<p>inundated - It takes me 5 hours because I never know what to expect from my AP english teacher. So I read and reread rewrite. And check email. Yes, the only thing I really procrastinate on is essays probably, because it may take me just 2 hours if I would stop checking email all of the time.</p>
<p>On the first try, I got an 8 on my SAT essay, but made up for it with a 77 subscore. </p>
<p>Yes, I can't organize my thoughts, as evident in this post. I also think I have mild ADD (seriously) because I have trouble concentrating in school and out, and I always have.</p>
<p>5 hours for a 2 page essy!!! You are probably writing-deleting and then writing some more and eventually end up back where your first draft was anyway. Just get a draft down and look at it.</p>
<p>I take 3 AP classes this year. AP Bio, AP Calc and AP Euro. Genetics, Civics, LA Honors are like my slackerish classes. Im doing well enough in all of them except for Bio and Euro. Euro is like the hardest class I have and i have a 85 right now. Bio i did poorly on the last test so it is like 88. Rest all As. Pretty sure I can pull off straight As. I take a nap right when i get home. 30mins to an hr. Then work on calc. Afterwards I do my science stuff until dinner. College apps come later and finally I work on LA. For LA you dont have to think that much so it is perfectly suited for when you are feeling all sleepy.</p>
<p>Yes, okay, I REALIZE THAT EVERYONE TAKES A BILLION AP CLASSES AND GETS A's. I don't know if it's just HARDER at my school, or somehow EVERYONE in my school is UTTERLY RETARDED, but I don't know of anyone who has gotten an A in AP Calc or AP English (an A in AP Chem is doable, I only had a 92 last marking period when I didn't know anything) by the end of the marking period. I mean, my friend who was accepted to Columbia University's creative writing summer program into the highest advanced level they have didn't even have an A.</p>
<p>5 hours for an two page essay isn't a long time. I mean I probaby spend more than 5 hours on a say 1000 words essay. I don't believe anyway(unless you are really talented) can deliever an essay of good quality under ONE hour as some of you have said. Even if you can write a good essay in a short time, you dont' have to brag about it and make those who spend longer time feel bad.</p>
<p>well, after my junior year, when i tried incredibly (even though i'm naturally lazy) and still got a C in precal and a B in chem for 2 of my final grades (for the 1st time in my life) i just told myself hey, just do the best you can do and still have a life. i do have a rigorous program, comparable to yours, peachykween--DE (dual enrollment) cal, honors physics, DE english, DE bio, college research w/ a 2-year symposium project, graphic design (my only easy class), and DE poli sci. i have a lot of work, but either i have a lot less than you do or you're just being waaaay too perfectionist. or maybe school just doesn't come easily to you. (if so, i applaud you for trying as hard as you are--you definitely seem dedicated. i just settle for what i can get in classes that i'm not good in.) that's probably what keeps me sane...just sitting back and realizing that this is only high school, and as long as my grades don't go crazy i hope to get into a decent college. (though princeton and upenn are a whole different ball game). so far, i've managed to hold on. it also helps to concentrate on the subjects you really love, so your not devoting your life to something you hate.</p>
<p>anyway, there's advice from a slacker...don't know if it's helpful, but i just say chill and things will work out. your health and sanity r the most important thing...if u keel over b4 college all your work will be in vain. get some sleep no matter what the cost is--your concentration will improve too.</p>
<p>i was in the same situation last week. i'm an IB candidate so i have a lot of work to do. first two weeks of november i had to hand in many tasks and then i went to boston for a week to visit colleges. when i came back, i had to hand in my math (my worst subject) ib task the next day. i was going crazy and i think i did terrible on it. :S. that was on a monday, and i had to apply to BU on thursday, and i hadn't done any of the 4 essays i had to write. so yeah, i went crazy for the following 3 days writing essays in recess and having to skip class. now i'm lost in math class. :S
just hang in there, it all pays off. don't give up.</p>
<p>peachy, ignore all the people telling you how easy it is for them. You cannot compare one school to another or even one teacher's class in the same school with the same class taught by another teacher in the school. It's apples to oranges. Yes, there are schools--and my kids went to one of them--where AP classes are very demanding and very time-consuming for even the best students. My kids' high school does this in order to keep the AP test scores high and keep their academic profile high. They open their AP classes to all students, but the student know better than to sign up for 4 or 5 at a time because it is simply too much for all but a few. And fwiw, there is also a situation at the school where the kids know that if you get Mr. X for US History, you may as well take APUSH because Mr. X's regular USH class is so much work and so time-consuming and so hard that you'd probably do less in the AP class and get a better grade. These comparisons are useless.</p>
