<p>Hi everyone, I am currently a sophomore at a very competitive NYC public school. Like many other students in my school, i have aspirations of attending an ivy league or similar top tier school. My father went to an ivy league and my mother to a top liberal arts college and so they too expect me to follow in their footsteps. Throughout lower and middle school everyone associated me with being smart and nerdy (nerdy has a good, positive connotation in my school/ community). I was the salutatorian of my middle school, off valedictorian by .4 (four tenths) of a point. I was tested for being gifted & talented, went to camps for G&T kids, etc... my parents went the whole nine yards with me. I ended freshman year strong with my lowest class being 94 (drama elective) and was easily in the top 5% of my class.</p>
<p>So far, sophomore year has been difficult and stressful for me. I am the president of a club, am doing two science competitions (science olympiad-type things), am in a research progam and conducting science research to enter in competitions, taking classes after school, etc. Two weeks ago I took an English test and scored a 71. I don't know how that happened but that day I had two other big exams to study for and it was just an off day for me. Anyway we just had a multiple choice exam yesterday and I scored a 75. The 71 and 75 were the lowest grades I have ever gotten up to this point. Once again I don't know how that happened... I studied a week in advance (after getting a 71), memorizing the analysis of quotes, memorizing vocabulary from the book, etc. I literally begged my teacher for extra credit and she is giving me five points on the 71 after I completed an assignment. Even with the extra credit my average in English is now a 90, the lowest it has been (last year my English averages were no lower than 97). In both instances they were honors courses. </p>
<p>I noticed that a lot of the questions I got wrong were because of careless mistakes. For instance on a math test, I could have gotten a 103 (There was extra credit) but instead i got a 93 because i made two mistakes on a multiple choice question where i DID THE RIGHT WORK AND GOT THE RIGHT ANSWER but chose the wrong choice. Same thing on a quiz where i got an 8 but could have gotten a 10 (out of 10). And on the English tests, I chose the right answer at first and then last minute, seconds before handing it in I had a change of heart and changed my answer (eight points off right there). My overall average dropped a few points. Some of my friends who were getting significantly lower averages than me last year are getting higher than me this year.</p>
<p>I don't know what i'm doing wrong... i study everything. Maybe it's that I stay up late (up til 1 am) and am tired/ unfocused the next day? i don't know. It's very very depressing to know that after studying and studying you end up with a s.hitty score. I feel like such a failure to myself to my parents and to my community... Many students in my school who have been in a similarly stressful situation have resorted to adderall or marijuana but that's not a path that I want to take -- and hopefully I dont end up there.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading... the rant ends here. any advice?</p>
<p>So wait, you got a bad grade on three quizzes and now you’re a failure to your school and community and considering illegal drugs?</p>
<p>Just be more careful when you take tests. Don’t be so nervous! Unless it’s a final exam or you have a ridiculous teacher, one test is never going to make or break your grade.</p>
<p>I always used to worry about what other people would think of me if I got B’s and C’s until I realized…no one cares. Really. Other kids are worrying about themselves, and your parents just want you to be happy and successful in life. And you don’t need a A+ on everything you ever do to accomplish that.</p>
<p>I think a little more sleep is key. Take a careful look at your extra curricular activities, as grades are more important. Maybe only do one science olympiad (my D2 did the bio one, so I know how much work it is to do well!). And consider whether you HAVE to do the after school classes. It seems like president of a club, science research, and a science olympiad is plenty on the EC side. You are better off to do those things successfully and have good grades than spread yourself too thin.</p>
<p>I think you need to quit stressing out. OK, a 71 and 75…not the end of the world. I’ve gotten numerous bad grades. It’s not that big of a deal. Just quit stressing out. A 93? Jeez, the world’s gonna end. I think you’ll be fine; you’re making too big of a deal over it.</p>
<p>Think of it like this: Say you’re playing baseball. Say you’re really nervous and worried. Are you going to catch the baseball or hit it very well if you’re that way? Heck no. Same thing here. You going to do well if you’re so stressed out? Nope. </p>
