How much is too much? And has too much become the norm?

[jamesford]

<p>

Honestly, what is the attraction to sports? (I see it everywhere, both on CC and in my school; not pointing toward anyone in particular)

</p>

<p>Maybe…they’re fun and they circumvent a premature death?</p>

<p>

I tend not to have much sympathy for students who complain about being too stressed, having too much work, not getting good grades, etc, and yet spend three or four hours per day on a sport. How is the sport helping them in the long term? Sure, it builds teamworking skills, but those can be built in other, less time-consuming, and ultimately more educational ways.

</p>

<p>Sorry, but the education is not the end-all-be-all.</p>

<p>

In essence, sports are leisure. Sure, it’s important to play hard and have fun, but work hard first. Get the good grades, do the extracurriculars, learn to your potential, go above and beyond, and then have some fun. Students in China and Japan cream America’s butt in academics; they must know something.

</p>

<p>And yet we have the best universities in the world…</p>

[noimagination]

<br>

@""

<p>And yet we have the best universities in the world… </p>

<br>

<p>…and most the smartest professors and researchers at these universities weren’t born in the US.</p>

[jamesford]

<p>^ Well I imagine they decided to teach in the US for a reason. Maybe there’s something we have that China/India/Japan lack? But that would be silly.</p>

[tikiman53]

<p>I disagree with the sports comments. There are a ton of stuff you can learn on a field or court that you can’t in a classroom. Tactics, creativity, working with others…etc… Maybe some of you don’t understand, but when you have a passion for a sport, it doesn’t matter if it’s going to raise your GPA or whether or not it counts as “academic”; it’s a part of your life. I’m really passionate about tennis, but I recently had to go through a tough surgery that requires me to be on crutches for about 10 weeks, followed by 4 months of tough rehabilitation. Trust me, to a lot of people, sports are a part of their identity.</p>

<p>I guess it varies from school to school, but I go to a really intense school (2nd in the state, last time I checked), and the workload is immense. And no matter how fast I work, I really, really don’t think getting all the work done in 1 and a half hours while absorbing the information is realistic. At my school, it’s more like 1 and half hours per class. Even my art class is very demanding, requiring about 4 hours a week. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t procrastinate either. It’s not like I have anything better to do. I can barely even walk to the bathroom.</p>

[AeroEngineer3141]

<p>Lol, I could do with a few more hours in my day (without having to resort to polyphasic sleep).</p>

<p>I wouldn’t give up my sports for valedictorian status and USAMO finalist combined.</p>

[hatersunite]

<p>

> And yet we have the best universities in the world…</p>

<p>…and most the smartest professors and researchers at these universities weren’t born in the US.

</p>

<p>LOL this is so incorrect.</p>

[original501]

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/793264-i-want-your-personal-opinion.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/793264-i-want-your-personal-opinion.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[Shark75]

<p>I don’t know what to say to this, honestly. I mean I guess everyone has their own limit and everything, but I honestly think that it can all be done. </p>

<p>I know this might seem a bit conceited, but I think natural talent has a lot to do with this. Some people are just better learners and they have to spend less time studying. It’s as simple as that. I rank 6th in my graduating class of ~800, and honestly, I don’t feel like I study any more than the average kid. Sure, I make good grades, but I have this weird feeling inside that everyone else studies wayyy more than me to get the same(ish) results. </p>

<p>I guess what I’m trying to say is, know your limits. Everyone has their own natural ability, and you can’t really change natural ability with hard work. Once again, I know this sounds conceited and whatnot, but it’s true. If two people that put forth the exact same effort, the one that is more naturally talented will do better, right? </p>

<p>I’m not sure how my post relates to the conversation, but I’m just putting this out there.</p>

[peachpuff]

<p>

I’m a junior with the toughest courseload I can manage for my school, and I rarely spend more than an hour and a half at home doing all of schoolwork (hw, etc) daily, if ever. I do a lot of work at school, pay attention (this is something that has changed this year; I actually try to listen in class now), and use those “extra 10 minutes left behind class” to finish a whole subject’s worth of hw, and stuff.

</p>

<p>I don’t really get how you can only do 1.5 hours of homework or finish an entire subject’s homework in TEN MINUTES for the toughest workload at your school… do you get very little homework or something? or do you just do it really quickly without giving it much care?</p>

<p>sorry if that sounded rude… i’m just wondering</p>

[PEQXC2012]

<p>People have to realize that the norm is about a 2.0 GPA, 1500 SAT, not what we see on this site.</p>

<p>I do about an hour of stuff a night, two hours max. I need my sleep.</p>

<p>I do have practice until 6:30 every night (as well as a run every morning), so it’s usually 7:30 until I start my HW.</p>