<p>I know, I know. I’ve thought of all this, somehow it just doesn’t make me feel any better. 
Curse the shallow prestige whore inside of me. And it’s like, junior year, damn, I was like I’m going to get straight A’s yeaah to make up for my bad sophomore year in math (B’s both semesters D: ) and now here I am facing two B’s in one semester. I have never felt so dejected.</p>
<p>awww don’t feel bad!!!</p>
<p>college is what you make of it. who knows, maybe your #2 or even #5 college will make you happy. You won’t apply to a school that’ll make you unhappy, so don’t fret ^.^ I have a college I absolutely adore and love, my dream college, but I also have “other” colleges that I know I’ll be really happy at too.</p>
<p>At least you’re not failing.</p>
<p>I managed to fail 3 quizzes in the last two weeks. :(</p>
<p>I’ve basically been finished with secondary education since sixth grade. Mostly because it’s never been challenging, and now because I’m just sick and tired of busy work.</p>
<p>Normally I’d say something along the lines of “A ‘B’ is not a bad grade,” but then I forget about the types of people who post on this website… </p>
<p>Just focus on doing the best you can in high school so that you can get the hell out and have good options for college. Motivate yourself with thoughts of success and happiness that will ensue from being a good student (hopefully). And there are a LOT of prestigious colleges that will accept people with a couple of B’s on their transcript.</p>
<p>you should get some.</p>
<p>then go back on focusing ur hw. . . :P</p>
<p>Writing down your goals usually works . . . if you have goals. Do you want to go to a top-notch school for the sake of going to a top-notch school or do you want to make something out of it?</p>
<p>And, ansar, what is “it?”</p>
<p>
Well your grades still seem to be great, and plus its senior year ( if your a senior). Simply assume ( but more so believe it to yourself I guess) that which ever school you do attend could not possibly ruin your future outlook and it will be just as great or better than anywhere else. Aim even higher for graduate school if you decide to attend.</p>
<p>“Writing down your goals usually works . . . if you have goals. Do you want to go to a top-notch school for the sake of going to a top-notch school or do you want to make something out of it?”</p>
<p>As much as I’d like to say I am not a shallow person like that, I know there’s a prestige whore inside me that does desire this. But I think the underlying issue is that I want to prove to myself that I am extraordinary, that I have merit, that I am capable of being at the top, and I see the top-notch school as my sort of litmus test for this. It makes me upset I guess that I can’t even handle maintaining extraordinary grades, and I feel dejected because I guess I feel like I’m just not good enough for my own standards. So I guess I just have a few psychological/emotional issues I need to deal with, to be honest.</p>
<p>Ehh. I contracted Junioritis, got over it for the first half of senior year… and now its back as Senioritis… And I have no motivation to even START all those esssys that will be due in a couple days >.> Blahhh.</p>
<p>ok well since positive reinforcement isn’t working, let’s try negative. Your junior year grades are the most important grades. If you don’t get really good grades, you’re not going to get into “the most prestigous” colleges as you call them. Buckle down and get it done because if you are intelligent as I’m sure you are, you CAN do it. And if you can’t, then do you really even want to go to a college where everyone IS motivated? You won’t be too happy.</p>
<p>sorry if that only made things worse, but I’m trying to help. As to those freshmen claiming “freshmanitis” be prepared, freshman year is NOTHING compared to the rest of high school. You should be getting straight A’s now because its only going to get harder.</p>
<p>(this is coming from a senior)</p>
<p>-Put a blocker on addicting websites (CC included!) except for an hour every night. Or–this works well when I have a huge bought of junioritis–block in completely except in the morning, so you have to get yourself out of bed in the morning to get on.</p>
<p>-Exercise. If you knew me, you’d probably laugh at me giving this advice, but it’s so helpful. Fresh air is the best but not necessarily plausible right now depending on where you live. So go to the gym, part as far away as possible from the gym (this gives you the fresh air part) and run. Or whatever. I just like running. It gives you such a burst of energy. Do it right after school/ECs and before homework.</p>
<p>-Work hard Monday through Wednesday. These are the nights I stay up the latest, working to stay one step ahead with my studying and projects. And then Thursday I chill a little, do the bare minimum of what’s required the next day, and go to bed at a reasonable hour. I got the idea after reading a study that people who work the hardest during the workweek are happiest on vacation (the study may or may not have been in Cosmo, lol, but still). </p>