<p>So, try not feeling like a failure to your parents and your community (and why do you have to please your community of all things??? I can understand the parents, but your community?), and study less. Yes, LESS. People don’t do well if they study TOO much. Live a little, YOLO ya know? (I hate that phrase, but it’s so true for you) Do you really want to just study and work hard all 4 years of school? Take some breaks from studying and do something fun (And no illegal drugs). you’ve got enough EC’s, like intparent said, do not spread yourself too thin. </p>
<p>@shoboemom, I haven’t talked to my parents about this yet. If I do they will probably just get an English tutor for me (I don’t think I need one just yet).</p>
<p>@halcyonheather, intparent: colleges care and at my school there is a big emphasis on where you matriculate to (they already have college info sessions for freshmen). I cannot drop the after school classes because they are a pre-requisite for a research program I really want to do and they have been extremely beneficial in connecting me to mentors for my sci research projects.</p>
<p>You only have so many hours in the day… and grades ARE more important than ECs in college admissions. You also did not address why you have to be in two science Olympiads. I know my D studied 3-4 hours a week for most of the year for the science Olympiad she participated in.</p>
<p>one of them is the actual science olympiad that you are referring to but the other is an environmental science competition that’s a little different from olympiad. the topics that I am studying for olympiad have overlap in the environmental science competition so it’s sort of like killing two birds with one stone. they are two different competitions but the subject matter is so similar that i can study for both at the same time.</p>
<p>I’m not going to sugarcoat it like everyone else here…sophomore year sucks. It’s much harder than Freshman year (well, at least it was for me), and like you, I was in a dark place.</p>
<p>I have advice though:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The main reason that sophomore year sucks is that your academic stress increases, but your social freedom does not. You’re still adjusting to high school, and you’re far enough from graduating that it seems like you will be stuck in an endless stress vacuum for the rest of high school. </p></li>
<li><p>Junior Year, and really, even the second half of sophomore year, is not as bad. You adjust to the more stressful schedule.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t turn to marijuana/adderall. You’re a smart person. I’m not saying that everyone that does drugs is stupid, but honestly do you know any incredibly intelligent stoners? It does affect academic performance. If you really want to try this *****, save it for college.</p></li>
<li><p>Do something you love. Take up a new hobby. For me, this was the musical my sophomore year. I had no singing experience whatsoever. Didn’t matter. I had a great time, and I learned to balance my schoolwork and social life even more effectively.</p></li>
<li><p>And most importantly,
“If you’re going through hell, keep going”
-Winston Churchill</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Just like a sports team, high school has ups and downs. You will get poor individual grades. This does not mean, however, that you will get poor marking period/final grades. It sounds like you have some very difficult teachers. But if you strategically plan your schedule, you will do better. Remember, “not everything worth doing is worth doing well”.</p>
<p>Good luck. You’ll be fine though. My grades dropped between fresh and soph year, and then I did better than either year when I began Junior Year.</p>
<p>@sostressed no problem. Glad to help out, because I experienced a similar situation during my sophomore year. Granted I was not nearly as intelligent as you are (at my lowest point, I switched into Geometry Academic due to math struggles. Fortunately, I’m in Pre Calculus Honors now).</p>
<p>Speaking as a freshman in an Ivy League school, here’s a tip. I guarantee you that in ten years you will laugh at yourself for stressing out over things like this.</p>
<p>I’ve scored as low as 53 in Chem, 60 in Bio, 64 in Math, etc. A few grades won’t destroy your average for the class and as soon as you’re in college you’re going to wonder why you bothered stressing about those little things.</p>
<p>It seems like you say “please help” – but the reality is that the only thing that will help is to somehow lighten your load. Your mistakes are clearly those someone makes when they are groggy from not enough sleep. You can scale back on hard classes, cut back on extracurriculars, or cut back on anything else you are doing that you haven’t mentioned. Cutting back on sleep is not a long term solution. You have reasons why you don’t want to change your load in any way… so you are stuck with this situation unless you decide to do something about it. An English tutor isn’t going to help if you know the answer, but mark the wrong one because you are too tired to focus on the exam.</p>
