<p>@Woandering @abstract1 </p>
<p>Not much into philosophy myself, but I’ve got a friend who’s very into it. She recommended that I read Camus (she’s a fan of absurdism). </p>
<p>I know compared to most of you CCers, my schedule seems easy, but I am so extremely stressed! I have APUSH, APES, AP LANG, Honors Chem, Honors French III, Honors Precalc, Honors Law and Justice, and Adventure Education! I have no idea how some of you guys can do more than three AP classes at once… And I’m in NHS, Student Government, Key Club, NSHS, FHS, NAS, and track! Shoot, I also work. I’m already burned out and school just started but some of you super humans manage to do more so that’s my motivation to not give up.</p>
<p>You should take up her suggestion, @TeamRocketGrunt, Camus is brilliant for sure and his writings on absurdism are quite profound. The Myth of Sisyphus would probably be a good starting place. And you might also want to check out Kierkegaard while you’re at it. </p>
<p>Of course, it goes without saying that any one who falls in the nihilist or absurdist vein comes with a tacit “existential crisis” warning 
</p>
<p>@abstract1 I’m pretty new to philosophy, but based on descriptions, I’d love to study logic philosophy and political philosophy under ethics. Do you recommend any light reading for those? I say light, because I probably won’t have a lot of time, and I know I won’t get through anything huge.</p>
<p>Also, what is absurdism? </p>
<p>@abstract1
I’m an atheist, so I’m trying to find philosophical works that kind of tie into what I think. I want to write a college essay on how my lack of belief influences my passions, and I think tying that into a philosophy would show breadth (it would also make me more well read). Other than The Myth of Sisyphus, what else do you recommend I read by Camus? Kierkegaard is another absurdist writer, I take it? Is Nietzsche’s work good to read?</p>
<p>@Woandering
From what I’ve read, absurdism refers to the conflict that arises when we attempt to assign meaning to things that ultimately are meaningless (in the context of the universe in general). </p>
<p>I have my first precalc test tomorrow; it’s not a question of whether or not I’ll fail, but how badly I’ll fail. And I have to do test corrections for my Spanish test, as they’re mandatory this time around; anyone who scored below an 80% is supposed to retake the test as well, but since I got a 79.5% (which rounds up to an 80 in the gradebook) I’m not required as it wouldn’t change my grade. And did I mention I flubbed my AP Psych test and calculations in an AP Chem lab? So yes, I’m perfectly un-okay, thanks for asking. 8-X </p>
<p>(In other words, stress sucks.)</p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt @abstract1 That sounds interesting, but nothing I would really like to discuss and look into. To me, it is probably, ironically, rather meaningless. </p>
<p>Taking it into the context of religion and the need to explain why we’re here, absurdism simply provides another perspective that is basically playing against all the religions. Isn’t this more conflict?</p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt and @abstract1 - I took AP Statistics last year, got a 5, and solely used Barron’s. It was great for MC, but a review book for statistics isn’t necessary (in my opinion). Doing a bunch of practice tests helped me the most.</p>
<p>@ThatPurpleKoala - LOL same, and I’ve only been in school for a week. I had three tests today, and didn’t do well on any of them… 
I was able to get 98-100s last year without putting in any effort whatsoever, but looks like this year will be different. Ugh. Also, SAT in a month.</p>
<p>Hey! Well… I will be class of 2016. 
For any of you juniors…what is your class list? (If you don’t mind sharing that is!) </p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt
I would also check out Camus’ The Rebel, a sort of metaphysical exploration of revolution (while not really a blatant exposition of absurdism, it seems like it could tie in quite nicely with your essay topic- also @woandering, you may be interested in the more political aspects of it). In terms of his novels, The Fall is quite brilliant (and vastly unappreciated, IMO). The Stranger, of course, is also great and arguably his most iconic work. I think you’d probably find Sartre interesting as well, maybe get your hands on a copy of Nausea. </p>
<p>Also: Kierkegaard is considered the father of existentialism and nihilism, which laid the foundation, so to speak, for the development of absurdism. </p>
<p>@woandering
Betrand Russell’s The History of Western Philosophy is a good introduction across all branches. If you’re into math, Russell’s The Principles of Mathematics (in which he argues that math and logic are really the same thing) might also be enjoyable. I don’t know if it’s exactly light reading, but On the Genealogy of Morals is quite short and an excellent ethics work. If you want to get more in depth into ethics then look into Kant or Spinoza. As for the political, I’m less well versed and qualified to make suggestions- but Chomsky’s work is generally pretty accessible. Look him up. </p>
<p>They only let my class take 1 AP course Sophomore year so I tried to make up some of the difference this year and take 6 (I also got a B in a freshman year math course, so there’s a lot to compensate for)</p>
<p>My schedule’s ended up being:
AP English Lang & Composition
AP Computer Science (I’ve heard it’s easy, and while it’s nothing too overwhelming, I’ve never taking a computer science class before and the teacher just sort of assumes we all have…There’s a pretty decent text for it, though, and it’s blessedly short. Still, I think I have my lowest grade in that class so far.)
