I recently joined this site, and when I did, I realized just how many students out there who are obsessed with grades and taking as many APs as possible. I also see this at my school, which is very competitive, but I did not realize that it was so widespread. I myself have spent the last few weeks stressing about the number of APs I should take, what college to go to, and which SAT 2s I should take, and I’m a sophomore. Many people start younger.
I do believe that competition is healthy and that students should push themselves to do their best in school. But when did competition go from healthy to obsessive? And why?
My father was 4th in his high school class, and in the top tenth of his college, a very prestigious university. He never took an AP class.
Now we have middle schoolers taking APs. One kid in my class took AP BC Calc in freshman year (he took AP Stats in 8th grade).
But when does it stop? How long before 5th graders start taking APs in order to ‘get ahead’?
I agree with your concern. I student taught in a col!ege-prep first grade.
My first concern is students weighing their decisions such is it better to take class A rather than class B and asking either or questions as if there is a right or even perfect choice. Important decisions can’t be weighed in a scale because you don’t really ever know the better decision or, Yipes stripes, you earn a B in the perfect class.
Students report a staggering number of AP classes and unweighted GPAs. Personal!y, it seems unlike!y to me that admissions decisions are based a mysterious group of perfect AP classes with corresponding As. Earning a diploma or college degree in my estimation should be learning and integrating ideas and information for lifelong learning rather than scratching notches in your a academic gun. What did you learn today is a led intent question for everyone, everyday.
About now. Enroll in the most challenging courses you can handle and learn with the goal of improving your skills and knowledge. Integrate what you learned before with new information and skills Accumulating gobs of quilt squares isn’t the point. Instead, you want to build a quilt that constantly grows. To change metaphor, the more you know with its rainbow. If there is a class with an interesting topic and a boring teacher, take the class because you are there to learn and not form relationships.
Read constantly because your reading speed and fluency, vocabulary, general and specific knowledge, fluency, comprehension, plus freedom from boredom will improve grow. Reading is an academic area that improves with practice. Reading proficiently enhances life and learning.
On a personal level, pay attention to how you study effectively and whether your style varies with content or is adjusted for what you are learning.
Think about when you have !earned material for tests and compare your test performance with your estimate. Think about time management such as how well you can estimate time to do a task accurately. Figure out successful strategies for writing a paper. Do velop test taking strategies that allow you to productively and efficiently. Finally learn grammar with emphasis on pronouns.
Your goal is learning and integrating knowledge as well as developing executive functions compatible with your age. When it comes to standardized tests, it is wonderful to combine existing skills with what you may acquire during test prep. Finally, when reviewing multiple choice questions, review the choices for all questions to ensure you know the correct answer and why the others were wrong. I find studying all choices for questions is extremely productive learning fine points in a larger area.
I hope you do well in high school without developing crazed, protruding eyes.
I think this trend can be both positive and negative. Students are encouraged to take harder classes and challenge themselves; however, the frenzy to “things that colleges like” is making students ignore their true interests.
@zannah, thank you for your advice. The things you mentioned are from a perspective that I was unable to see. I appreciate your wisdom
@zannah @xxluvforeverxx You guys have really good answers! @Otter517 I do think this is an important thread, and I think people on CC should see this. I think it applies and benefits all of us.
Have a good day!
I think you are a very wise youth and much smarter than most! Personally I think the competition has gotten out of control. I am watching a lot of kids burn out by the time they are seniors, detest learning and are feeling “done” from too much studying, stress and competition during their high school years. I see top students who don’t even want to go to college dreading the work but just consider it a chore and something they have to do. It makes me so sad to see learning become something kids dread.
Your dad’s generation was able to do well and still be a typical high school kid doing high school things without the level of stress and competition thrust on today’s college bound kids.
There is something else very important that is rarely talked about on this board. It’s the “emotional quotient.” IMO, this is a huge factor in determining success. A kid with a developed and strong emotional quotient is the one who can problem solve (and I don’t mean in math), handle social situations, talk to others, function as an individual, have a level of maturity, work with others, have a true level of confidence without being conceded, self-evaluate and adjust as needed, and the list goes on. You get the idea.
In my local newspaper there was recently a write-up about one of the most successful individuals in my area. I couldn’t help but notice his degrees were from two community colleges. That was it. No Ivy, no A.P., not even a 4 year degree. Success comes in many paths but today’s students are told there is primarily one map (A.P., honors, top grades, the right ECs, community service, summer projects/programs/endeavors and even the right high schools).
I actually advise my own children to pace themselves. I tell them that this is marathon which is most likely going to last through to graduate school so I ask them to please not sprint through high school. Kind of like we tell the youngest learners in school that, “childhood is a journey, not a race.” Why does that not apply to high school students? I think high school students should take the classes they are interested in, socialize, involve themselves in sports and ECs that they are truly interested in rather than for the sake of their resume. I want high school kids to start getting enough sleep. Sigh…I can only hope that things swing back a little more as it was in your father’s day (and mine too). I feel as if somebody said, “we should be more like China” (in terms of education), so here we are. High school kids now face a stressful, competitive world where kids feel like it’s never enough. Some keep fighting hard and some burn out. IMHO, growing up and developing one’s E.Q. is really where it should be at.
