Is all the work in high school worth it?

mom489
Wed, 28 Aug 2013 23:35:02 +0000

OP, Your son is ranked #1. If his parents aren’t pushing him into AP classes, then he sounds like he is self-driven, and loves the challenges of classes (that he chose to take), and all that HS has to offer.

Then yes, all the work in HS is worth it for him.

Similar to one of our friends, whose only child was a self-driven high achiever in HS (not #1), but his parents worried like you - would he burn out? No, he loved the challenge and the work. And when he applied and was accepted to Yale, he thrived there too.

Let your son pursue his dreams. And as other posters said, step in only if he looks like he needs help in pulling back.

Make sure when he applies to Harvard, he also applies to some top state universities too.