So I’m a sophomore in high school, I obviously still have 2 years left, but I’m really worried about my future because of how badly I started off in 10th. 10th grade is the first year in high school here, and the transition for me was very tough. I took up all honors classes, thinking it would be easy because in middle school, (7th-9th)I took up all HP classes which prepare you for AP classes. They were pretty easy, I got through with all A’s B’s, some high C’s in science related classes because that’s not my strongest field. I managed to always land on the honor roll. When I hit high school, I didn’t expect honors bio and honors Algebra 2 to be so difficult. Im passing my honors french and English with A’s and high B’s though. I cried every night and developed health related issues due to the stress honors algebra 2 gave me, and had to emit from it and drop down to 5.0 algebra 2. I failed the first marking period and had a D for the 2nd. Right now, i have a C in my 5.0 algebra 2 class. I also course advanced in the summer for math for geometry. History was my favorite subject all through my school years, until AP history. I haven’t failed any of the marking periods, but I’m getting D’s in those too, I’m studying my butt off every night, watching review videos and reading over the notes but nothing is working. In bio, I got a C in the first marking period and a D in the 2nd but as of right now, it’s going back up to a C. So my grades are slowly coming back up, but I’m afraid for my 1st 2 marking period grades. Again, that was when I was still transitioning from middle to high school, how are the colleges going to look at this? How will they react to me dropping down an honors class? Im constantly thinking about my future and how I want to go into marketing (because there’s little to no science involved) and being in an Asian household and dealing with this pressure to be successful is causing me so much stress. Someone please guide me, lift me up or something cause I don’t know what to do with my life anymore
I feel for you OP- you are clearly stressed out and your school hasn’t given you good academic advice.
I don’t think you should be in advanced math and science courses. It is nothing about you as a person, but some people struggle with certain subjects more than others, and you shouldn’t push yourself.
The truth is, having those C’s and D’s will significantly affect your college admission chances at elite schools, but that does not mean you won’t be able to go to college. I would recommend not stressing about college right now, and focus on meeting with teachers to get your grades up and understand the material. Explain to them what you have been doing to study, and they will probably be able to give you tips to improve.
Maybe if you drop down a level in some of your harder courses, you could be able to join an EC that gives you something to do besides studying, which could help relieve some of your stress.
Thank you this lifted some weight off my shoulders, but I just met up with my guidance counselor and because I failed the first marking period in math and got a D in the 2nd, I might not be able to take precalc (I need a B+ or higher) and may have to take algebra 3. And because I might not get into Precalc, I can’t get into AP stat. I currently have a 77 and I need to pull it to an A in 3 weeks when the 3rd marking period ends, and get like a high A in the 4th marking period. Then because of all of this, i can’t take honors chem. I now have some guidance of what I have to do, but this is really worrying me. Do you think I’ll be able to get through this and still be successful later? Do you know anyone who struggled like me right now and was okay later? I know I have to work even harder now but I need assurance or some type of encouragement because my future just seems so bleak because of how bad my grades from this year tanked
Wait, why is Algebra 2 inherently worse than your biology or APUSH grades? If it’s because you can’t take precalc and/or AP Statistics, that sounds like a bad decision either way, imo. I went straight from Algebra 2 to AP Calculus, and I can tell you that the fundamentals you learn in Algebra 2 are integral to any kind of advanced math. You won’t succeed in those classes if you’re not extremely comfortable with the foundational topics. (Haha, calc, integral… moving on.) Your idea of “successful” is informed by distant goals, but I can tell you that you’re not going to achieve your expectations unless you figure out what you can do to improve your situation.
I think you’re implying that this is a situation about you and math, but your bio & APUSH grades are equally concerning. It’s probably not the “transition to high school” if you were making all A’s and B’s in your freshman year. If I’m being honest, it’s probably because your freshman year classes didn’t teach you how to study adequately and you’re beginning to feel the effects now. This is a lingering issue that won’t just go away by the end of the marking period. I find that the only way to get rid of my “bad anxiety” before tests is if I make sure that I’ve covered literally everything in the tested content so there’s no way my teacher can surprise me while still giving a fair test. (I.e. I make comprehensive APUSH review sheets with all of the class notes & textbook information, write out study guides/problems for every AP Calc chapter, make extensive flashcards for AP Spanish, etc.) Your 10th grade GPA is not going to hurt you as much as the factors contributing to your experience.
My grade in algebra 2 is going to affect the classes I take for next year, which is why I’m more worried about it than APUSH and H biology. If I don’t pass with a B+ or higher, I will have to take alegebra 3 next year, and because I won’t be enrolled in precalc, I can’t take AP stat, and I really want to do it. I worked my butt off this summer course advancing geometry on a computer for 12 hours everyday, and i don’t want to get behind again in math. I do understand what I’m doing in algebra 2 now, but during tests I make a lot of mistakes and when they get added up, it screws my whole test score. I know, that is something I need to personally work on. I just want to know if all of this all is going to really affect my college application and how colleges are going to look at it. I already did so bad this year, I want to know how detrimental it’ll be.
What I’m saying is maybe not moving on to advanced math yet is for the best. I’m not saying I know that you’re “bad at math,” but your other grades indicate that this is a problem with your studying abilities. Thinking about your next math class is a short-term goal, as is thinking about how it will look to colleges. You need to develop your skills now before it’s too late to remedy your habits, which will be problematic at any college you attend.