<p>One thing I know is that extracurriculars that my kids found managable in middle school became less so in high school because of the expectation of spending increased time on them as you get further along. It was hard for my kids to choose what to quit, but grade issues forced my oldest to scale back (although this happened late in her freshman year). We have been a lot more aware of this with the second kid, and pushed her to keep her EC load reasonable. This has worked out in her case.</p>
<p>I would also disagree about sophomore year being harder than junior year. That sure wasn’t true for my kids. Junior year of HS was back breaking.</p>
<p>I think you just need to calm down, high achieving students who want to do well tend to freak out when a few things go wrong. Alright, you scored bad on two quizzes, and a test, everyone has bad days, just shake it off and do better next time, don’t drop out of ECs or hard classes just because you messed up a few times, everyone does.</p>
<p>First, you need to sleep. I am also a sophomore, and I cannot stay up till one a.m. every night without taking a nap that afternoon. You are prone to making mistakes when you are sleep deprived. Everytime when I am sleep deprived, I lose my stuff. </p>
<p>Second, you mentioned your average in a class last year and how your average this year is not as high. Classes get harder and harder, you cannot always expect high A averages. Sophomore year is very different from freshmen year, much more intense. I think junior year will be a hell, when all the testings and hard core classes kick in. X(</p>
<p>Third, don’t be too obsessed with averages, they don’t even appear on transcript anyway. You failed, what, three tests and you are freaking out? Calm down, since you mostly get As on tests anyway. Just make sure you check your tests before you turn them in.</p>
<p>Get more sleep! And remember that most of the time your first gut instinct is usually the right answer… don’t overthink the question and change it. </p>
<p>cchanged, i dont know about your school but i also go to a nyc public school (same system as the OP) and averages do appear on the transcript. your cumulative average for each year and individual averages in classes… they see it all here.</p>
<p>Hey dude. Chill. I’d like to address a few points in yours and others comments. </p>
<p>For one thing, a few tests ain’t gonna change much at all. Since you are making careless errors in circling the wrong choice and all, you obviously know the information, which begs the question: are you studying for yourself, or for other (others being college, your parents, competition). </p>
<p>KBronx, on your point #3, I actually do know a few. So don’t generalize and criticize what you don’t know. </p>
<p>Just take a break for a bit OP. You are only a soph, do some sophomoric things, stop acting like its the end of the world, live a little. Shouldn’t be too difficult, you’re in frickin’ NYC. And seriously have a talk with your parents, they need to know this stuff. Change your community if they ask too much. Break out of the cycle man. That cycle drives us all insane eventually, whether its by 16 or by 40.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore too, and in freshman year, while I was planning my coursework, I came to a long-overdue realization…it doesn’t matter all that much.</p>
<p>Do you know what you’re taking everything on for? What’s your plan? Get into a good college, then what? Get a job? Okay, make some good money, and that’s it?</p>
<p>I think this is a mistake a lot of high schoolers make. They feel so proud of themselves for doing so much awesome stuff but don’t even know why. They think their utmost goal in life is to get into college and get a job, but that’s the most mediocre life I’ve ever heard, and everybody I know is planning on receiving it.</p>
<p>So identify what you want to do. If you do want to go college (which it sounds like you do), that’s excellent! But find out which ones. Now is a good time. Take only courses that’ll help you get there. Your ECs look great.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore with a load as heavy as yours (and a solid idea of my future), but I just don’t care when I get a low grade. I approach my teacher and ask for a retake, and she uses the higher score.</p>
<p>So just don’t worry so much and enjoy high school a bit instead of taking on so many loads. Don’t let people convince you that doing what you’re doing is the best thing for you, because only you can find that. High schools, like I said, prepare us for mediocrity–high school, college, job. But when we’re capable of more, why would we accept that?</p>