<p>Maybe I could suck it up if I had any semblance of an immune system. And 2 hours for a 5 page essay is way too short. Unless I'm in Super Advanced Shakespeare Sucks Compared to Me English, and I'm not.</p>
<p>Aren't AP Classes supposed to be college level classes anyway? I had a 60% test in English last marking period.</p>
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<p>_>; Our English classes pumps out 4-6 page in-class essays. (aka, in a hour.) True, they're not revised, edited, etc, but they help us get prepared.</p>
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<p><_< I was a SICKLY child. I was hospitalized so many times, cause my blood vessels bursted all over my body, etc. But sports = power boost. Reason why I joined tennis. I'm quite healthy now, and can stand resistant against colds too! : D Well, not completely. But I'm also EXTRA EXTREMELY careful not to get colds (i.e. hang around germ-y people, stay in cold place, etc).</p>
<p>College level, as in... not just the content's college material. It's pretty much literally a college class, just placed in a high school location. ><em>>; They grade like college, test format like college, etc; <</em>>; it's harder than the classes I took at nearby colleges during the summer. We have like 8 scores that lead to our total grade, which is actually generous for a college class, cause many only have 2-3: midterm, final, and maybe research paper for some classes.</p>
<p>You have to do what is right for you, not what you think other kids are doing. If you are falling apart, that's a pretty strong signal that something is wrong and needs to be changed. Check your priorities and make sure you're spending your time wisely. You can't do it all, no one can. My son dropped debate this year because he knew with 6 hard core APs and running a club (and being a state officer for an organization) he simply wouldn't have the time. He doesn't do a sport or play an instrument. He has made choices (even though it killed me, his mom, to see him drop debate) so that he can live his life. You're not going to be a teen forever and it shouldn't be a horrible experience. You need to prioritize your time and drop things that are taking up too much time without a meaningful payoff. I don't know if that means dropping the AP or an EC, that's for you (with your parents/counselor) to decide. But you shouldn't have that much stress. You need to smile! My son told me that his Honor's Chem class last year was the worst class of his life (sooooo time consuming!), so I can certainly understand wanting to drop AP Chem. I don't think that will ultimately kill your chances, not with everything else you have going for you. Good luck!</p>
<p>:( And <em>patpat</em>. I got a 63% on an economics test we got back today. It made me incredibly sad. I shall get 95%+ on next test now.</p>
<p>Haha, BurnThis: my honors chemistry was a horrible experience for me too. It was one of the classes that SLAUGHTERED my GPA.</p>
<p>spydertennis... 10 hours of sleep!? that must be one lax high school.</p>
<p>One of my friends spends 12 hours on a IB Bio lab....
I think he's going to burn out slowly.. but so far he's been getting 98%..
(Ugh... I hate him so much...)</p>
<p>Many IB candinates do like 3 all-nighters per week..
and I am not one of them .. but I think they are too obsessed with the competitions.</p>
<p>Try to include 15-min breaks between your study sessions...
do something fun like Piano... Internet ... Reading comics...
Research shows that 15 min breaks between 1.5hr study sessions
can help you study more efficiently..
I mean, when you are tormenting your brain like that, you should give yourself some breaks to relax and relieve your mental stress.. etc.. ?</p>
<p>Set a limit to your time that you spend on each class. Your life should be more important than school. Prioritize based on the subjects that you want to do good on. If you dont care for a subject, and its not for your major, dont worry about it. I didnt sign up for any humanities courses this year, because I hate doing busy work. It seems like some of your classes are giving you way to much hw just to keep you busy.</p>
<p>Some people are not cut out for certain subjects. I am horrible at foreign languages, for one I can not pronounce much in spanish, and french I refused to even attempt. Latin I managed, no speaking, but I hated the sheer memorization. To solve my problem, I didnt take a language course this year. I focused on the subjects that I want to learn, and am having the best year of highschool. </p>
<p>Buy the Zumdahl chemistry book, and then read that. It tells you everything you need to know, and the book can be reread in 2 days. Spend at most 1 hr on chem, and at most 3 hours on homework. Slacking off is not that bad, it saves your sanity.</p>
<p>I know what you mean by spending 5 hours on 2 pages, although I've gotten better about that, now a 4 page essay usually takes me 5 hours. Your situation is exactly why I'm not taking physics and biology, which I could theoretically be taking--I'd burn out really fast. And, my parents enforce a homework limit that is really early and hard to get around anyway.</p>
<p>Seriously, drop a class, and take something that still sounds decent in its place. Last year, I dropped physics (like yours, a teach-yourself class thanks to my horriblehorrible teacher, who was the reason I dropped it). In its place I took Philosophy, which had a lot of reading, but it was manageable and interesting (unlike physics), and second semester I did an independent study in graphic design. It was the smartest thing I ever did.</p>
<p>Good luck with it all!</p>
<p>spydertennis and nankim need to chill out....the OP didn't ask about how awesome you're doing in your classes....they asked for advice</p>
<p>peechykween do u happen to go to an EXTREME crazy prep school such as exeter or w/e?</p>
<p>oh and dont listen to namkim hes a genious</p>
<p>It's 4 AM right now...looks like I'm heading for an all-nighter tonight (this morning?).</p>
<p>This is very unusual for me, though.</p>
