hey you

[Relambrien]

Re: hey you

I'm in high school right now, and it is indeed cake. So much so that I don't think I'm being properly prepared for college. Because of that, even though I'm applying to very prestigious schools, I'm not sure I'll go even if I get accepted. People from the best high schools in the nation, taking every AP class imaginable are still struggling. My pathetic high school which doesn't let you choose your own classes because we don't have enough to do so (I have a free period this year because I've taken every single class), and only teach less than half of what the class should cover, definitely isn't preparing me to go to MIT or Caltech.

Honestly it's just gotten to the point where in any class, I tend to always have the answer to every question and the teachers get annoyed with calling on me. I just sit back, do the work, and get annoyed at people who can't understand simple concepts.

EDIT: As an example. My junior chemistry class started learning a single application of dimensional analysis (unit conversion) at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, nobody except me actually understood why it worked, namely that 24 hours divided by 1 day is another way of saying "one," and multiplying by one doesn't change a number. I got the idea right off the bat. Nobody else did for the rest of the year.

[kommisar[os]]

Re: hey you

cooks don't get straight A's. they cook stuff.

[JurseyRider734]

Re: hey you

to always get A+'s in art you just be really good at art and then the teachers really like you a lot because you're really good at art

[coraleaterlinda]

Re: hey you

this one girl in my school cheated her way onto the top 10. everyone knew she had done it too, she had been caught stealing the teacher's answer book, other students papers, and had lost college scholarships due to cheating..but she still was in the top 10. not fair, i had to work my freakin butt off to get up there. and it still didnt prepare me for college (high school didnt really prepare anyone for anything). and i'm scared that college isnt preparing me enough for grad school (i graduate in may).

[wienerschmidtzel]

Re: hey you

All of this talk about grades and learning just makes me question the meaning of it all. If I get better grades and therefore get a better paying job and a better wife is it all worth it? Sometimes, I don't feel like it's worth the effort and debate switching into the bohemian lifestyle. Right now I put in minimal effort into my 12 credit hours and do decently but I still don't know what I want out of life so if something persuaded me into working harder or having the motivation I'd certainly be a harder worker.

[sumzup]

Re: hey you

All of this talk about grades and learning just makes me question the meaning of it all. If I get better grades and therefore get a better paying job and a better wife is it all worth it? Sometimes, I don't feel like it's worth the effort and debate switching into the bohemian lifestyle. Right now I put in minimal effort into my 12 credit hours and do decently but I still don't know what I want out of life so if something persuaded me into working harder or having the motivation I'd certainly be a harder worker.

Not everything has to be about money; if learning helps you on the way to doing something you truly enjoy, then that's enough.

Random P.S. O-chem isn't that hard...it's mainly memorizing things, which makes it easier, imo, than several other classes one could take.

[DJ_Swabber]

Re: hey you

I get straight A's....
In my head.

[wienerschmidtzel]

Re: hey you

Not everything has to be about money; if learning helps you on the way to doing something you truly enjoy, then that's enough.

Yeah, I guess I'm really just afraid that I'm wasting my time getting a degree for a job that I'll end up hating.

[Tasselfoot]

Re: hey you

i got a degree that i hated, but decided i'd rather graduate in 4 years than stay in school longer and switch majors... then spent about a year doing 2-3 different jobs and quitting them all because i hated them... then got lucky and had a dream job kind of fall into my lap.

[sumzup]

Re: hey you

What is this dream job, Tass? If it's FFR, that's cool...but I'm wondering if it's something else or not.

[MrRubix]

Re: hey you

Yes, he's referring to FFR.

Relambrien: You can still get into good schools. An admissions officer isn't going to hold a limited school against you, especially if you have great SAT scores and transcript. As long as you've taken the hardest load possible, the admissions committees will know this. Just come in with good scores, great recs, well-written essays (make sure you really read up on what makes a good college essay and what doesn't), and you should be just fine. Also, extracurriculars are very important.

My high school was like this. It was easy, but I was in the IB Program, which was tricky (it was maybe equivalent to state-school level stuff). Even from such a high school, I was able to get into a vast majority of the top-20 schools, literally -- which is more than what most private-school kids get into (I got into 14/15 schools... many of them known as "reach" schools, with a few "match" schools).

I too was really upset at how high school just wasn't rigorous enough to prepare me for something like college. People don't really understand how much harder it really is. There are many things I wish I could have gone back and told myself with respect to advice/planning/etc.

Study what you love -- can't emphasize this enough. Both Tass and I went/go to business schools. However, both of us don't like finance very much, haha. I'm majoring in a few things, but in general, I don't like what I do (although I do think much of it is useful). You'll be the most successful doing what you love. As long as you are able to do what you want with your life, you're going to be happier that way.

A lot of people think they need huge gobs of money to be successful or worthy of respect in today's society, but it's really not true. It's important to have money, yes, but once you hit the real world, you'll realize that you can probably live the life you want without huge gobs of cash (unless you have expensive tastes).

At least for me, as long as I have a good set of friends, a job I enjoy working at, and an environment that is intellectually stimulating and fun, I'm content with life. I used to think getting into prestigious schools was imperative... and I while I don't think I am hurting myself by going to my school, I could have been *a lot* happier elsewhere.

Prestigious schools and jobs aren't all they're cracked up to be. There are usually some pretty big tradeoffs, although you can get the best of all worlds as long as you do what you love, participate in what you're interested in, try your best, and learn not to freak out when you screw up.

Odds are you are not going to get a 4.0 GPA in college. It just doesn't happen, lmao. You need to learn early on that getting B's... hell, even if you get C's... it's not going to be the end of your life. It's a really tough concept that I've only recently come to accept. Don't sweat the small things, look forward, and do what you can. You'll come out a much more care-free and successful person for it.

[EnR]

Re: hey you

I just thought for a sec, and this is me O.O.

But I'm one of those guys who can have straight A's like a joke, but are to lazy and too cool.

[Patricoo]

Re: hey you

There is a saying that you can either be right, or be happy.

[PlaceboFX]

Re: hey you

I didn't do so hot in highschool (partially due to the fact that I was in a highly competetive private school and partially because I didn't really care), but I rocked the SAT's and got an academic scholarship to my university of choice. I think a lot of schools look at your potential to do well. In any case, I'm not fairing any better or any worse than the elitist straight A students I went to school with. Nobody is going to look back at your highschool report card and determine if they are going to hire your based on your GPA. In fact, they aren't really going to care where you got your undergrad, either.

[Patricoo]

Re: hey you

on that note, just go to community college for a year and transfer. Colleges love transfers. You get a year to decide what you want to do, get an better choice of 4-year colleges that are willing to accept you, and you save money.