<p>A lot of us are in the same boat. I'm not going to give you my whole story, but I go to bed at about the same time you do every night, and we'll just say I'm pretty busy and I have about 20 pages worth of papers for three different subjects to write in the next couple of days. I know how you feel. </p>
<p>I think eruanneth is right, just do the best that you can while still having a life. What gets done, gets done, and whatever grades you get, you get. It's not because you're slacking and it's not because you're stupid. This is the most stressful part of anyone's high school career, and it can take its toll.</p>
<p>If no one is getting an A in one of your classes, then that tells you something. I know it's horrible advice to say "just don't stress out," so I'm not going to say that. I'd just say to cut down on the schoolwork a bit. 12 hours of studying does sound like overstudying, and no one should have to stare at a book for that long.</p>
<p>Sorry if I'm no help, but good luck over the next few months. Just remember, after first semester, the pressure's off. Vacation is a couple weeks away, and tomorrow is friday. Stick it out for tonight, and try to enjoy your weekend. Go out and do something at least one night and get some sleep. School isn't supposed to take up 100% of your time.</p>
<p>it amazes me why people put so much pressure on themselves to get into a good college....</p>
<p>do you really think getting in a good college is going to make your life a success? do you really think working your brains out is gonna make you happy? i think you already have discovered the answer....</p>
<p>it's sad that parents raise kids to think education is EVERYTHING. it's important, but there are things much more important in life (like having a GOOD TIME with close friends and family).</p>
<p>the happiest people in life are the one's who take thing with stride and are laid back. they don't compete to be the best, they are jsut content with you they are. don't pressure yourself to be like some of the people on this web site like spyder....their lives are depressing</p>
<p>take it easy bro...strive to succeed but don't overdue it. don't be obsessive...</p>
<p>i kinda of used to be like you. i never got anything less then a 95%+ ever. although i didn't study much i stressed out alot because i didn't want to ruin my perfect record. then i realized it wasn't the way to live life. every once in awhile i wanna be able to say "**** it i'm gonna go to my friends house and not do this homework".</p>
<p>by the way....with that work ethic, you're going to be successful no matter what college you go to. i envy people with such good work ethics.....i cant study for more than an hour a week for god sakes (lol i'm beginning to think i have ADD or some disease)...let alone 12 hours in a day</p>
<p>I just remembered this little tidbit...from when my S first entered college and met with his student advisor (a junior at the time)...</p>
<p>The first thing she said was, "You can't read everything. You'll get a ton of reading assignments and you can't possibly read it all. The trick is to figure out what you have to read, what you don't have to read, and learn to skim. Otherwise, you're gonna die."</p>
<p>LOL. S actually ended up in the math department so instead of heavy reading, he had huge problem sets as homework. For that, study groups were life savers. The group would divide up the assignment, work the problems, then teach each other. Saved time, everyone learned, everyone did well, everyone graduated, everyone's employed.</p>
<p>well, it shouldn't be too ludicrous, spydertennis, since part of writing a good paper is spelling words (such as spider) correctly! Obviously you don't spend enough time on your papers/spelling!!!!!</p>
<p>see it's **** like this that makes people feel bad, spydertennis. Keep the fact that you are super amazing at english to yourself. No need to brag about it.</p>
<p>In my first essay for AP english, I had to write a "Self Analysis" for my teacher, and in it I said "...And it takes me seriously 10 hours to do a paper" (including brainstorm/prewriting process). And she wrote "GOOD!!!"</p>
<p>o_0; Just handle it. Your workload isn't that bad. And it's also that you're spending too much time on little stuff. 5 hours on a 2 page essay? Sorry, but that's a crapload of a long time. 2 hours on a 5 page essay is more reasonable.
And periods 2 & 8 seem to be chill classes for you.
I'd love to be able to say just "a few all nighters." All nighters are the norm for me, when I'm not doing 2-3 hr sleeps.
I also have newspaper production, the nastiest being our last issue because we were working on two issues actually, one regular and one special, to be submitted to NSPA and LA Times for awards, and our next one this upcoming week. I have a story, I lay out pages, I do all the graphics and photos. I work there from 2:30 pm (right after school) to 10:30 pm every day of newspaper weeks, with a dinner break at 6.
Our biology class is a college level class, literally; we have lab class and lecture class separately, like they do in college, and each exam we have counts for about 25% of our total grade; I have one of those next week.
I also had varsity tennis, with CIFs and league, and JSA (: D Anyone here in JSA? <3) conventions and all.
Edit: Lol, and IB candidate too. <em>shakes fist</em> Damn extended essay.</p>
<p>Life sucks, and that's how it works.
I don't really complain about the workload, just about when I get bad test scores (which are more often than not, my fault for not having prioritized better.)</p>
<p>Suck it up. You have essentially less than a month left.</p>