<p>I know the title is really broad, sorry. I just couldn't think of anything better.</p>
<p>So recently, I read a magazine article about depression and self harm among high school students. A girl who was interviewed said that she felt over-stressed because of two AP classes and three clubs.</p>
<p>Now, to me. I am currently only in middle school, and super-excited for high school. If any of you saw my last post, you'll have seen how vigorous my classes should be. If my calculations are correct, I should have 15+ AP's by the end of high school, executive board of a few clubs, and currently figuring out more and more loopholes to take more courses, such as self-studying AP Bio and AP chem freshman year so I can skip to AP Physics Sophie year without having to take AP Bio, AP Chem, Bio, or Chem.</p>
<p>Now my question is: Am I expecting too much of myself? That girl was stressed out from two AP's in her junior year... how would it work if I self-study two AP's my freshman year? Should I ease up on myself? </p>
<p>I've been telling myself throughout all my decisions that I've got to take the maximum and everything to just even become a believable candidate for any good college.</p>
<p>Sorry, this was sort of a rant. I'm just a little worried and don't know what to expect in freshie year.</p>
<p>Slooow down there. You’re going to burn out before the end of freshman year with that kind of mentality. Who said you had to take 15 AP’s? Honestly, I wouldn’t take <em>any</em> freshman year, just honors classes. You certainly can try to overload yourself, but you’re not going to have much of a life outside your academics. And for top schools, extracurriculars are what sets an applicant apart, so if that’s what you’re going for, make sure you have enough time set aside for it. </p>
<p>Seriously, don’t even think about colleges now. You’re in 8th grade. Relax! </p>
<p>If you’re just trying to take a bunch of classes and get leadership positions in school clubs, you’re probably overexerting yourself on the wrong things. It’s not necessary to take fifteen AP classes…you could take seven or eight and be just as impressive. People’s plans are usually more ambitious than what they end up doing anyway, so you’ll probably be okay. </p>
<p>You should definitely not skip the fundamental courses like (honors) chemistry or biology. I would suggest self studying humanities, if you’re going to self study anything. There isn’t anything wrong with taking lots of AP’s, but there is a reason they are considered higher level classes. They do not touch on some of the basic concepts that are required for fundamental understanding. I see this particularly in chemistry and physics.</p>
<p>I would not suggest taking up your first AP tests from self-study. Even the best can fall from their first experience with something like AP. My friend is one of the smartest people at my school, but he got a three on the AP Biology exam in Freshman year (But a five on Human Geography). I think you should make sure your first year isn’t exceeding your limitations. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m sure that you’ll be able to exceed even your expectations in high school, just not in the way you think. I would start Freshman year with one or two AP classes, and then maybe two or three in sophomore year, and etc. </p>
<p>Also, just saying, I don’t think your issues would be centered around depression or stress for two AP classes. I can very well see why that would be stressful, and difficult since it’ll be your first time with work at that level, but it also depends on your work ethic and ability to understand things.</p>
<p>wow wow wow… slow down. I took 6 APs - 4 my senior year. You don’t need to take so many. Be careful because high school, for me, was a lot harder than middle school - physics is way hard. I wouldn’t suggest self studying so much.</p>
<p>It’s so much better to excel at a few, than to be bogged down by many, and fail at all of them. I was accepted into 12/16 schools, including NYU and my dream school. I had 3 waitlists and 1 rejection.</p>
<p>You are far too worried about not being competitive enough. Slow down, take it easy, and take the APs offered by your school instead of self-studying. You will be fine. It is better that you do something at a reasonable pace and be accepted by a college based on that pace, rather than be accepted to an extremely prestigious school and end up living your college life at 100x stress.</p>
<p>I took AP Euro my sophomore year and I was ambitious and I thought that since I had straight A’s in middle school I could do it. I got a B and a C-, my GPA died, and I lost self-confidence and that spiraled into a depression and such. I got a 3 on the AP test, but I barely scraped by. Focus on a few things and do really well at a few, instead of mediocre at many.</p>
<p>And you’re already stressing. This stress will translate to pressure to do well in 100 AP classes, and you will fall down from all of the stress, and you could end up failing at all of them.</p>
<p>I would say that as long as you feel you are up to the challenge and won’t burn out. You can consider trying…That being said. 15+ AP’s through high school year sounds a little ridiculous. If you want to “get ahead”, study Chem and Bio by yourself over the summer/freshman year, not to take the AP, but so that you can take the AP class in school.</p>
<p>The point of AP classes is to LEARN THINGS IN THE CLASS. Self-studying deprives you of that instruction and the lessons you will learn about note-taking, test-taking, work ethic, and rigor. I really don’t see the point of self-studying, to be honest. Yay, you get a 5 on a test. What did you LEARN from that???</p>
<p>@bodangles I guess I view things a bit differently. I am interested in AP classes a a sort of self-assurance, and plus I’d be interested in taking the AP class with or without taking the test, because I like to learn.</p>
You don’t have to take a class to learn something, but I agree that (in many cases) self-studying is less conducive to learning than taking a class. You don’t get to do science labs, for example.
