I haven't been on this forum since school started, I think. I just haven't had time. There's so much work to be done, and so much pressure on junior year, that I just can't deal with it. Of course, junior year is the year that "counts" and none of my teachers are letting me forget that. You know, if you don't do well junior year, then you won't get into a good college. If you don't get into a good college, you don't get a good job. If you don't get a good job, you will never be happy in your life. So yeah...no pressure!
Do any of you have any ideas on how to cope with all that stress?
quote:Counter that annoying vegetarian club with a meat lovers club.
We actually had one of these at my high school. It was called The Society for Neat Meating. They would post these little red signs all over the place saying things like "Eat condescending little vegans." At one point someone running for class office mimicked the style for her campaign posters, at which point the Neat Meaters put up signs saying "Thievery is antisocial."
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Raia- Thanks! It's great to be back! I missed you guys so much, but I had absolutely no time in which to post. Of course, at this moment I should be writing an essay for english that's due tomorrow, but I'd rather post here!
T- baseball bat doesn't work. I tried. Now I just have a huge headache and a lump forming on my head. Flying fists of fury......hmm........ Unfortunately we don't have a vegetarian's club, so a meat eaters club wouldn't make a lot of sense. But pirate club is along the same lines, right? We've got one of those!
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Of course, junior year is the year that "counts" and none of my teachers are letting me forget that. You know, if you don't do well junior year, then you won't get into a good college. If you don't get into a good college, you don't get a good job. If you don't get a good job, you will never be happy in your life.
A DISCLAIMER: I'm not knocking doing as well as you can in school, going for the "best" college you can get into, and being successful and happy in life. I just want to say that there is more than one path to that, and more than one definition of it.
In my humble opinion, you can start to cut down on the stress by not beleiving about three-fourths of this stuff. Ask yourself: "What is the definition of a good college." If "a good college" means Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, Berkeley, Stanford, et al. - well, they've only got so many spots for entering freshmen (freshpersons? ), and you might or might not get in. And just remember - it isn't just grades; admissions committees look at a lot of factors (extracurricular activities, community activities, what you would add to university life as a person, etc.), and sometimes the people with the highest grades don't get accepted. Probably doesn't matter - the only real advantage of going to a school like that is to meet the "right people". Honestly, a good education depends more on what you put into it than where you get it.
Anyway, if you go to any of those kinds of schools, in a lot of cases you probably won't see a full professor in the front of any of your classes at least until you reach your upper divison work - if then. Also, there are good - really good - professors in other schools. I went to a small private university in Fresno; there were less than 1000 undergrads the year I graduated. It is a good school with a good reputation, but not what your teachers would see as a "prestige" school. Still, most of my professors there had gone to places like Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, and Emory. These were top-notch scholars who I studied with.
Next. What is the definition of "a good job"? If your, or your teachers' idea of this is something that pays really, really well - those aren't that easy to find, no matter where you've gone to school. But, if you are really good at what you do, most of the time it isn't going to matter much where you went to school.
Okay. "Happy in your life". What does that have to do with having that "good job"? Well, of course, financial security is a nice thing to have. But honestly, I know a good number of people who went into high-pay, prestigious fields for the money and prestige, and they aren't all that happy. Again, it's the stress thing - long hours, not enough family time, hassles from the boss, hassles from clients. I also know people who have less-high-paying jobs, and they're happy, too. Maybe they don't have as many expensive toys, can't go on a European vacation every year, and can't trade for a new car every three years. But they do what they like and are good at and they have family and friends who love them.
Okay, I've gone on a lot longer here than I probably should have. And I repeat, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with aspiring to the best you can be. I'm just suggesting that maybe all the stress your teachers are putting on you is a bit unfair.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I got the worst grades of my high school career my junior year. Of course, I haven't applied to any schools yet, but I'm still fairly confident I get into where I want to. Granted, your schools might be harder than mine, but still just remember, colleges aren't stupid. They know you're taking harder classes and thus aren't getting as good grades. The world's not going to end if you get grades a bit lower than you're expecting.
If you want some help, or just some information and encouragement in the whole college admissions process, email me anytime.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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There is another option that I am currently doing. Community colleges are cheaper, and you just transfer. Your grades in high school don't even matter if you do that. Besides, if you get truly desperate, I know of people who got into CSU, Sacramento with 1.7 High School GPA. Posts: 354 | Registered: Jun 2002
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If it makes you feel better, you'll be the first generation to take the new SAT test. That's right, one of the most important factors of your college admission, and you'll be entering into it virtually untrained and unprepared, with little to no available coaching courses or tip books. Plus, you get to write essays in this new SAT! And it's made of three sections, not two, so your score's out of 2400, not 1600!
So yeah, nothing to worry about. Heh.
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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if your high school is anything like mine was (suburban, middle class, growing larger rapidly, northeastern) 95% of what the teachers tell you about college is bullshit. And preparing you for college is just code for giving asinine assignments.
