<p>Am I the only one who feels kind of failed by the public school system? I go to a fairly competitive high school in Los Angeles Unified School District (Basically overbloated beuracracy galore!). I've always felt capable and intelligent, but always feel under this intense pressure to be better than everyone else there, due to the fact that many of my classmates are Asian, and they sometimes make it vocal that they expect me to do much worse than they (I'm African-American by the way). And usually I try to. But now that it's coming around time for college apps and the like, I'm starting to find out that I'm doing a whole lot better than I thought I was. Yet that's well above the average for my school, which isn't much. People saw my 26 on the ACT as good, as many of them got 21-24.</p>
<p>In short, anyone feel kind of failed by the public school system? And what do you do to stay on the level of much more affluent kids from around the country?</p>
<p>No no no, I usually do better, depending on the subject. Such as math. I more or less skipped that subject altogether this year.</p>
<p>Yeah, in that case, I wish I could just home school myself so I wouldn't have to be in a class full of 40 loud, rambunctious kids that won't shut up whatsoever.</p>
<p>I go to an inner-city predominantly African-American school, so I don't feel the pressures you feel, however I do feel that the school system has failed us. So many of the teachers are horrible and can't teach if their life depended on it. They think AP is equivalent to a lot of unnecessary book work. By the end of the year we are barely in the 6th chapter of the book. So for most AP classes, if you want to pass (like even if you want a 3) you need to spend some money on prep book and do some self-studying at home.</p>
<p>Being Asian myself, I'm sorry that the Asians in your class vocally did that to you. They shouldn't do that, no matter how smart they are because once they verbally state their superiority over other races, I lose all respect for them. Smart people don't say those things. I have met so many African Americans who are absolutely brilliant.</p>
<p>Personally I don't think that working hard has a race or a demographic.
& Personally, yes, the public education system is a dissapointment.</p>
<p>Just self study because like sb1492 said some inner city teachers are absolutely disgusting, a shame to the education system, and since there are books and resources everywhere, why not teach yourself if you are capable?</p>
<p>Being from The Bay Area, I must say that LA Rules:]</p>
<p>Ugh. The public school system has utterly left me high and dry. And I'm only a freshman.</p>
<p>We have a set plan- Biology, Earth Science, then Chemistry to graduate. Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II to graduate. English sequence 9-11 to graduate. Global Studies I, Global Studies II, US History or APUSH to graduate.</p>
<p>The guidance office looekd at me like I was CRAZY when I wanted to change the plan.
...</p>
<p>I hate my school. Thank god I've done relatively well so far on my applications to prep school. : )</p>
<p>Hey I'm Asian... but then again I'm lower middle class, and I go to a pretty bad public school. Try to break the mold... I've self-studied APs, started clubs, and participated in school activities. </p>
<p>Try to see the bigger picture though. Competition will always be fierce, for the rest of your life. It's the one constancy in the face of scarce resources. Then again, life is too short to be caught up in the competition rat race. So just enjoy life, try to actually learn something, make a difference, and become as happy as possible. Screw the other kids... you won't even remember their names later.</p>
<p>We have two honors courses, English and the sciences. One AP. I was trying to accelerate my science course by doubling up... And they were like, uhhhh, idk!
We offer physics and AP Bio (not the AP exam, though?) to seniors, and I want the chance to take both, and they WON'T LET ME as a senior!! WUHTUHFUH?</p>
<p>I'm actually going to speak to guidance about self-studying spanish for the last 3/4 of the year. I think my 100 in that class pretty much speaks for itself.</p>
<p>hpa, you've got an hour on the bus? Which one, school bus or public transit? If the latter, and you have the space, how about throw on some headphones and self-study, or study any other classes? THat's more than enough time to get settled and do some work!</p>
<p>Yes. I read from photocopied textbooks in classes that average 40 students. I get As in calculus but I got a 620 on the SAT math because I've never really been taught the basics. My school offers only 6 APs, and 4 of them are math/science related (I'm a Humanities person so it doesn't help me at all). Public school succcks and I can't wait to get out.</p>
<p>if you think the CA public school system sucks, imagine NY's. my hs had so many unique clubs and a variety of ECs and this year ..they practically have nothing! i feel like i can't succeed b/c of the budget cuts.we also have fewer APs offered this yr.and its not just the ECs and courses but for reseach projects like ISEF we have to manage to buy our own materials..the school doesn't fund for any of that =[</p>
<p>Actually, NY is typically a very good public school system. Our regents tests are considered top-notch indicators of whether a student is proficient in an area or not, and although they HAVE been watered down to an extreme in recent years, both those regents and the ECs they offer are nothing compared to, say, Alabama.</p>