One of the benefits of self-studying is that it can help keep you out of giant lecture classes in college (if you get credit for your AP scores and get out of some distribution requirements). It’s good for getting college credit, but there’s not much of a point if you’re applying to a bunch of schools that wouldn’t give you credit anyway.</p>
<p>Hmm. I wouldn’t say that self-studying is a bad way to go, but especially for your first year taking AP tests, it would probably be best to get a better sense for what the tests and rigor are like. </p>
<p>In my junior year of hs, I took 5 ap classes, played in varsity sports, and managed several clubs. It was definitely doable and I had plenty of time left over. When I became a senior, I took 4 ap classes, quit sports, and transitioned my club positions to my predecessors. I had more time junior year than I did my senior year. I also thought my junior year was way easier than my senior year. I don’t know if it was senioritis or anything but you should try to test your limits.</p>
<p>Sure, the lecture material you can learn on your own by reading a book or whatever. But I think being in a class forces you to deal with time management and work ethic in a way that studying on your own or skipping a class doesn’t. -shrugs- And some things can really only be learned with teacher feedback (ex. DBQs / FRQs for AP World / APUSH). </p>
<p>Hmm. I wouldn’t say that self-studying is a bad way to go, but especially for your first year taking AP tests, it would probably be best to get a better sense for what the tests and rigor are like. </p>
<p>Obviously, we are all capable of different things. I personally would not become stressed from 2 APs and 3 clubs. That of course depends on her strengths, weaknesses, teachers, outside pressures, leadership roles, and school environment. Really, you don’t need 15 APs unless there is absolutely nothing standout about you. You don’t need that many. Please take the ones that truly interest you. Don’t take them as a freshman. Maybe 1 is alright. But there is absolutely no need to overload on anything. Stop trying to squeeze everything in. It’s truly unhealthy. You need a balance. That is the only way to succeed.</p>
<p>You are not going to believe me, but you will be both happier and more successful at getting in to colleges if you focus on doing things that interest you rather than trying to mold yourself into someone you think will be the best possible candidate for college admissions. Please try to relax and enjoy your high school experience. Someone on the parent forum recently mentioned a kid who had taken 20 APs and didn’t get in to any top colleges. It doesn’t work. If you don’t believe me, please post your plan on the parent forum. There are parents there who have guided multiple of their own kids through college admissions, many of them to some of the toughest schools. See what they have to say about this. You still won’t believe them, but hopefully you will learn before it’s too late and you are one of the bitter kids posting on here “I wasted my high school years doing all this stuff I didn’t want to do”.</p>
<p>I have an 8th grader also. I would be absolutely appalled if she had made a post like yours. I’d ban her from this site for the next two years.</p>
<p>I’m a junior in high school right now, and my school doesn’t even allow us to take APs before junior year. I hated this at first, but I realize how they wanted to prevent this kind of thing from happening. I’m taking four APs this year, but I have mainly Bs- a departure from the straight As I maintained throughout middle school and early high school. Definitely start out slow when it comes to classes of this rigor. Everybody’s stressed about getting into a decent college right now, but burning yourself out as a freshman is definitely not worth it. If I were you, I’d self study maybe after you’ve gotten a feel for the AP system and how high school works in general (I’m personally planning on self studying AP Psych next year).
Best of luck!</p>