<p>@upinflight: SGA at our school isn’t like that. We don’t do speeches, but we try to represent our respective classes and the student body by listening to them and proposing it to our principal and the school board. Plus, we do community service stuff and help out with school functions. We are one of the more active SGAs in our area.</p>
<p>Plus, learning music is scientifically linked to higher grades and test scores in math and reading. Any instrument takes time to learn and is best learned when you are younger (I learned trumpet in 6th grade). I want to switch to picollo since my band won’t have any next year, but we are lacking in all instruments next year (instead of saxes) and my BD wants me to stay playing the trumpet since the 1st trumpet is going to need support (I usually play 2nd parts).</p>
<p>I get so tired of my school. It’s so “ghetto”, and full of people who don’t care except a couple few.</p>
<p>Well, atleast I am still valedictorian.</p>
<p>@taneeshie: I think I know how you feel. I used to be in band during intermediate school and completely loved it. However, in middle school were you need your own instrument I felt way to embarrassed to ask my parents to buy me my own clarinet and I regret not joining so much. Especially, now that I’m in high school.</p>
<p>@nothingto: That almost describes my school. Though, the people in my old honors classes agreed that it got rid of competition.</p>
<p>@PippaKarenina and nothingto: That also describes my school so well. I have people in my Honors classes that don’t care about passing their classes and only take Honors classes for the GPA boost. It’s useless to have a class of 29 people (most Honors classes, esp. the social studies ones, have this many people in them) when only 7 or 8 care about their academic standing. I think that honors classes at my school are a complete joke. But, it eliminates unnecessary competition, as I am #1 and there are only 3 people that are right on my tail (and they’re my besties!)</p>
<p>@franzferdinand: 15. Meh.</p>
<p>@evanb, PippaKarenina, and nothingto: Oh this is so true in my school. Honors classes have up to 30 people but only like two of them care about passing, maximum. Sometimes I’m the only one. Sometimes there will be more people who do try get decent grades, but only when they have no choice, eg. when they have a C or below. Otherwise they’re pretty lazy and super obnoxious (they’re usually bros or, uh, female bros?) which is really annoying. The only people with GPAs similar to mine are upperclassmen 
Oh well, at least the competition isn’t so bad.</p>
<p>@evanb1996 I’m 366 days older than you! Haha</p>
<p>Over half the kids at my school either drop out by senior year or pursue nothing post high school. No armed forces, or community college. It’s sad. Our AP classes are a joke. I wish I lived in a different area, but my dad is five minutes from work and doesn’t want to move because of the ease of commuting. Our schools goal is just to get you to graduate. There really is no push from most of the teachers.</p>
<p>Our valedictorian, is, however, going to Carleton.</p>
<p>Though the opposing school’s val published research in Nature (the science magazine), took 14 AP classes, got a 4.0, scored 800 on both CR and Math parts of the SAT, part of the youth advisory council for the town, and published several opinion pieces in the Korean Times. She also has a rull ride to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Your opposing school sounds like a blast, franz.</p>
<p>@franz: wow… Nature?!? My dad has published a few of his works there, and they are some of his best/proudest.</p>
<p>For my school, I’ve never really heard of any rankings, although we know for sure who’s the smartest. Do teachers disclose this information (class rank) like every quarter or something? My school’s magnet program is pretty decent at getting ivy school admissions… Last year around 12 were accepted to MIT alone, 2 into Harvard, and a handful of other ivy schools (no doubt the some of the same people who got into MIT). However this year’s results were not nearly as good. I know one senior who is famous in our school for being incredibly smart and well liked by teachers and classmates alike. Not 4.0 because he didn’t work hard on some easy freshmen courses, but he participated in several us Olympiads for various subjects and did well. I’m pretty sure he had amazing ec’s. He applied for 3 uni’s: 1 safety, MIT, Harvard. Accepted to all three; ED the Harvard. Amazing people like him make me realize how much I need to do.</p>
<p>Also, I’m relatively young, being that my birthday is May 23rd, but I’m surprised at the amount of people born later. </p>
<p>Unrelated note: Are any of you familiar with Malcolm Gladwell? I’ve been reading one his books, and it’s astounding.</p>
