I attend a nationally well-known high school for STEM in CA and I am currently in my first year in the tech program (9th grade). I feel extremely stressed about everything, from my classes (2 APs, 2 Honors, 1 Advanced CP, and 1 CP) to extracurriculars. I am earning mostly As at the moment.
I feel like I won’t be able to do any extracurriculars this year (and throughout high school) because I usually get around 5-6+ hours of HW and studying each night (mostly from my Honors courses), or I won’t be able to join any that I am interested in besides one or two clubs due to the insane competition to get in. I’m extremely worried that I won’t be able to go far in school, and I feel like a failure already.
Does anyone who has gone through / is currently in the program have any advice? It would be great to hear from other Troy students/alumni.
Drop some AP/Honors classes that you are not interested in. It is not worth to take 20 APs thought high school and have no ECs. You should take the amount of advanced classes that you feel you can do well, and have some time left for ECs. Just take the classes that you interested in, don’t overload yourself.
I am just a freshman so don’t take my advice too serious, it is just my opinion.
I’d figure out why it’s taking you so long. Are you not taking advantage of a study hall or free period? Can you get stuff done on the bus? Are you studying inefficiently? Too much?
My advice is to try to join at least one or two clubs. (That’s actually my advice for everybody. Another key component to that is that sleep trumps everything.) Even if they’re all wildly competitive, see if you can go to practices. That’s what I did with Science Bowl last year, and now it’s looking like I might be on the team this year. And there have to be clubs that aren’t competitive; CLO, Astronomy, Psychology.
I go to a school that’s no Troy, but is somewhat notorious for being a breeding ground for depression and anxiety.
I found that when I had sports/clubs, then I was forced to be more efficient.
ALso, read the book " How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less " by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc. Much will be applicable even if you are in HS.
Also next year maybe don’t take as many APs…Two as a freshman is a lot!
It’s really unfortunate that you have to feel this way so early on. What are your goals after graduation? In life? The workload is probably not going to get much easier, so the ‘solution’ will probably require a change in perspective/attitude from your end (which I understand is much easier said than done in an environment/upbringing where perfection is the expectation). For example, in the real world outside your competitive bubble, it’s ridiculous to call taking 2 APs freshman year and being on track for all A’s a ‘failure.’ At the end of the day, you have a strong work ethic, and that’s what matters the most.
If your experience doesn’t improve, I would strongly consider transferring to your local public school. You will have similar potential coming out but with likely a much better experience.
What 2 APs are you taking and why are you taking them?
I wouldn’t say that it won’t get easier. Usually students do figure out more efficient work strategies. Also, depending on the AP class, this could be the first time you’ve ever taken a class where you simply cannot learn all the material. It takes a while to get used to that and figure out what’s important to remember and what’s not.
My kids have taken more demanding schedules than what you list and they aren’t getting 5-6 hours of homework per night. More like 4 hours, and that’s with 8 classes and more APs. So perhaps you should meet with your teachers and discuss how you can manage the workload better.
You also need to think about how you use the weekend. If you weren’t accustomed to having to do homework on the weekends in middle school, well, the party’s over. My kid is working pretty hard on the weekends because she is in a timeconsuming sport and some other activities so she does everything she can over the weekend to make the weeks manageable.