<p>-Start focusing sort term. I had the worst case of underclassman-itis the first year and a half of high school because CC and researching colleges online got to become a sort of addiction. I made list after list of what to do during high school, impassionately planning out the perfect combination of ECs and classes to mold the perfect applicant. </p>
<p>My cycle of ignoring the short term was only broken when I started dating this guy, because making any sort of connection with him required focusing on each and every moment. Just reaching out to friends can have the same effect. When I finally started appreciating the short term, the moment (ignore how cliche this sounds) was when I started feeling the desire to do my work again. Suddenly, it sounded nice to sit down and read Crime and Punishment or do that history paper, not because it would get me to some prestigious school but because I’d rediscovered my nerdy adoration of learning. </p>
<p>So…sorry if this sounds like Ask Annie, lol. But these things worked for me.</p>
<p>“It makes me upset I guess that I can’t even handle maintaining extraordinary grades, and I feel dejected because I guess I feel like I’m just not good enough for my own standards.” </p>
<p>Okay. Now THAT I understand. Yes, I believe you have slight psychological/emotional issues. But they’re nothing you can’t deal with by yourself. I’ve dealt with similar issues-I’m sure everyone has at some point. </p>
<p>I think your “standards” are not concrete enough. You are comparing yourself to an ideal student who gets perfect grades in high school, gets into a top-notch school, goes on to a high-paying job. There is no human side to that ideal. Of course you feel dejected-you cannot possibly ignore your human side . . . unless you are half-Vulcan.
So my advice would be to find some subject-inside or outside of school-which you truly enjoy. And dedicate yourself to it. Set aside time every night just for that subject. Tell yourself that you will work for, say, an hour on homework and then spend an hour and a half on that subject (you should really never work more than 90 minutes on anything, according to sources on time management).</p>
<p>Of course, I am not saying you should totally abandon your other coursework. I am just advising that you remind yourself that getting good grades is not the reason for getting an education. Then, you do not write that essay or study for the SAT because you HAVE to do it-you do it because you want to do it, because doing it will help you further your studies in that special subject.</p>
<p>Two side notes:
- getting good grades isnt the only criterion for admission into a top school-there is also passion, as demonstrated on the essay.
- an ivy-league school might not be the best school for the program you are applying to.</p>
<p>And, finally, sorry if this did not help (i.e. if you would apply to an ivy-league school as an undecided). I understand that I am essentially telling you to get goals. But I will still post this in hope that you find at least a kindred spirit in fawkes511. ;)</p>
<p>Alright, first of all:</p>
<p>1) You’re doing fine. Nobody will reject you for 3-4 Bs. Colleges tend to weigh rank more heavily, anyway. Assuming you take 50 courses, I’d say even if you get 5 Bs for an unweighted GPA of 3.9, your application is still on par.</p>
<p>2) High school is a race. There will be those who burn out towards the start, those who give up, and those who finish at a steady pace. Make sure that you’re the third type of person. Don’t burn yourself out, but give maximum effort.</p>
<p>3) Turn studying into a party. Get some of your friends to go to StarBucks with you and study there.</p>
<p>Don’t give up hope. Remember, you are probably better than 99% of the people at your school. :)</p>
<p>I have the same issue (as a Junior)… I used to be so motivated. Three things killed my motivation… One: my SAT scores aren’t the best (I still have time to retake, but they can only improve so much) and if I don’t have good SATs, grades won’t really matter, I won’t get in anyways :(. Two: my class rank isn’t in the top 5%… only top 10% and I’m worried this isn’t high enough… so why try if I’m already not going to get in to college? Three: my ap classes this year are in history and english and I’m a math person… so I dread doing my homework every night.
My ways of motivation:
- Exercise!
- Listen to music, and throw a mini (like half of an hour) party! I know this sounds lame, especially by yourself… but just turn on some music and chill out/ calm down. Flip through a magazine or do something completely un-school related.
- Go to a coffee shop to do homework… that way you can’t get distracted. Don’t let yourself leave 'till you get a good amount of homework done.
- Create a prize for yourself… for example: for every twenty pages I read I’m going to eat a brownie… or take a ten minute break… or whatever it may be.
These are just a few strategies I attempt… they don’t always work, as clearly I’m struggling with the same issues… but they’re worth a try!</p>