I know we have a bunch of teachers here, please don't be offended, but after slightly more than 2 years of college, this is how i see it. Feel free to take this question up if you want.
So anyway my point was that you really should't stress to much about it. If you listened to everyone all the time you would never relax at all.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
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The standards of admission here at Arizona State are: Top quarter of class or 24 ACT/1110 SAT or 3.0 GPA in core curriculum classes.
Think you can pull off one of the above? Then you can go to ASU. This is a party school, so there are bound to be some nice easy majors here. Or you can do engineering or business to help ensure that you make piles of money when you get out (is that what you mean by "good job"?)
My advice: sure, work hard this year. I don't really regret taking a bunch of challenging classes. I learned a lot. But don't feel that if you mess up, you're screwed for life. You don't have to go to a fancy college to do well. My dad went to some little tech institute and he has a great job now.
If you really want to go somewhere fancy then you'll need to get high grades and take AP classes. If going to a name-brand college isn't important, don't sweat it.
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So with this new SAT, nobody will be impressed by my score because it doesn't work if its out of 2400? How terrible
Seriously, I doubt that your grades will slip enough to make a difference. They put all that pressure on you but what they are saying amounts to zip. With a 3.0 or a 1100 (or whatever it is with the new system) on your sat's, you can go just about anywhere you want unless we are talkin Ivy League. Heck, I've got a full scholarship and I was barely awake during junior year. So just don't sweat it, I think they only tell you that stuff so you might kill yourself.
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Or you could try the other ASU, Appalachian State University... a good school that I hold near and dear to my heart. And if I'm correct, our beloved host has even stood before I few classes of eager students there. Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote: If it makes you feel better, you'll be the first generation to take the new SAT test. That's right, one of the most important factors of your college admission, and you'll be entering into it virtually untrained and unprepared, with little to no available coaching courses or tip books. Plus, you get to write essays in this new SAT! And it's made of three sections, not two, so your score's out of 2400, not 1600!
There's a new SAT?!?!? Boy, am I glad I took it last year!!! Eek!
Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Actually, this kind of thinking will plague you for the rest of your life if you let it. You'll be sitting on the freeway and thinking "if I'm late for work I could lose my job and then I will starve to death". That's the petri dish in which road rage festers. It's amazing how many people are walking around with symptoms of anxiety disorder. Your alligator brain highjacks your perception of the present moment. It's been an effective way to motivate yourself to do their stupid busywork all these years, but it probably isn't worth it.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Thanks everybody for your suggestions! The thing is that I'm taking many honors/AP classes, plus being the lead in my play, plus being in clubs, plus attempting to have a life. I just feel like there's never any time to just be a goof off, which for me is a horrible thing. I don't usually stress out about school. It's just so frustrating to feel all this pressure put on you to do well in highschool. I don't believe that not doing well will ruin my life, it's just hard to deal with the stress that is being dropped on me without having breakdowns once a week.
So, new question: any suggestions on how to unwind after a stressful day? I mean, without running away and becoming a hermit somewhere in the Appalachians.... or doing this: Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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Evie: I'm in the same boat you are: All IB (translate as "honors") courses and in my junior year of high school. It really drives me mad, sometimes, the way people make it seem as if you can't get accepted anywhere without a 4.0 and a 1600 on you SAT. Also...
I was under the impression that we were the last class that would NOT be taking the new SAT (thank god!). Which reminds me...
I have to register for the SAT and ACT by the end of the month. I took the PSAT yesterday and I honestly don't think I scored as well as I did last year. I'm going for at least a 1400 SAT score but... let's just say that if I'm in the same frame of mind on the SAT test date as I was yesterday there isn't even a chance. Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Pixie- I think you're right. As far as I know, we're the last class to be taking the normal SATs, which is amazing, because otherwise I would be so confused! And I took the PSATs yesterday too, and then had a full day of only academdic classes. They had cut my two good periods so that I could sit at a desk for 3 hours and take a test! How considerate of them!
At least I know that I'm not the only one feeling this way......
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First Off, Your teachers are lying. There are good, even excellent colleges and universities all over the place that have relatively low admission requirements. Most state universities will accept just about anyone with a high school diploma and many of them offer better undergraduate programs than the big name private schools. I know people who got D's all through high school and then got serious in college and ended up going to graduate/professional schools at places like Harvard and MIT. So relax a little. Blowing your junior year in high school will absolutely not result in total failure in life.
This does not mean you should just blow off your junior year. Doing well could get you some cool opportunities like scholarships or exclusive schools. But in the long run, those things really don't make much difference.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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Yeah, dude, there's a new SAT. It's the cover story on the latest Time magazine. Looks like a real bitch -- pity the children.
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Don't stress too much about the SAT, expecially if you have a high GPA with honors classes. I don't think it's a huge factor in whether you get accepted. Some people with 1600s don't get into extremely selective colleges, while those with lower scores do. Also, if you do have to take the version with the essay, use the study materials for the SAT II: Writing. That should help.
