etceterae

Quick background information here:
I'm 15 years old, and today was my last day of sophomore year (YES YES YES!).
I'm ranked number 28 out of 998, and am in all honors. I take private piano lessons, write poems/short stories for anthologies, and am studying for the SAT.

This is my junior schedule:

JROTC 3 (military science class; I LOVE IT!)
Biology 2 IH
English 3 IH
Pre-Cal IH
Spanish 4 IH
Art 3 IH
US History IH

By the way, International Honors (IH) is similar to AP, except that it's more rigorous, requires more essays, and is internationally recognized. It is also graded on a 5.0 scale.

My question is: am I going to die of stress? I'll be a commander in JROTC on top of that, and have the SAT and important piano competitions coming up. I'm hoping that some of you have had teens in AP classes and can give me an idea of how torturous it would be.

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Want more advice from me and other teenagers? Go to teensonparenting.blogspot.com for cool challenges, projects, and help on communication.

Mindy

I have no advice, but I say you can do it. Research great COPING SKILLS to deal with any stress... You're a smart cookie and I have faith you can totally do all that

mmynedshlp

hmm
if you are doing that well. I think if you took any classes that would be easier you would be totally bored and loose interest. I think its fantastic you have achieved to such levels. You keep up what you are doing and college is going to be so easy for you. Most of those classes are considered to be college level and you could easly test out of any of those classes in college for college credits. So while all your peers are taking 101 of whatever they need to do to move on to another class you will not have to.

Though I am not sure I think it will get crazy around term time and you may feel like you have no free time if any of them you are struggling with. though if you are not struggling with any of them you will be ok and it will be only finding to the time to write essays.

A little tip: Save everything alot and keep/take your notes by hand so no matter what they can not just dissapear. Always save rough drafts seperately from the final so two copies of everything should be filed on your computer till you get a grade on them.

Calculas after algebra is easy. Since its pre- I am sure it will be fine.
English at this level is usually how to write stories, letters, reports, and memorizing your vocabulary like what is a verb, prounoun, homophone, etc.

I wreaked at biology I never cared what the scientific name to a five petal flower to another number was. LOL I took it twice in two different schools and they were both totally different and never learned the same things.

Art is fun as long as you are not doing just research on different artist.

I totally blow when it comes to U.S. history I need it in a story to remember it. I cant just read facts and they think I will learn it. I pick up kids books on the time or era and learn more.

if everything here sounds easy you will be fine. Just do not take on extra class with such a cirriculumn where you may need the time to research. So zero period is out and after school classes. ( Rotc is gonna take you on plenty of field trips too some you were you may miss out on information you need in other classes. So i hope your teachers will be willing to take you and your plattoon members aside to catch you all up) Remember Rotc Members who are in your class make great study partners. So while practicing drill you can be practising for a test in another class too.
You can do it if you believe you can. though if you are doubting then rethink your schedule.

Claire64

You sound like a very smart young woman, so you're the best judge of what you can do.


My oldest son is finishing up his Junior year (tomorrow) and he takes mostly advanced courses and this is what he took this year.

Honors English 3
Advanced Video Production
AP Spanish 4
Pre-Calculus
AP Chemistry
AP Psychology

He had a free period, because he's on sports teams and they count as credits. He really loved AP Chemistry and AP Psychology. He didn't find either of them too hard, but they were challenging enough to keep him from getting bored. He didn't really like Pre-Calculus, but he didn't really have a choice, and he did pretty well in it. He found Spanish really hard, because it was a big jump up from high school to university level Spanish.

Overall his year was pretty good, but having the free period really helped. Is there any way that you could have one?

Next year he's doing

AP English Literature
AP Spanish 5
AP Calculus
Sports Medicine
Theatre/Television Production
World History

AP Literature is at 7am, so he will actually have two free periods during the day, which he is really excited about.

Good luck!

Ari2

Whether something is too stressful is entirely subjective; what may be fine with one person would crush another. Only you can answer the question.

We didn't have AP classes in my high school (and my kids are tiny tots), but I took mostly college classes in high school and was very active in extracurriculars. I was fine and glad to escape the killer boredom I had been experiencing. It probably helped that I did see it as an escape and didn't enter into it with dread. If you are truly concerned you are taking on too much, perhaps you need to reconsider your schedule.

Either way, good luck. It sounds like you will be more prepared for college than those with a lighter load.

etceterae

Lol, thanks guys for the support. =] All of my friends are taking IH as well (with some taking 8 classes). We had a graduation toast (with Sprite, of course). We all chanted, "To graduation, to another year, to more stress!" Nerds unite, I suppose. =]

__________________
Want more advice from me and other teenagers? Go to teensonparenting.blogspot.com for cool challenges, projects, and help on communication.

musicmom

etceterae, I don't think I've ever seen you. You are such a cutie pie. It sounds like you function on a high stress level as do I. Just don't use the term "stress". I have to be busy and I actually love to take on more then I can handle. I love the challenge. Only you will know if it's too much. Make sure you eat, sleep and stay hydrated.
Congrats sweetie pie.