College stuff is starting to bother me

wait until you're actually in college

Don't worry, it will all be over soon. It sucks playing 'the game', but sometimes ya gotta do what you gotta do. It all turns out for the best in the end.

dont even tell me it gets worse. ive got 7 Honors/AP classes, no study hall, plus being a 2 sport athlete and really involved with my church. How many classes/week do most college people have? what time do you wake up at? I could believe its going to be harder, but i have a hard time accepting that it going to be significantly harder than what i have right now.

Get a grip buddy. You really think high school is that hard? You are in for a rude awakening if you want to go to a top college, run, and manage your other interests. Take a deep breath, realize that you're not the only one who is busy in this world, and stop feeling sorry for yourself.

You're a senior in HIGH SCHOOL. Get over youself.

its a long season wrote:

You are in for a rude awakening if you want to go to a top college, run, and manage your other interests.

I disagree. I think you will find that you have much more time in college. Do you commute to high school? Well most likely you can regain that time in college. You'll have less actual time in class. There won't be such thing as "AP" classes and blablabla. You're in for good times.

I wouldn't say college is much harder than being a high school senior. In terms of academics, this can obviously vary greatly depending on your high school, your university, and your chosen major.

High school basically eats into 6 hours of every day, 9-3 roughly, maybe a little longer. At university you will probably start out with 15 hours of class a week, but could be anywhere from 12 - 18 (doubt you'd do more than 18 as a serious athlete). So your basically cutting your in-class time in half.

If you live on campus, this is another easier slice of life than living at home. First of all, you save tons of travel time (obviously to compare this depends on how close you are to your high school and how close you live to your classes in uni).

While living on campus provides a great many distractions, I find most of these are more manageable than at home.

The adjustment also depends on how independent you are already. IF you need your mom to tell you to do homework and do your laundry for you, then those are things you'll need to adjust to. Likewise, if you're used to cooking for yourself already, you will either be more prepared to cook for yourself at school, or will appreciate the luxury of a meal plan and the extra time in your day that it affords you.

With homework, there isn't as much day-to-day or week-to-week stuff in terms of marked items, but there are a lot of readings and so forth, of which you'll realistically probably only read around 50% of. Mid-term time and finals are definitely more stressful than high school, but not unmanageable.

Every semester or few months you'll have to barrel down and cut through a lot of paperwork like you are right now, but this application process is probably the worst of it. You'll have battles ahead of you and stupid administration to deal with at some point in the future, I promise. But post-secondary is where it's at bro.

well im a college freshman and i was in your same situation last year. i had 6 AP/advanced courses and marching band plus i ran all three seasons and worked 15 hours a week. i was involved in everything at school besides sports taht i could be and my church and other activities so i was busy. for me i found that to play the "College game" it was way less stressful for me to narrow it down to 2-3 colleges that wanted me to run and i just played with the athletic money. I found that with my ACT scores and GPA they all offered me about the same and i couldnt get them to budge on that so i went for athletics. I basically told each coach what the others were offering and i got them to come up on the scholarship money. i ended up going to a school that is a little more expensive then another i could have ran for but i also let the team aspect factor in and i picked the school i am currently at based on that.

As for your schd. next year, it gets easier, at least it did for me. i find i have much more time this year to just chill out then i did last year. espically because you are in so many AP classes, the course load wont be diffcult. you just have to make it through this year. Good Luck!!! :)

Take it easy on him. Maybe this kid goes to a high school that actually is demanding, and not some shit-stained public school where "effort counts." Maybe his academics and athletes right now are difficult. My collegiate experience was easier than high school because my high school was very tough.

That said, you should tell your parents that you've done all you're going to do with applications and SATs, and let the chips fall where they may. You probably stack up well against other applicants, so you'll be fine. Believe me, choosing a college is not nearly important enough to stress yourself out to the point your posting on a message board for help. Relax and enjoy yourself.

I am a 4:14 miler and am very competitive in XC. She keeps thinking that the colleges I am talking to may drop me and forget me and I'll be stuck with a bad school. I keep telling her that the only way that would happen is if I wait too long to make a decision and then they fill all their spots. I want to make a decision in a month. My last recruiting trip is in a week or two. When are schools going to start making offers?

Do yourself a favor and tell the schools you're really not interested in that "you're not interested". It will cut down on your calls, applications, and stop wasting the time of the coaches.

There are two factors that can result in more contact hours -- labs and recitation sessions, especially the former. I also think that distance runners are pretty motivated people and that the flexibility of college allows you to do things efficiently. You cut out some of the dead time of HS classes, although with so many AP classes, there is not so much of that.

Good luck

-- former college prof.

getting crazy wrote:

I am a HS senior and I am starting to get really upset with all this college crap. My parents keep reminding me 'its a game' and that I need to keep people interested even if I am not. I am tired of doing so many applications etc... It takes away from my school, running and social life. Too stressful! Now my mom wants me to take my SAT's in november again to get 20 pts high on my verbal. I declined but she insists. If I do it in november i will be pushing off my decision months. I want to make a decision ASAP and I think I know where I want to go(school cant give athletic money). any advice or similar situations?

to be honest college is a bit overrated. been there done that, im still paying off loans and im only earning 40k a year. My friend on the other hand, did not goto college, got a full time job and worked for 4 years and saved up i believe 20k by the time i was about to graduate. He opened up his own restaurant and now has multiple restaurants in 5 different locations in the area and is making big money...he has a mercedes and a bmw.

after 4 years of college the one thing i learned is that girls are sluts, guys are dicks, and generally nobody really gives a shit..and the ultimate rule was that i shouldve never gone to college.

sad part, my friend really wanted me to team up with him in his plan to open up a restaurant but i chickened out and went to college.

college is for some people but not all, do what you really want to do kid, dont look back 7 years down the line and regret it like i did.

Hang in there, man. It's just like training: it sucks now, but you'll be glad you did all that grind. Don't be like me and apply to 3 schools total, with two of them longshots.

Uh huh. Are you, by chance, a philosophy major?

Study something that's actually useful and college is useful. Major in women's studies and you're screwed. College is all what you make of it.

where in the hell did you go to college - it can make a difference

to the OP, do what you can and remember you will probably never have less responsibility than you do in high school

mistakes can be recovered from pretty easily when you are young... if you choose college A over college B or whatever you'll find that in terms of future career and family, etc. it probably doesn't matter that much...

as long as you make the most of wherever you are at, you will be fine

AND besides I think you will find most universities are in general, fun (and demanding... partying, learning and running... what could be better

it is later in life that decisions become more and more irreversible - kids, this job over that job, homes, marriage

lighten up your schedule, drop the church, a big big waste of time.How long do you spend there in a week 2 hrs or so,

run an hour more and studay an hour more as well, don't not waste time on religious hokery pokery.

its a long season wrote:

Get a grip buddy. You really think high school is that hard? You are in for a rude awakening if you want to go to a top college, run, and manage your other interests. Take a deep breath, realize that you're not the only one who is busy in this world, and stop feeling sorry for yourself.

You're a senior in HIGH SCHOOL. Get over youself.

No kidding. My son is playing soccer at a top school. He has to be at the field by 7 a.m. and doesn't leave until about noon. He then has classes all afternoon and mandatory study hall. He leaves his dorm at 6:45 a.m. and doesn't get back until after 9 in the evening.