Honors Precalc (Got a really good teacher, which is lovely because maths are my weakest subjects. I’m almost feeling bold enough to take AP Calc next year)
AP Bio (it’s startlingly easy, actually, for all the content my teacher runs through per class)
AP Physics (bad teacher = bad year, but I did decent on the first test, so I can’t be that badly off)
APUSH (she assumes it’s our first AP history class, so coming out of AP World, the class is really boring and simplified)
French IV
AP Psychology</p>
<p>Everything is pretty slow right now, actually, but come May I’m sure I’ll be scrambling.</p>
<p>Well I posted mine on the other thread but here it goes all over again: </p>
<p>Honors introductory Analysis (College)
Mathematical Modeling
AP Physics C
AP Statistics (online)
AP Euro
AP French
Latin V
Literature (no honors or AP’s offered), AP English Lit Independent study
Chamber chorus, which I am somehow in despite my crippling stage-fright. </p>
<p>In the spring I’ll also be taking either Classical Mechanics (including lagrangians, calc of variations, all that good stuff) or Relativity at a college.</p>
<p>let’s not make this the post your schedule thread, we’re all taking difficult classes.</p>
<p>I got a 5 with 5steps in NSL.
5 steps sucks for econ though.
5 steps is ok for apush
liking barrons for psych right now</p>
<p>I’ve heard Barron’s is good, so maybe I’ll put it on my Christmas wish list (I’d say birthday but as my birthday’s exactly a week before the exam this year, that’s probably not a good idea).</p>
<p>And is Barron’s good for AP English Language? I might self-study that, but even if I don’t take the exam I’d like to at least learn a little bit about how to write more college-level essays for college apps next year.</p>
<p>@abstract1 I’m so jealous you can take Latin at your school! How is it? </p>
<p>This year I’m taking
AP Physics
Honors Pre Calc
Honors Spanish 4
APUSH
AP Lang and Comp
Journalism
PE
Lunch</p>
<p>@jlh6612 Ha it’s pretty cool! Latin I-II covers the basic grammar, vocab, etc, and from then on it’s mostly reading and translating ancient texts. Last year we did mostly prose, a lot of Cicero, this year mostly poetry (Catullus, Virgil, Ovid etc). Reading all of it in its authentic language is pretty magical, even if latin may not offer many ‘practical’ advantages. That said, it certainly does give you insight into the structure and lexicon of the English language. It’s always exciting when I spot an unfamiliar word and can approximate its meaning based on latin origin! </p>
<p>So this probably isn’t an interesting question, but since we’re entering the dreaded junior year it seems appropriate- where are you guys thinking of applying to college? </p>
<p>So far I’m leaning towards a LAC with an all-round intellectual air- Swarthmore, Williams, Carleton etc. Also considering UChicago and Princeton. </p>
<p>I want somewhere with a strong journalism program, a midsized student population (5-20k students, although slightly larger wouldn’t be so bad), no religious affiliation, coed, good internship/career opportunities, colder weather, and preferably suburban or urban surroundings. A quidditch team wouldn’t hurt either </p>
<p>So far I’ve looked at Miami University in Oxford, OH, a little bit of Ohio University, Northwestern (although that’s a MAJOR reach), Syracuse, and UNC Chapel Hill. Of those, the only one I’ve visited is Miami. University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, Indiana University, and University of Alabama have sent plenty of recruiting stuff too, as has UChicago. </p>
<p>My stepdad wants me to look at University of Missouri and University of Texas at Arlington (where he originally went to college and where he eventually graduated, respectively) while my mom wants me to look at Notre Dame.</p>
<p>And fun fact: At a college camp I went to this summer, we had to sit through a lecture asking us about we wanted in a college, and someone shouted out “ATTRACTIVE MEN!” and got a standing ovation…</p>
<p>Haha hey, if we’re being real here, that’s not any more of an arbitrary preference than prestige or name-recognition. And if we’re being philosophical, all value hierarchies are bogus… so more power to her/him, lol. </p>
<p>And quidditch teams are always a plus, for serious :P</p>
<p>My favorite school from each of my “sections”: UK: Cambridge University, Reach: Claremont Mckenna College, Match: Bucknell University, Safety: University of Rochester.</p>
<p>I would be so excited to attend any one of those, although the rest of my Asian family would be disappointed in some of them. And any family in China would be so disappointed in my current college list overall, since Stanford isn’t on there. </p>
<p>And I believe Quidditch is on two colleges in my current list. Yay! I seriously wish every college had it though. I’m also looking for Tai Chi (or even better BaGuaZhang, which is at CMC).</p>
<p>By the way @abstract1 Pomona sounds like another perfect fit for you, or even CMC, if you, like me, are also interested in ethics and political philosophy. Are you looking to major in Philosophy?</p>