10th grader and started the year off with low A-'s but now in the B+ range for most of my classes. I don’t know what’s going on anymore. Last year I had almost all A’s for most of the year. I only had one B+ throughout. But this year for some reason, I can’t seem to get above a B+ on any test or anything. I always get exactly an 88.
I will give you an example. I just took one of the easiest history test I’ve ever taken, one which nearly everyone aced. I aced all the history questions but mixed up a bunch of countries on the map questions. I thought I knew them but in reality I had mixed up a bunch of really close countries. If I had looked at a map for even 10 seconds before the test I would not have this problem and would have an A+. The same goes for science and language. I make a bunch of mistakes that I shouldn’t be making no matter how easy I thought the test was or how confident I felt directly after the test.
No matter what I try, these mistakes seem to happen. I thought I was going to change after this history test because I studied hard for it unlike science and language. But regardless of what I do, I can’t seem to get A’s on tests. The first fourth of the school year is about to end and I have crappy grades in a lot of my subjects. Last year this never happened to me, and I always did well even when I did not study as hard. This year no matter how hard I try I seem to end up no where. I heard one of my peers say that no matter how hard he tried he could never get above a B. I am worried I will end up like that kid. Even worse, this happened to me in middle school but I thought I fixed this in 9th grade. I have no idea what to do now.
I feel as if any dream I had for ivy league schools are shattered. I was planning to get A’s this year but clearly that’s not happening anymore.
I would also like to mention that some of my 8th grade grades were counted, some of which were quite bad, so this B+ affects me way more than you think it might.
First of all, in the grand scheme of human problems, a few Bs on your transcript is not bad. In the grand scheme of human problems, not going to an Ivy League school is not bad. Your head will not blow off if you get Bs. Maybe you are making careless mistakes because you are overfocused on and too anxious about the grades which is actually counterproductive. Relax, learn the material, do the best you can. You will go to college.
I agree your overfocus on grades may be causing you to psych yourself out. Emotions and worry are maybe crowding out clear thinking in your brain at test time. Maybe you don’t sleep well the night before which can affect both memory and focus.
The other possibility is that you are just a B+ student. Nothing to be ashamed of.
Just like the vast majority of athletes never make it to the Olympics, the vast majority of high school students will not be enrolling in Ivy League schools after graduation. Even those with straight A’s. Sometimes beaten out for slots by factors completely out of their control (not being a descendant of alums, not having money to endow a new building, etc.)
You will still go to college.
When did I imply that I won’t go to college. Also I don’t think I’m a “B+ student” I had A’s all of last year. And also you aren’t really helping by saying that I won’t go to Ivy League or whatever. We all have different goals, and different things which we value. I think my EC’s are fairly good and I don’t want them to be made useless by bad grades.
OP, why didn’t you make clear in your post that you aren’t interested in anything any commenter might say?
A B+ is not a bad grade.
If your ECs are useless if you don’t get into an Ivy, drop them and do meaningful and productive things with your time instead.
You need to learn to meditate, relax.
OP … you need to adjust your goals to things that you can control. First, very few students are Ivy locks. Most are very strong students that have great EC’s but for every one of these admitted there are 2 just about equivalents that are passed on.
Sophomore year is far to young to stress about getting into an Ivy. You have not taken the SAT or ACT which for many straight A students proves to be problematic in term of getting a 99% score. Most A students do very well but an 85% score will simply remove you from an Ivy shot absent a very large hook.
Your goal for your sophomore year should be to do as well as you can do by working as hard as you can hard. Working hard is something that you can control. Your post however has some troubling language “I thought I was going to change after this history test because I studied hard for it unlike science and language.” and “Last year this never happened to me, and I always did well even when I did not study as hard”.
I was a good but not a great student in high school but became a great student in college. For me the difference was that in high school I wanted to work only hard enough to get an A. If I needed a 94 to get an A, I would study just enough where I thought that the 94 was likely. I did well but not great as I did not give it a 100% effort. When I went to college my goal changed to 100% mastery of the subject matter and not just an A. I would work tirelessly studying and really did learn the material. For many exams I would score a 98 or better and be accused of being a curve buster. I wanted to pour my blood, sweat and tears into school and knew that if I ever earned less than an A in college it would not be from a lack of effort.
Please note this is like 2 tests into the year. (I barely started the year). This is why I believe, the “I am not going to make ivies” advice is really not helpful. And to be honest, I probably have A-'s in most of the classes I got high B which are like 2 since tests are not 100% of the grade. I realized that I hugely over exaggerated my situation.
The majority of students won’t get into the Ivies. If you don’t realize that, you’re in for a world of disappointment.
Oh my goodness, I came here looking for advice on how to preventing myself from stupid mistakes (like me forgetting to study for the map portion on a test, with the map portion being the easiest but a significant part of a test) on tests. I seem to be making a lot of these this year. Please don’t criticize my ability to make Ivies, obviously I have back up plans and my EC’s are rather decent.
…So really, you don’t want any responses at all? The only solution for not studying is studying. That’s not something we can tell you how to do.
Maybe make a list of stuff to study and cross of things once you’ve spent time with them and mastered them?
You’re probably getting anxious during the tests. Maybe try talking with your guidance counselor about solutions?
Also, please keep in mind:
A lot of other colleges will still look good for jobs. If academic rigor is what you want, you could still get into a rigorous school or even a less rigorous school with an honors program. Not everyone is born to be an Ivy League genius, and you will still live a happy and fulfilling life.