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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.

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