Junior Year Advice?

Hi! So I’m a current sophomore and we’re getting to the point of the year where we’re starting to put together next year’s schedules. I’ve already selected my classes:
AP Lit
AP US History
Honors Physics
Honors Math
Music Tech 1(Semester 1)/Music Tech 2(Semester 2)
Intro to TV and Media(Semester 1)/Broadcast Journalism(Semester 2)

I’m just wondering how to balance work load, extracurriculars(I do theatre which is 3-5 nights a week anywhere from 5 to 10 at night September-November), and still get enough sleep. What are your tips and what worked for you? Obviously the APs will be a lot of work but apparently the Journalism stuff has a somewhat heavy workload too. Thanks so much!!!

This is a very sensible and very well worded question. Unfortunately I don’t think that there is an equally sensible answer other than “you need to figure this out”. Perhaps this is the first unanswerable question that life will throw at you as you grow up. My apology in advance if this very sensible question causes me to rail about about our education system.

From what I have seen, and from what I have read on CC, the “big name” universities admit students based on a combination of grades, level of classes that they take, extracurricular activities (ECs), as well as the passion and enthusiasm and quality and probably other aspects of their application (including but not limited to essays). When you add up what is needed for most students (eg, if neither parent is either president or a Nobel prize winner), it seems to include a full day at school, a couple of hours of ECs, and many hours of studying (to get A+ grades in AP classes). Of course SAT prep tutoring will also be needed. Adding this up it just doesn’t leave enough time for sleep or rest or fun. Personally I think that this is a major failure of our education system. This appears to be a huge factor in the fact that many students in US high schools are over-stressed and don’t get enough sleep. I have not seen numbers but I suspect that the number of students who want to go to “big name” universities so badly that they end up collapsing under the stress (in one way or another) probably exceeds the number of students who actually end up attending these same “big name” universities. To me one answer to this is to do what you want to do, don’t even think about what “big name” universities want you to do, and when the time comes apply to universities that make sense for you (and that you can get into and afford).

In terms of the heavy load that you are taking on for next year: Try to keep ahead in your classes. Try to get work done early, and on weekends. Keep track of what work you need to get done, when it is due, and how long it is likely to take. If it turns out to be too much then cut back somewhere (whether you will be able to cut back from AP to honors classes or drop a class is something that only your school can say, but dropping an EC seems possible). You probably will need to be a quick reader to keep ahead in AP history and AP Lit; if you are not then you might think about whether there are classes over the summer that will help you read more quickly. I wonder whether you can get any of the reading done over the summer before next fall.

My daughter’s AP history class turned out to be IMHO probably the most difficult and hard earned A- that I have ever seen in my life. Think about whether you will have time for all of AP literature, AP history, and theatre. If not, then cut back on the one that you are least interested in, without regard for what you think that a “big name” university will want to see on your application. How much time will theatre actually take in a typical week? I am a bit concerned about how this will interact with the rest of what you will need to do. Will there be times during theatre that you will have a break and be able to catch up on required reading?

If you are doing what you want to do then there is very good chance that you will do it well. From what I can glean from your post you seem to have a very sensible view on all this. Best of luck!

@DadTwoGirls I can’t agree with you enough on the education system bit, it’s definitely way too hard to manage all that modern colleges require and still have time to enjoy being a teenager and all that goes along with that. Theatre time commitment really depends on the part that you have. Towards the beginning the ensemble is only there Monday-Wednesday with Thursday-Friday reserved for the leads, and when we get closer to show time obviously the rehearsals get laid on. But I think when you’re a lead you have more down time to do homework because the director has a lot of work to do with the ensemble and their numbers. I like to think that I have a good shot at a lead next year as I’ll be an upperclassmen(unfortunately the director does heavily favor upperclassmen which I don’t believe to be fair at all, but still I will have that advantage/privilege) and I think I proved myself to the director during the play. If I do get a lead, I might be better off, but if I don’t, there is always time to do homework at rehearsal, the only question is how much time. Towards the beginning it’ll take about 3 hours, towards the end it can take 4-5 hours, sometimes maybe even 6. I do know a few current juniors who take 3 APs and managed theatre with sports. Thanks so much for your response, it was extremely helpful!

I’d replace the journalism classes with a foreign language (unless you already reached level 4).
Do you have a study hall?
Young people need 8-9 hours of sleep so if you get home at 10 it means you need to complete your homework before you get home at night. Ergo, between 3 and 5pm during theater season.

^^ unless you abhor foreign lang. my older sis had anxiety + couldn’t stand taking spanish (participation was required, and she had a really hard time w/ that.). I think you’ll be fine with your courseload, as long as you manage your time. good luck!

@isthisboreal I don’t abhor it but it isn’t something I’d want to continue. I’m in a similar boat with the participation thing, it makes me nervous and causes me to miss a lot of opportunities to get more credit. The Journalism is actually replacing my Spanish class. I do well in Spanish but I just can’t take it another year, plus I don’t really have the motivation to continue. Thank you for your reply and encouragement!

Looks perfect