So yeah, thus far my Junior year is *much* harder than I anticipated...

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>The first two years of high school haven't been that hard for me; I've been challenged somewhat but I would never say I've struggled very much. Up to now, I've held about a 3.65 GPA average between both of my underclassmen years and I honestly put forth very little effort in my freshman year yet still maintained good marks. While the past two years have been pretty lax, I'm now 4 weeks into Junior year and feel MUCH more pressured than I ever was during both Sophmore and Freshman year. </p>

<p>Why? I suppose it's from my class selection, this year I'm taking:</p>

<p>AP Gov
Honors Spanish *
Honors English
Algebra 2 and Geometry (because I had lackluster grades in 8th grade I was placed in a semi-remedial Math class. To make up for being behind the curve in math, I decided (with recommendation) to take two math classes this year. However, I'm not struggling at all with either of these classes thus far.)
Chemistry *</p>

<p>In comparison to my schedule last year, it's pretty rigorous. I took no Honors courses last year and I was recommended by my Social Studies, Spanish and English teachers to take honors level courses this year. Because I passed all of my classes with relative ease the past two years, I figured why not?</p>

<p>Those with asterisks are the two that have been giving me the most grief. I thought the first Chem test of the year was relatively easy; I figured I got a an A or A-. I got it back yesterday and somehow I got a 68% (by far the lowest grade I've yet to receive in High School). I studied for about an hour the night before, none of the content was very difficult either. I've also had two quizzes in Honors Spanish (I received a C on the first, B on the second). </p>

<p>Anyways, so far I'm having no issues with my math(s), AP Gov or English classes. However, if things don't change it looks like both Spanish and Chemistry will be the death of me.</p>

<p>So, my question to you guys is: how can I fix this? Even with the awful Chemistry and Spanish grades I have ( I have As in the rest of my classes), I can bring them up to B's by the end of the quarter with some work. I'm sure some of you are in a similar situation or are at least taking similar classes to me, are there any particular strategies that you've developed to work with classes like these? Because I've never been in a situation that I've actually felt pressured to fix a huge grade problem, I'm honestly lost as to what to do.</p>

<p>If it puts anything into perspective, I plan to apply to Connecticut College (I'm a CT resident), Skidmore and (hopefully) Vassar if my SAT scores end up as anticipated and I can fix the wreck that is my GPA as of this week.</p>

<p>Sorry for the wall of text, any help would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>You could raise your grades up to A’s.</p>

<p>Don’t get discouraged by 1 bad test grade.</p>

3

<p>Chemistry is a *****. You just have to practice lots and lots. With hard work you can definitely get a B and even better, an A.</p>

<p>But remember to enjoy your junior year, take time to participate in activities you enjoy!
Good luck!</p>

4

<p>I’m sure it was a bit of a shock for you, especially since you were doing so well - but I agree with Mathcountser. Don’t lower your standards because of one test. Try and use this as motivation to truly work hard and get straight A’s. There you go. I just gave you a goal. :slight_smile: Its totally fine to get a B (it won’t be the death of you!) but what have you got to lose by shooting for all A’s? You might surprise yourself.</p>

5

<p>One test won’t kill you. I got a 58% on my first Pre-Calc test and just laughed when I saw it (granted, that wasn’t the lowest I’ve ever gotten on a test, but it’s easy to pull anything up to an A if you work at it). This year, which is also my junior year, things don’t seem to be harder. In fact, my classes are actually a little more interesting. But of course, all of my teachers seem to love giving busy work now, and I’m swamped with 4 hours of hw. :(</p>

6

<p>Science tests occasionally throw you for a curve like that. It can be jarring to get the first C or D of your life on a test. You’ve probably never had this problem (a low grade that you’ll spend the rest of the semester trying to mitigate).</p>

<p>For chem: one hour is insufficient. You think the concepts are easy but you have to really understand and be able to apply them for all sorts of situations that you haven’t been explicitly taught. You need to be able to extrapolate. It’s helpful to form a study group and just discuss conceptual things with other people. & perhaps you should elaborate precisely what problems gave you trouble on the chem test?</p>

