again, please let me know. I really need it.
Wait until summer and study what you want. Or take some time off with unschooling if your parents let you.
Actually number of kids does count in your EFC and ability to pay.
And regardless you can aim for honors colleges where you’ll get merit aid. You don’t even need a billion APs. You’re doing great with your current schedule. Any idea what you can hope for in terms of sat/act?
You could try and transfer to a less competitive school perhaps?
Make sure you sleep enough. Take mental health days when needed.
What classes are you taking this year? What are you planning to take next year?
What state do you live in?
Any idea what your budget for college is?
With this info, CC adults can literally suggest twenty colleges for you to look up, fill out the request info form, and get emails from (click on them).
This sounds exactly like my experience junior year and it’s pretty much the same as everyone else’s so you are NOT alone. Third term junior year was one of the hardest times ever because it is such a difficult year that even if you had the motivation to start off strong you’re inevitably going to get burnt out. It really sucks and it’s easier said than done but try to start changing your work ethic to get better sleep and better grades and finish the year off strong (or at least semi okay lol). Summer after Junior year I visited all my top schools and it made me really mad that I knew that I could have gotten into a lot of them if I had tried harder my junior year but I completely lost focus of why I cared about grades. I don’t know how you are about time management but I used to push back assignments and stay home to finish them late too and it makes things way worse for you because you fall behind easily so just try to spread assignments out more instead of doing it last min and it will make things way easier on you .
It’s called elite college syndrome and it only exists in high school. In the real world, it makes virtually no difference where you go to college as long as you have a degree with a strong major. Less than 1% of the workforce went to an elite school, which means there’s not enough of them for employers to even care. They’re more interested in your knowledge and skills and how well you work with people than your college brand name. The biggest reason for burnout is all the energy you waste worrying about what all your classmates are doing and how high your ranking is. Just get the best grades you can and don’t worry about the other kids.
If you don’t want to take courses you’re miserable in, then don’t take them. There are 3,000 universities to choose from. Choose an affordable one you like and go there. You don’t owe anyone an explanation. By the way, the CEO of Starbucks went to Northern Michigan University.