10th Grade Schedule

BipolarBuddhist
Wed, 09 Jul 2014 06:09:10 +0000

First of all, it’s great that you’re working in so many courses and activities.
However, take a moment to ask yourself something.

Can you REALLY, I mean, REALLY manage all of that?

I personally had this situation, so I’ll just copy-paste that for you. Don’t worry, I asked myself this many times, and by mid-year, I conceded.

Can you REALLY, I mean, REALLY manage all of that?

Alright, let’s delve into it.

That’s 5 rigorous AP courses, on top of Precalculus, a CS course, and two later-year language courses. On top of potentially prepping for SAT IIs and SAT I/ACT, you still have to deal with passing 5 APs and completing coursework for over 10 classes. How will you find time to eat lunch? Talk to your friends? I don’t see how to fit 10 classes into each day for a whole year (although it’s probably by rotating blocks, which is still pretty heavy of a course load).

Don’t overwork yourself.

Also, the clubs. You have a great sense of community and club participation, but I think by second term Sophomore year, you should start to drop some of the minor clubs to gain a larger and more active role in those few that you love the most. Pick 3 or 4 at the most, and give all your effort into those. Become a club leader/president/head by senior year in those, and you’re way better off than being officers or regular members of several. Also, as a current member of Science Olympiad and Model UN, I can say that those two clubs take a HUGE time commitment, one that is much larger than you expect initially.

HOWEVER, in the case that all those ECs/Clubs are just sub-sections of a general “music/band” EC, then that’s fine (like, you just perform in separate groups throughout the year). Better, actually, to show that you’re involved so much in music.

As for the National Spanish Exam, just take Spring Break to study for it. It should be easy to make Gold using that week of study before the exam if you’ve had a good course throughout the year. Science Olympiad, on the other hand, is essentially adding on another class, albeit self-studied, for each event you are involved in for the whole year. Model UN is essentially Debate + History Forum + Public Speaking put together, and you should consider attending 2-3 conferences at the least for the club (conferences will take at least a week beforehand of preparation and research). And on top of your homework and studying for standardized testing, you’ll still need to practice your music daily to remain in prime shape since you’re involved in many different orchestras and bands.

I know that as a sophomore in the beginning of the year I had a very similar course load. By mid-year, I had narrowed it down a lot, and this was simply due to being forced to retain a good GPA and still get at least 6 hours of sleep every night. So, no, I did NOT want to quit a few clubs, but I was rather forced to by my listing of priorities.

The best thing, however, is to experiment before choosing, so in the long run, stick with your activities for a few weeks and then choose what you have to drop when you need to.

But you also asked me to rate your schedule. Well, by my honest opinion, it would be either a 9.5/10 due to its rigor, or just a 1/10 from its impracticality. Your aspiration and motivation though? 10/10, absolutely!
Keep aiming high, but think realistically afterwards, and you’ll do great.