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By Amir (Amir) on Saturday, September 20, 2003 - 05:16 pm: Edit

I am a junior at what seems to me a very comptetitive college prep academy. My small class, about 40 people, are all very competitive to get the best grades possible. I have never been a straight A+ student, but rather straight A-/B+. Even to get this, i had to constantly work for school. My school does not have as many AP and Honors classes as many of the other schools I have seen on this website, but the ones it does offer are very difficult. The maximum courseload anyone takes is no more than 3 APs (thats a rule), which can only be taken in junior and senior year, and maybe one Honors course per year. I realize this courseload does not seem hard in comparison to others who are taking several APs (I think I saw someone with 15 APs in high school). But there is alot of homework, because ever since i've been in eighth grade, my homework has always been at least 4 or 5 hours and the last two years have been up to about 8 hours per night.

I know I have friends in other schools and at my school with a presumably harder courseload, but virtually no work and stress-free. I also know many people in my school who are significantly overstressed. In the past, I have always been able to get myself together and diligently do whatever I had to do, however long it took, and get good grades. But this year, I can't take AP English literature. I have always been good at English, but this year the curriculum is entirely different and I think my lack of reading as a child is hurting me. I knew it would be difficult, but I wanted to take it for college and for its potential benefits. However, all it is doing is constantly distracting me, since I constantly dread having to go home so I can read and analyze some hard book. So far, I have been able to deal with it and it hasn't really affected any other classes, but I don't know how much longer I can deal with it.

Any suggestions on what I can do? Anyone else who has taken AP English Literature? Does anybody know what kind of an impact a C grade in AP English would do to an otherwise solid GPA for college admissions? Any advice or knowledge would be appreciated

By Saxfreq1128 (Saxfreq1128) on Saturday, September 20, 2003 - 09:19 pm: Edit

Personally, I don't think it's smart to take a class just because it "looks good" to colleges--in fact, I think that's pretty silly. Is there no other class you can switch to that you are INTERESTED IN? That's key. You're supposed to be getting the best experiences possible out of these classes--if it's a subject you don't like, why waste your time? Don't cater to what you think the colleges want, because the chances are you'll end up doing better when you're doing what you love. Always remember this: you are the one stressing out over these classes and doing 8 hrs of hw a night, not the adcoms. If a college is willing to reject you because you took, say, "Adventures in Modern Chemistry" rather than "AP World Literature," then the college isn't worth the trouble.

But this is just my humble opinion.

By Amir (Amir) on Sunday, September 21, 2003 - 10:09 am: Edit

Yeah I see what you are saying, and I thought of that before my drop period, but I never realized how much I would hate it. The way I saw it was that it would be less work than any other class I could substitute it with while still taking a decent number of APs. I also wanted to take it hoping it might create a desire to read, more analytical reading, better written work, etc. I was hoping this might also help my poor verbal SAT scores. But, I haven't seen these kinds of results and am skeptical as to whether I will even benefit at all from the course.

By Alise (Alise) on Sunday, September 21, 2003 - 04:31 pm: Edit

you can tell how stressed a person is by how many run-on sentences they can type in one sitting. BREATH.

you know you can sue public schools for giving you too much homework (yes it has been done, by parents mostly). don't do this unless you want to alienate all the professors of the world forever.

ok sparknotes.com totally is like GOD. without it I would rip Beowulf's arm off and hope Edna Pontellier awakens again so I can kil her my own way. wow i'm so not punny.

If you want to raise your verbal SAT score read more newspapers and newsmagazines. books have vocabulary, but reading shakespeare wont do you any good.

By Smiley (Smiley) on Sunday, September 21, 2003 - 07:34 pm: Edit

OMG, Alise, the Awakening... I HATE that book...oh well.. better go read it now