<p>No, I haven’t heard of him. What’s the title and genre of the book?</p>
<p>@upinflight I would love to do Olympiads and such, but I’m relatively sure my school has no participation in those. I hear so many stories of these Olympiads from friends who go to neighboring schools, and they sound like fun, but my school tends to delve into more sports related (e.g: unimportant) events. Rather annoying, if I may say.</p>
<p>EDIT: Seems we’re posting at the same time! He’s writes nonfiction, and dives deep into the study of social sciences, and the effects of human action, etc. The book in question is called “Blink”, but he has another called “The Tipping Point”, which is apparently his most applauded work.</p>
<p>That sucks. The problem for me is that i never hear about these things until after they take place. Haha, well win some lose some. My school is mediocre in pretty much all sports 
at least that gives me a shot in joining.</p>
<p>I haven’t read many novels on that topic, but I’ll check that out, sounds interesting.</p>
<p>@anaychi: I loved Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I felt it was a fascinating and illuminating analysis of success.</p>
<p>I wish my school participated in Olympiads and other science related competitions. Next school year, I’ll definitely try to get a few of them sponsored (particularly the AMC test and USABO).</p>
<p>Does anyone else feel as though our class doesnt care? Excluding the select few of students of course(like us here on cc). There are about 30 or so students out of my class of 162(i know small!) that remotley care about academics and wanting to go far in life. The remaining students are looking to go to the local community college. It’s frustrating with the lack of challenge, but at the same time in a way you can benefit from it making it easier to be in the top 10. At least for me it is…</p>
<p>Opinions?</p>
<p>H English
H Alg 2/trig
H Chem
Ap Euro
French
Tennis</p>
<p>@starr8nn
Actualy it’s the total opposite at my school. I live in a big city in a relatively “small” state, but there is a concentrated group of kids in my grade who take the most challenging courses available and are actively involved in extracurriculars. My school often sends kids to Duke, Rice and other good non-Ivies and I feel like there’s a lot of pressure at my school to step up that game and get into the actual Ivies. You should see how obsessed everyone is with rank at my school.</p>
<p>@itsraininghere: Gosh there is a huge gap between you and me. I guess I am the youngest '14er on CC. Also, anybody born after 10/5/1996 and is a '14 CCer?</p>
<p>@franz: My school is way worse than yours. Most of the kids don’t think about community college or the military until their SENIOR YEAR. Most get in under affirmative action and usually have conditional enrollment if they try to go to a four year institute (sp?). But, most of them go into the drug game, the black market, or gangs (Suprisingly, crime has went down alot in my county. Makes me think)</p>
<p>@starr8nn: I feel that my class is the exact same way. The absolute last person is our class has a .075 GPA and he’s been in 9th grade forever! His transcript was about as long as our class of '11s. I guess he’ll drop out soon or he’ll be sitting in a 9th grade homeroom next year!</p>
<p>@EverybodyWhoIsTalkingAboutOlympiadsAndSuch (too lazy to look and type everyone’s username): Many schools where I live don’t even know what an Olympiad is because the schools are super broke! You would have to go to bigger places like Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Norfolk, or Richmond (I live about 7 minutes from the NC/VA border) just to see one in action. But, we have a Quiz Bowl, which I feel is a whole 'nother level of lameness in some way (only have one in Black History, go figure for a county with ~30% poverty and ~75% minorities).</p>
<p>Also, why I am posting super early? I have to leave early today to help with freshman orientation at my school. I won’t be up here much next week because I’m going to camp and they highly discourage bringing laptops. (my friend is gonna sneak his in, but its an old MacBook, so it is already half destroyed)</p>
<p>I actually talked to our science department head about forming an Olympiad team, but she said we couldn’t. It made me upset…</p>
<p>@Evan: A student here this year got into Stanford, and people basically went into cardiac arrest over it. It is a huge accomplishment, but nobody here PUSHES you to do more, save for a few teachers.</p>
<p>Oh, and just after Spring break, some student pulled a knife on another student and he got cut across the cheek, on the eye. Another student was also shot a few weeks later, due to gang related activities.</p>
<p>Only thirty percent of sophomores (now juniors) passed the math part of our state exam.</p>