Xatal

Every year before school would start, I would inevitably make a hurried run to Target to pick up all of the school supplies that I needed for the upcoming year. Binders, dividers, sometimes a new backpack, you name it. Each year, I had the same goal in my mind: “This year, I’ll be organized.”

I’ve always been that kid with the messy backpack. You could open it up and see tons of papers crammed in here and there, not at all organized. My binders and folders would be empty and unused, wasting space and adding to the burden on my shoulders.

Again last year, I decided I wanted to be a bit more organized, but I also decided that I didn’t want to fail yet again. It was time to decide what was going wrong and how I could finally be happy with my schemes. I took some time to figure out why what I was doing wasn’t working for me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone always hates having that one class that has a summer assignment. Most of the time, it’s some AP class that wants you to read something and/or write something.

If you haven’t started already, then congrats on putting it off until the last minute. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, I’m doing it right now: I’m supposed to read Grapes of Wrath for my college, yet I haven’t even opened it. Oops.

Last year, I had to read 1984 and The Catcher in the Rye and write an essay about the two over the summer for my AP English class. The essay was due the first day back, and so many students didn’t get around to finishing it that they dropped out of the class before the first day even came.

Dropping out turned out to be a mistake for many, though. The next class down, English C (which was an honor’s class), only had a few open spots left, and they were quickly filled up. Everyone who didn’t get in the class had to drop to English B, a normal-level class.

Those who were put into English C soon found out that they now had more work. While the AP class had a summer essay, for the rest of the year the AP class had very little actual work. The English C class was full of busy work and worksheets. Of course, the trade-off was that the AP class was harder and more thought-based, but for the kids who dropped out because of work, there was a lot of irony when they found out they now had even more to do than before.

As for the kids who were put into English B, that reflected poorly on them for college applications. Instead of being in an AP class, they were now just in standard English. Some of them came back to AP English just because of this, but there was a nice big hole in their grades because of not doing the summer work.

So if you’re debating switching out because of summer work, think about it. I know how hard it is to muster up the motivation to do any schoolwork during the summer, but it could very well turn out to be an easier choice, and it will definitely reflect well on you for your applications.

A few of my friends who are going to be seniors next year have asked me if it’s worth taking AP classes during the senior year.

Now, my old high school always had us pick classes the year before, so we already knew what classes we would be taking come fall of the next year. I would imagine most other schools do it the same way, so by now you probably at least know what subjects you’re going to be taking next year.

But most schools also allow you to switch.

A good rule of thumb is to always sign up for tougher classes at first, then change out to an easier class. Harder classes are always offered less and it’s harder to get into them once they are full. Easier elective classes are plentiful, and you can switch between them easily.

So, assuming you’ve already at least signed up for some AP classes, you’re wondering if it would be worth your trouble as a senior to stay in them. The answer to that depends on your goals and what you’ve already worked towards. As I’ve said, senior year is important too, and so you definitely want to make the right choice.

Read the rest of this entry »

Short answer

Yes.

Long answer:

As I mentioned earlier, colleges primarily look at your junior year academics when making a decision about you. But that doesn’t make your senior year unimportant at all.

Let’s put it this way. Say you’re an employer trying to decide who to hire. You look at one person’s application and see that he was a great worker at his current job, but you find out that once he had the prospect of being hired by you, he stopped working as hard and kind of turned a blind eye to things. The other person kept on working strong, even with a decent chance of being hired by you. Who would you hire?

Colleges are likely to do the same thing. Depending on how competitive the school you’re trying to get into is, having a shorter day your senior year can hurt you, especially depending on what you do with it. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s no secret that the senior year in high school is the best of the four. Finally, you’re at the top of the tower and all of the lower grades look up to you. This is your last year of required education, and afterwards you’re free to do with your life as you please.

By senior year, you’ve probably already found your ideal set of friends and have made many new ones. Now that you have the traditionally tough junior year out of the way, be happy — senior year rocks!

So what’s so important about your senior year?

Basically, making the most out of high school. I can’t stress this enough. After this year’s over, this whole part of your life is over, and you won’t get it back. High school is awesome because of the balance between responsibilities and freedoms. You have more privileges than you’ve had before (driving, etc.), but you still don’t (always) have as many responsibilities like work and bills. If you’re going to be a senior, you’re already through with 3/4ths of your time there. Make the most of the last bit. Read the rest of this entry »

Since finding out about it, a lot of teachers have come to have a vendetta against Wikipedia. I’ve known lots of kids who use it as their only source in a research paper, and teachers go bonkers when they see that. This is because Wikipedia is editable by anyone, making it an unreliable source for a formal report.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Wikipedia as much as the average person. Like any Internet hipster, I look up information on Wikipedia all the time. I know how much the regulars over there guard pages against any harm, but I also know that anyone who looks around long enough will find some incorrect fact on a page. I have found many, and I regret to say that Wikipedia isn’t as flawless as we’d all like it to be.

Now that teachers wag their fingers at Wikipedia as a source, it’s time to go back to the old-fashioned way of finding information online without it. Read the rest of this entry »