In some ways, the PSAT can be just as important. You can get some pretty good scholarships if you're a national merit student. Arizona State, for example, has managed to attract 173 national merit students for this year's freshman class. (The Arizona Republic called us the Harvard of the Southwest--probably hyperbole, but cool nonetheless). Why? Among other things, they offer a huge scholarship. A few other state colleges do something similar. It's something you should look into if it turns out you did well on the PSAT (and you never know...sometimes you do better than you think).
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Shigosei has a point. The PSAT is very nice, especially if you're a minority. I think I scored in the 98th percentile on that one, so no go on the National Merit thing, but I remember I scored as a National Hispanic Scholar or some crazy thing like that. What it means is that a bunch of colleges waive their admissions fees. And it looks pretty on your resume. Here's hoping.
And if you're white or Asian, dude, sorry. As far as I know, there are only recognition programs for blacks and Hispanics -- we being the dumber races. If you aren't dark, you'll have to score in -- what was it? -- the top 1/2 percentile, or something lunatic like that?
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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always remember one thing: there's more. there's more to high school than grades. there's more to college than grades. there's more to life than money.
Posts: 1090 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Evie-to unwind at the end of a long, hard, day-so far as I'm concerned, there's nothing better than a little meditation. Just turn off the lights, clear your mind, and relax. If it helps, light a candle and use it to focus if you need some help clearing your mind.
If it doesn't help-can't say I didn't try.
BTW-welcome back, even if it's only temporary.
Posts: 701 | Registered: Jul 1999
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Err.. I remember nervous breakdowns my senior year of HS. I blame AP French. There were only five of us, and I swear.. every one of us broke down and cried at some point during the school year. I guess it's one of those growing experiences.
Meditation is good, I agree that meditation could be an answer. It depends on the kind of person you are. I used to meditate in HS by sitting quietly on the floor or my bed with the lights out (not something to do when you're sleepy!). Then I'd repeat "Focus" to myself in my mind, trying to imagine all the stressful energy in my body dissipating into the ground through my hands and feet. Worked for me. I arose from the meditation feeling much calmer.
If Meditation isn't your thing (and it isn't, for a lot of people), try to manage your days with something very pleasant each day. If you find yourself studying five hours a night, take off an hour at some point to listen to music and draw. Or bake cookies. Don't watch TV, it's a total time-sink. It doesn't re-energize you and time moves quickly when you're watching TV. Try to set aside half an hour or an hour each day to do something active but calming. You always have half-an-hour. No matter how much work you have. And try to put it in the middle of studying, not right after school.
Make sure you're only in clubs you're truly interested in. I think my sophomore and junior years, I was in five or six clubs. But some of those I rarely attended and didn't like particularly much. My senior year, I narrowed it down to the two or three clubs I really wanted to devote time to (Odyssey of the Mind, Current Events, Model UN).
I did the whole apply-to-uber-prestigious-schools thing. It's grand old fun, really. I think a lot of people choose their colleges by a somewhat random basis (they have a cool major that you won't end up doing, or it's in a neat city, or two of your friends are going there). But it's weird. The college you choose makes all the difference, but I can't say you'll know what that difference is when you choose. I love my undergrad college (Brown!), this city (Providence!) I've been in for five and a half years, and the program I'm in (PLME!) which has let me pursue an MD without the stresses of a normal undergrad-med path. If you have any interest in these things, e-mail me (clara_kim@brown.edu).
Edit: Oh yeah. And my senior year, I took an extra study-period instead of another elective. It was worth it for my peace-of-mind.
quote: I got the worst grades of my high school career my junior year. Of course, I haven't applied to any schools yet, but I'm still fairly confident I get into where I want to. Granted, your schools might be harder than mine, but still just remember, colleges aren't stupid. They know you're taking harder classes and thus aren't getting as good grades. The world's not going to end if you get grades a bit lower than you're expecting.
I could have written that. I took four APs my junior year plus three "regular" classes. And I had school sports during the week and club soccer on the weekend. Plus judo in the spring. I barely made it out alive. I got my only two high school Cs last year. It was really too much for me to do. This year is is still hard, but it's better. (Though that may change once I get into the thick of college apps. )
My only suggestions are don't stress out about it and get enough sleep. Do what you can and don't worry about the rest.
Posts: 2149 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I was one of those national merit guys, and yes, it was quite helpful when it comes to paying for college. My only advice, when you get to college GO TO FREAKIN CLASS! ::yells at self:: Don't go through the crap I've gone through to keep my scholarship just because I was too lazy to get up in the mornings. Do what you gotta do and get out of there.
Posts: 1612 | Registered: Jan 2003
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), and you might or might not get in. And just remember - it isn't just grades; admissions committees look at a lot of factors (extracurricular activities, community activities, what you would add to university life as a person, etc.), and sometimes the people with the highest grades don't get accepted. Probably doesn't matter - the only real advantage of going to a school like that is to meet the "right people". Honestly, a good education depends more on what you put into it than where you get it.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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There's a new SAT?!?!? Boy, am I glad I took it last year!!! Eek!
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