<p>For Spanish: I don’t know what to say. Not enough information.</p>

<p>Honestly, there’s not much original advice anyone can give, though. Work hard. Don’t give up. Do the usual tutor/study group/talk to your teacher thing. This is not unusual. You will do fine. Just don’t get complacent.</p>

<p>Also, don’t underestimate what a busy schedule can do to your test-taking ability. Nothing seems hard, you just don’t have enough time or energy to stay on top of things anymore.</p>

7

<p>For chemistry, do lots of practice problems. I would also get a book or software to help you learn it.</p>

<p>For Spanish, just memorize the vocabulary. It’s annoying, but not that hard.</p>

<p>For Math, do lots of problems.</p>

8

<p>Chemistry… that sucks.</p>

<p>Alright, Chemistry is a personal specialty of mine and I get concepts and can apply them almost instantaneously… but in the event I don’t… I practice them. Heavily. Work with them to see what other relations there are, work with the teacher, etc.</p>

<p>Alg 2/Geo… Nothing to say there. I didn’t study for either of these courses, and I did well.</p>

9

<p>You guys will love Senior year. So much work -.-</p>

10

<p>Sorry about overachiever rant but</p>

<p>OMG MY GRADES</p>

<p>I’m doing so badly and stressing out a lot</p>

<p>78 in AP Chem (80 is A because they massively ramped up difficulty) ridiculously hard written test that like 50% of the class got less than 70% on.
86.5 in AP - got a 85 on an essay that I needed at least like an 88 on, and I thought it was good too…
88 in AP Spanish Lang - insanely difficult orals and essays (some native speakers don’t get A’s on orals)</p>

<p>APUS, AP Calc AB, and Physics H are not too bad.</p>

11

<p>Chem sounds like my IB Chemistry class.</p>

12

<p>For me:
Honors Geometry-96.789%
We The People-100%
Honors Science-99%
GTT-102%
Spanish 1-B-100%
Social Studies-98%
Honors Language-100%
Unfortunately, I have a test tomorrow in Language and Spanish, so my grades will plummet. For Geometry, the 80 question quiz hasn’t been entered yet.</p>

<p>I could go seriously down…</p>

13

<p>I just started my junior year as well, but so far nothing seems too difficult. There’s just a ton of stuff to do so far. I’m in Honors Chem and nothing has stretched me so far, but our curriculums are probably different. I take French, so I can’t offer any Spanish tips.</p>

<p>If you’re not used to honors classes, though, things can be a little nasty. I remember when I was launched into Honors English I freshman year with one of the hardest teachers in school after sleeping through it and being made to think I was a little child prodigy. You just have to get tough.</p>

<p>porkperson, you’re not doing badly.</p>

14

<p>I was placed in Regular English in 3rd and 4th grade because the administrator lady only let people whose parents were members of the PTO into honors at first. In 5th grade I finally got let into Honors Language and it was a wake up call.</p>

15

<p>Arrogant post alert… </p>

<p>I’ve been in honors/advanced classes my life… and I slept through many of them and did very well.</p>

<p>HS, same thing occurred.
This year, same thing happens.</p>

16

<p>^How modest…</p>

17

<p>I said arrogant post alert. </p>

<p>However, that statement is indicative of how my schooling has been.</p>

18

<p>^ I can understand that. Oftentimes I’ve noticed that “honors” is just a title used to get all the more intelligent kids in a class together and not actually challenge them. I found that especially in my freshman and sophomore honors classes. </p>

<p>Luckily, IB is less of a joke at my school than the honors courses are, although “IB” spanish hardly deserves the title</p>

19

<p>my IB classes, not hard in the slightest, but they require effort.</p>

<p>Except for math and chemistry. I can just show up and be the flyest ■■■■■ in there(I’m actually the only black guy in both).</p>

20

<p>^Even if you’re black, that’s offensive to say.</p>