<p>how hard is ur school? but i have to agree that APs r just how u do it. i have multivariable calculus, AP physics C, AP gov(notorious for a lot of work like reading and journals), AP euro history, AP lit and journalism(really takes up a lot of time, esp. during production week when i can do nothing except page design until 9PM) but i still have time. ok my schedule might be easier than urs since i have journalism 3. However, i manage to get like 5 hours of sleep. The reason i have 5 instead of 7 is that i talk on AIM too much and end up sleeping late. But what i think is just do it really. Once u do it, u can do it. I never study for any of my APs until the day before the test, but i still get As. REally just do it.</p>
<p>Go talk to your guidance counselor. Last year was tough, but the couselor set me up with a tutor in Trigonomitry and I got a 100 in the next semester.</p>
<p>It scares me because my school ISN'T a prep school, it's a public high school. My AP English teacher warned us in the beginning of the year that we would feel like dying by october. She was right!</p>
<p>i did give advice, i wasnt being mean for the sake of being mean, i was just emphasizing my point</p>
<p>and spyder stands for spyder snowboarding, not for spider</p>
<p>peachy, I actually think that you're psyching yourself out and just making things harder for yourself. Several of my friends are having the same problem: they'll come into school telling me about how they need to take a day off to catch up and how swamped they are and how they think they'll fail every final, and it all comes true because they don't just chill out. What you need to do is organizae yourself a lot more, start every afternoon when you get home by saying "okay, it's 6 oclock. At 6:30 I will start chemistry and stop by 8:30. At 9:00 I'll do English for an hour..." etc etc etc. When you're organized and know exactly how you are going to accomplish something, you feel confident that you can do it, as opposed to freaking out and attacking everything all at once. Hope this helps. ;)</p>
<p>wow--am i the only one here who has NEVER pulled an all-nighter doing homework? i know i've never stayed up past 2. i guess i should feel grateful that i seem to have much less work than all you guys.</p>
<p>it seems to me that maybe dual enrollment (as opposed to AP) makes the difference. there are a lot more long-term, very important and huge projects in de as opposed to constant "busywork" every night in AP (from what my friends who take AP have told me). if your school offers college-type classes like DE instead, it might be worth it to look into switching into them (if your school is on a block schedule and you have new classes every semester.) just a thought...i don't know how you're scheduled or what you're offered, though--things are probably very different where you live as opposed to where i live.</p>
<p>anyhoo, i hope things get better--just de-stress and remember high school is a tiny fraction of your life, and that things usually work themselves out if you let them.</p>
<p>I have never pulled an all-nighter doing homework. For much of this year and my junior I slept a MINIMUM of 12 hours (due to illness). Add in eight hours of school, and you can see how much time I had left for ECs and homework. I sleep 6-8 hrs per night now, and average 30 mins a night. My school is not that competitive, but I got 2 4s and 2 5s on my 4 AP tests with minimal studying, so it obviously covers the same amount as other AP classes. l</p>
<p>Are you a math/science person? It seems like that's all you're taking. I have always been a humanities person. Let me explain how this is relevent.</p>
<p>Last year I was in three extremely difficult classes that crushed me more than any other: Honors Physics, Honors Chemistry, and Honors Pre-Calculus. In all my classes including these I had 92 A's and I was barely skimming by. I am also in theatre so that took up a huge chunk of my time as well, besides all my other classes.</p>
<p>This year, my hardest class is AP Chemistry, but my teacher rocks. I'm in AP Euro and Gov, Honors French IV and Orchestra, and AP Language Arts. Do you see what's missing? Calculus. I made a decision over the summer. I knew that in order to keep my sanity with such a full schedule I had to drop the math (besides, I would have had to drop orchestra to fit it, or drop Government, which is required by law. Sorry I love orchestra and I couldn't do it). I decided that if colleges were going to hold that against me, I didn't WANT to go there. I don't care. My sanity and my grades (and playing violin) were important to me.</p>
<p>Now I have 98 A's. I know an A is an A, but just think about how awesome it is not having to freak out about every upcoming test and homework assignment. If you f*** up, it's ok. Life isn't as stressful anymore. </p>
<p>I honestly believe that if you are sacrificing yourself for your grades, you're making a huge mistake. There are so many great colleges out there. I am applying to a lot of Ivy tier universities, but I am not worried about it; I have some awesome safeties that I know I would be so happy at if I got accepted no where else.</p>
<p>I don't know if this is really directed at you peachy, or if this was any help at all. I just wish people were focusing more on their personality, sanity, and personal interests as opposed to obsessing about their impossible courses and SAT scores. Life is so much more than that, and every day we spend worrying about these frivolous things we lose ourselves to some silly admissions game, thinking it will equal "success."</p>
<p>YEESH, people. you know, im beginning to think that im surrounded by either geniuses or very nice people, but nothing inbetween. quite frankly, struggling with classes doesnt have to do with how smart you are, just like IB doesn't mean all nighters. im in IB with 14 other ppl, so i've gotten to know them very well, and can say that ppl that do a lot of studying, and still don't get good grades are just a type of student.</p>
<p>it hurts at times... we have "hell weeks" in IB, where a couple of IA's and the EE are due in the span of a week, for example. it's hard for everyone, but for ppl that try very hard, it's a time to cry. it's not uncommon to break down, even the best of students do it. so don't worry about it</p>
<p>but at the same time, u should try to do something about it. ive been plagued by procrastination, which u haven't been, so i can't really tell u what to do, but i would try to just not worry as much (im sure a ton of ppl have told u that already). cut down the 5 hours studying to 2, say (i don' know how u manage look at the same stuff over and over again for 5 hours.. i get bored long before that, and stop, even if it means a worse grade..</p>