<p>I'm at a very competitve high school and I'm taking 6 AP classes. I'm sleeping an average of 3 hrs with all-nighters scattered here and there. I study all day on the weekends and have very little social interaction outside of school. My health is deteriorating and it is hurting my ability to excel in sports.</p>
<p>Right now I have a C/C- in AP English because of the difficulty of the pieces and, therefore, the amount of homework. The teacher grades extremely hard on everything and it is hard to even get a B on quizzes/tests. How can I expect to get an A in this class??</p>
<p>Should I spend an insane amount of time on English and cut back on my other classes? Should I really go in-depth in analyzing pieces of literature? </p>
<p>I really do not know how much I should spend on each AP class... I'm in AP Calc and I haven't taken Math IIC yet (planning to take in Dec.) and I haven't taken SAT I or IIs yet... I'm really stressed and depressed right now because i don't know what exactly I should do. I don't think I'm ready for anything but I fear that if I don't take the Math IIC now I will have a worse score later. HELP!!</p>
<p>If your health is deteriorating, that is serious. You need to get some of that stress off of you before you get into REALLY deep trouble with some serious health problems (Don't believe me? Check out This</a> article).</p>
<p>Talk to your parents and your counselor about dropping a couple of classes. Trust me, it's not going to ruin your college admissions, and it may save you from serious health issues later on.</p>
<p>I second MonoTombo, only you know your academic history and can adequately assess your ability. 5 APs looks just as challenging as 6 APs. </p>
<p>If you honestly feel like you can't keep up, drop the AP you are doing worst in (presumably English). I don't suggest cutting 2 APs at once, because it's a little over-zealous and you might end up regretting it. I can tell you this; you have not ruined yourself - get out your house, go outside, take a walk, and cool off. Then come back inside and reflect on your performance these past few months. Talk to your teachers about how to manage your time (they want you to do well, trust me), ask them for advice (politely). Please please, get some rest.</p>
<p>The best advice I can offer you is to stop panicking. Right now, you are panicking. PM me if you want.</p>
<p>I totally understand when you say that your academics is affecting your health and sports. What I did was cut back and set my priorities. I didn't focus so much on swimming, but more on school work. I'm taking 6 IB classes, all pretty difficult, but I'm still managing to get the work done and do well in the classes because I've cut back (I didn't do IB science and am doing only IB Pre Calc).</p>
<p>So know your limits! It may hurt, but see if you can switch into Honors English or something. Don't think about what the admissions office will think, but think about yourself first. Life is not worth living if you're going to always force yourself to be stressed and tired all the time.</p>
<p>I agree with everybody here. I did this same thing and ended up getting pneumonia and mono. DROP A CLASS OR TWO. It's better to have 4 or 5 than to have 6 and not be in school because you're sick.</p>
<p>This sounds like a call for help. If you really feel that your health is declining due to schoolwork, you should definitely drop AP English. It's not healthy, and you'll just crash and burn in EVERYTHING if you go on like this. It's one thing to do a big push every once in a while, but if you are ALWAYS doing all nighters and only sleeping 3 hours, you're in bad shape. Definitely drop AP English, and anything else to make your personal self better. And no, colleges won't care if you have 5 or 6 aps...even if they did, you have to care about your HEALTH.</p>
<p>I wish I had dropped 1 of my APs before but I can't know... it is too late. I will get a F on my report card if I drop it, so there is not way I'm going for that route. How can I bring my AP English up?? :( Should I just keep tackling every piece of literature?</p>
<p>they will let you drop the class if you tell them your situation. you are obviously a bright kid, and they don't want to lose you! Schools are way more flexible than you think-my semi-slacker cousin pulled a whole "too stressed/want to die" spiel to drop a class-even though "dropping" = F-and they let her. You should at least try to drop.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what your guidance department was even thinking to permit you to take 6 APs. An AP is supposed to be the equivalent of a college course - I can think of very few colleges where you take 6 courses in a semester. Typical course load is 4 courses, occasionally 5. So you are already signed up for 1 1/2 times the normal workload in college.</p>
<p>You haven't mentioned your parents in all of this. If you are concerned they will be upset, speak with the school first. If you feel they will be sympathetic, speak with them first, and get them to help you with sorting this out at school.</p>
<p>You've taken on a lot, and it's not surprising that you are feeling overwhelmed. And if you are getting little or no sleep, it becomes much harder to do a good job at anything, which means things take longer, that you don't remember things as well, and so on.</p>
<p>Once things start getting out of control, it gets worse. So try to sort things out now, and then get a ton of sleep to help you feel a bit better.</p>
<p>The way I look at it: If you are getting less than 7 hours of sleep, something's wrong. I bet you'd need to drop 1-3 APs to get your sleep time back to normal. Because LIFE ≥ HEALTH > GRADES > IVY LEAGUE COLLEGES</p>
<p>All that loss of sleep must really take a toll on your health. If, for example, your AP Calc teacher doesn't check the accuracy of your homework, don't spend too long doing it and don't double-check your accuracy unless it could potentially help you to do so.</p>
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I did this same thing and ended up getting pneumonia and mono.
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<p>How many times have you gotten sick? I've never had a major illness since appendicitis in fourth grade.</p>
<p>Uhm. I get like 1 major illness per year. I have a really bad immune system so anything that goes around I get. I also get pneumonia every year in varying degrees.</p>