Erm… if you’re struggling with fundemental math, I would NOT recommend you take AP stats/precalc. Math is a topic that builds on foundations. Like a building, if you have $hitty foundations, everything else will collapse. Don’t be so focused on taking a class “BECUZ IT’S AY PEA”. Build your foundations so if that means taking more algebra, take more algebra. My school doesnt set very stringent prerequisites for enrolling in AP classes and I can’t even tell you the number of, to put it gently, stupid sophomores and juniors who enroll in challenging math classes with a pitiful understanding of even the most basic math principles, simply due to the “A” and “P” attached to the name. Not so surprising then, when they end up with a D in the class. Their class ranks and GPA crash, and so do their Ivy ambitions.
I know I can’t handle harder math classes, but I can do well in 5.0, which is why I dropped out of honors algebra 2, and will be taking regular precalc (if I can). Everyone thinks I’m taking all these AP classes because I want it on my college application. Yes, I’d like it to be there, but I also enjoy English and social studies. I am refraining from taking any advanced science classes because I know it’s not my strongest subject. Trust me, i know my weaknesses and strengths. I literally am just asking how colleges are going to react to how badly I did this year and what I can do to recover from it.
So I am currently in 10th grade at the moment, and my grades are suffering tremendously. Last year, I was an A-B honor roll student, and I was enrolled in all the HP classes, which are classes that prepare you for AP. I passed them all without any problem, and all of my teachers agreed that I had potential to stack up on the honors classes, and APUSH (only available ap class I could take) for 10th, naturally I did so. Now I’m in the 3rd marking period, and I’m doing okay in honors English and honors french with either an A or B, but in H biology, I have a D or C, APUSH I have a D, and my main problem is algebra 2. I first took honors algebra 2, and got a 42% in the 1st marking period, but due to the stress, I had to drop down to 5.0 algebra 2 halfway through the 2nd marking period. I managed to pull the rest of my grade carried over from H algebra 2, to a 69% for the 2nd marking period grade. My 3rd marking period now is a 77% because I get really bad anxiety taking tests, even though I understand the concept. If I don’t pass this class with a B+ average at the end of the year, I can’t take precalc and/or AP statistics. So I need to pull my 77% to an A in 3 weeks, and get a high A in the 4th marking period. Can someone please tell me if I’m going to be okay in the future despite all that has happened in 10th grade? I really am trying hard but all this pressure just stressed me out so hard this year. The transition to high school was really tough, and I have really bad anxiety. I even had health issues due to the amount of stress this year. My future goals were to major in marketing, get into Villa Nova, and pursue a marketing career. Do you know anyone who tanked this hard and picked themselves up successfully, and managed to achieve their goals? I’m freaking out right now and I don’t know how to handle myself, I honestly feel like I’m going to lose it. I also live in an Asian household, so you can imagine the pressure that’s on me right now. Someone please help, i need guidance or some type of encouragement because I don’t know what to do and I’m crying every night thinking about my future
Colleges won’t like it if those remain at D or even C level - if you can’t pull them up, do summer school. If you manage to pull an A to B+ for your second semester grade, you’re good. Even a B will have no consequence at top 10% colleges (get Princeton review’s best colleges. Don’t focus on famous names but rather on colleges that 'sound nice ’ to you. Let your parents borrow the book and read up on colleges you flagged, all of which should be ‘non household names’, because your parents if typically Asian have only heard of a few and for our sake you want them to read about as many colleges as possible.)
What state do you live in?
Does your high school offers non AP stats?
I think you made a mistake accelerating yourself over the summer, especially if you really did dozen ‘12 hours a day’ on the computer. This isn’t how you should learn, it means your foundation is shaky, and it also means your summer wasn’t used to recharge, hence burnout in 10th grade. All you need for most colleges is algebra1+2, geometry, and pre-calculus. Statistics can be taken as a complement senior year and as a preparation for college statistics.
Apush is typically a junior year course and one that many juniors struggle with. What social science do juniors and seniors take at your school?
Be aware that you don’t need to major in business in college to work in a business after collegr. You can study anything, complement it with computer literacy (AP CS principles can help), a strong background in statistics, if you attend a college that offers them (and many do) add a business certificate or a business minor, take any job/internship after freshman year a good internship after sophomore year so that the summer after junior year you work at a place that may offer you a post graduation job… And you’re good.
Well if you’re not doing so good in these honors classes maybe you should take regular classes next year?
Your GPA is not going to recover to a 4.0 from Cs and Ds - it’s just not mathematically possible.
That said, I’m not really impressed with your guidance counselor … you need a bit more help than “you can’t take AP statistics in two years because your grades suck.”
I think culturally you are feeling a ton of pressure and you need to maybe have a talk with your parents about setting some realistic goals for yourself (not for THEM :))
First off, forget the advanced math completely. You don’t need it for your current career plans (which, be aware, may change significantly as you mature). Stay on the regular high school math track, don’t take AP anything. Then your GPA will recover in that area.
Biology is hard, but chemistry is harder, and that’s next on your course schedule. Brace yourself and don’t take honors/advanced/AP science either.
Does your school offer tutoring? After-school help from the teachers? If not, you need to ask your parents to get you some outside help in math, science and even APUSH until you get back on track.
You ask how will colleges view this: They want to see an upward trajectory. If you do poorly this year and get great grades the next two years, that will be viewed favorably. But if you and your parents had your hearts set on the Ivies, I think you need to come to terms with the fact that they are almost certainly out of reach.
There are HUNDREDS of great colleges other than the Ivies, though. Please do not let that bring you down.
FWIW, I also tanked my first two years of high school - Cs and Ds (I even failed PE because I refused to dress out). I got straight As the last two years and managed to get a full-tuition scholarship to a small LAC (I’m still not quite sure why, but hey, I took it :).
Prestigious? Nope. But I got my degree. And I’m working in my field. I think that should be everyone’s aim. Don’t make completely unrealistic goals for yourself and you’ll be fine.