You’ll be fine. You’re obviously a wise person! Good for you!
There are some people who take hard classes because anything else would be incredibly boring causing them to not like school as much. AP/honors/DE/IB are made for those people too.
Please do not assume that the level of competitiveness exhibited here is anything approaching “normal.”
Likewise, I take just about all the statistics I read here with an immense grain of salt.
@Empireapple thank you. It is good to hear of more success stories that don’t have to do with good colleges.
@snowfairy137, I do realize this, and I agree that AP, honors, and IB are good programs that should not be shut down. I myself have only ever taken one non-honors class, and it was incredibly boring. However, as the title of the thread implies, I am simply worried about every generation putting more and more work on the shoulders of their children. How long before they stop being children at all?
@bjkmom, this post was more inspired by a book I read recently (Overachievers, by Alexandra Robbins) than this forum. The book explained that overachiever culture has gotten out of hand to the point where people go to extremes to get their kids into a prestigious kindergarten. But thank you, I do agree that most people on this site re above average, and I will take what you said into account.
I honestly think that the competition should be taken out of schools. We’re all here to learn, at whatever level we feel comfortable learning at. If that’s honors/AP courses, great! If it’s not, great! Why rank students and compare them to each other? Everyone’s background is so different from each other, it isn’t fair to make comparisons like that.
This website gives me anxiety too. However, the idea of people takings APs just because it’s what colleges “look for,” bothers me.
I understand that a lot of people do that, which partially includes me. However, the main reason I take AP Lang instead of Honors English is to distinguish myself. NOT for college. But, for myself. I go to a public high-school, and there are over 500 students in each grade.
Not all of those students are bright-little-gems, a lot of them are very dull. Nobody would ever want to be stuck in a class with these dull gems unless you are one of them. For instance, in the 10th grade, I was in Honors English. A group of 4 had to take make a powerpoint and present. I, alone, ended up making the powerpoint. The only thing I learned was how to hide the stench of weed by one of my partners.
Not an experience I want to relive. If being in AP, means not being with them, then sign me up.
You don’t have to wholeheartedly join the rat race. My advice is to take APs in the areas where you have strong interests, and might be interested in majoring. But don’t feel obligated to take as many as possible. Leave yourself time to pursue some ECs that interest you. Colleges want people who are capable of doing the work, and are interested and interesting. Overloading on APs isn’t what they want, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.
@Otter517 You are entirely correct, and have a very well written post which brings up a very important point. @Empireapple also had good points in post #5.
The stress that we are putting on our high school students is entirely out of hand. There are far too many high school students who are suffering from and/or being treated for serious stress related illnesses.
APs are not the only problem. The need to have ECs and the “right” ECs also adds more stress, adds more over-loading of high school student’s schedules, and makes it more difficult for students to find time to get enough sleep.
My take on this is that each student needs to find their own pace, take classes and participate in ECs that are interest them and that they want to take, and then find a university or college that appreciates what they have done. You don’t need to take any AP classes to go to a very good university and to be successful in life. You also don’t need to care about what the Ivy League schools or equivalents think that they are looking for, there are LOTs of other good schools.
I also believe that AP classes should not be permitted at all until grade 11, and that universities should limit how much AP credit they will allow students to get in order to encourage students to limit how many they take. Of course there are other changes that leading universities could make to their admissions process if they wanted to reduce stress on US high school students (possibly a potential issue for a different thread).
@Otter517 I think that you have a very good perspective on this, and will do well. Thanks and best wishes.
Is there anything that I could do at the student level? Keep in mind that I would be competing against years of overachiever culture at my school, and the constant pressure to prove yourself.
I’m just really tired of watching my friends over stress themselves, sometimes to the point of ending up in the hospital because of their actions.
I am taking 3 APs as a sophomore, and I think that that is reasonable for me, but I don’t really know.
Is there some sort of message I should try to send to my school?
Most of the top universities don’t take the AP credit anyway.
OP, go read the book “How to Be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport. Then do your own thing – keep a decent GPA (but it does not have to be spotless). Take a fairly rigorous courseload, focusing the APs in the areas that interest you most. 2-3 a year is fine. Then focus on ECs that interest you – if you want to shoot for top schools, look for ECs that are unusual/go against the flow, and try to do things that are measurable in them. You will have great choices if you do these things.
Ignore the pressure from your school or classmates to join the AP arms race. Trust me – I have a kid who went to a school that limits APs to senior year only, and then the kids only take 2. She got in everyplace she applied, including some top schools and some lower ranked ones with great merit aid. The best thing you can do is ignore the noise and pressure yourself.