Questions about High School

Well I am in eigth grade and I am closing in on freshman class registrations. I have been really thinking about what kind of classes to take in my freshman year of High School.

In 6th grade I did Pre-Algebra and in 7th grade I did algebra. Algebra was sort of hard for me in seventh grade, as to be honest school has generally been so easy for me that during fourth quarter when algebra suddenly got so much harder, I was not prepared to do well in it, because I did not have the study skills. I have never been one to study much for tests, as generally paying attention in class for me has worked. In 7th Grade, I got A, A, A, and C+ in Algebra as my quarterly grades.

Well I decided to repeat Algebra in eigth grade, which I sort of regret doing. I have learned many study skills since then, and I feel that if I had put even a little bit of effort, I could have turned that C+ into a B+ or an A- and would have felt that it was right to continue on to Geomotry in Eigth grade.

Well anyway, I have really improved my study skills and have been doing good in eigth grade so far.

I also joined the student council, and was able to rise up to an executive position very quickly. I have been told by the man that leads student council that he will ensure that I have a spot freshman year on the high school student council, as I have really put a lot of work into it this year.

So I have a few questions:

First off, how many honors classes is it wise to take freshman year? I am a fairly smart and self directed person when it comes to school. All of the teachers have been telling me that its roughly an hour of homework a night, but then again, when the teachers say it is a thirty minute assignment, I can generally finish it in fifteen. I am a fast worker. I feel that I can handle about two hours of work a night, with three or four every once in a blue moon at the most.

I have been thinking that since math is by far my easiest subject, and I am a very mathematical person, I should take honors geomotry. I also have been thinking about honors world history, as I am a good reader.

Is two honors classes a good plan, or should I take three? The third one would probably be biology or something science-related.

Also, I know that colleges look for extra-curricular activites, and I plan to join student council freshman year and continue all four years of college.

I am also thinking about joining cross country, as I really enjoy running. Running is the only sport I care for however.

Lastly, at my school you have the option of french, spanish, or hebrew. I took french 1 in 7th/8th grade, but however if there is one area I really struggle, it is language. I hate languages to be honest, as it is not easy for me to do well in them as I simply do not enjoy them that much. In high school, I can either start in Spanish 1 or French 2. Spanish seems a lot easier than french to me, which would probably get rid of a lot of my frustrations. What do colleges look at in terms of language? 2, 3, or 4 years?

And in difficulty, how does french compare to spanish?

My lifelong goal is to go to Michigan state.

I would really appreciate some advice guys, thanks.

Honors classes aren't worth doing. If you want to look good for college you would take advanced placement classes.NiKva

carbon fibre does reduce petrol costs in cars.ycdeo

At my HS honors classes were a joke. Same material as the lower level class with less written work. Ask kids who are in the HS and have honors how easy the classes are to handle and make your decision based off of that. I'd say take as many honors classes as you can, but that's based off of them being so easy at my school.swivet-

[QUOTE="NiKva"]Honors classes aren't worth doing. If you want to look good for college you would take advanced placement classes.swivet-

carbon fibre does reduce petrol costs in cars.ycdeo

carbon fibre does reduce petrol costs in cars.ycdeo

Honors classes aren't worth doing. If you want to look good for college you would take advanced placement classes.NiKva

in the last school i went to there were no honors classes as it was an international school that made all the regular classes up to a higher level without the extra nice GPA...here, honors are significantly harder so many drop out but i guess that's the way honors should be...I take mostly AP now though :)

Wait, your school offers Hebrew...

Interesting.

Anyway onto advice:

1.AP clas s > honors. Take a clas s pathway that gets you to AP quickly.

2.Space out your hard clas ses, so you can actually enjoy your senior year.

3.Get involved in extra curicular that you are good at, and enjoy. Eventually try to become an official/leader in said club.

the only classes that matter are AP classes. as long as you're not lazy, do all the work, and study, you can do well in them and score well on the AP tests.

just take whatever interests you. if you want to have a good GPA, take easy, on-level classes. there will be a lot of f*cking annoying ass idiots in your classes though. that's the good thing about taking honors or AP classes, there's a MUCH less likely chance of having annoying ass idiots in those classes.

also beware of the 1st level of foreign language classes. they're a cesspool of stupidity, you should be good once you get past the 3rd level though.

the only classes that matter are AP classes. as long as you're not lazy, do all the work, and study, you can do well in them and score well on the AP tests.

just take whatever interests you. if you want to have a good GPA, take easy, on-level classes. there will be a lot of f*cking annoying ass idiots in your classes though. that's the good thing about taking honors or AP classes, there's a MUCH less likely chance of having annoying ass idiots in those classes.

also beware of the 1st level of foreign language classes. they're a cesspool of stupidity, you should be good once you get past the 3rd level though.

needled24-7

[QUOTE="needled24-7"]

the only classes that matter are AP classes. as long as you're not lazy, do all the work, and study, you can do well in them and score well on the AP tests.

just take whatever interests you. if you want to have a good GPA, take easy, on-level classes. there will be a lot of f*cking annoying ass idiots in your classes though. that's the good thing about taking honors or AP classes, there's a MUCH less likely chance of having annoying ass idiots in those classes.

also beware of the 1st level of foreign language classes. they're a cesspool of stupidity, you should be good once you get past the 3rd level though.

bluemantan

[QUOTE="needled24-7"]

the only classes that matter are AP classes. as long as you're not lazy, do all the work, and study, you can do well in them and score well on the AP tests.

just take whatever interests you. if you want to have a good GPA, take easy, on-level classes. there will be a lot of f*cking annoying ass idiots in your classes though. that's the good thing about taking honors or AP classes, there's a MUCH less likely chance of having annoying ass idiots in those classes.

also beware of the 1st level of foreign language classes. they're a cesspool of stupidity, you should be good once you get past the 3rd level though.

bluemantan

Lol. First two years of high school are a joke. Im a junior now and it's challenging, but Freshman year was soooo easy and sophmore year was a little harder but still a piece of cake. High School is overall just easy. Btw I took a lot of honors classes and now I am in AP ones.

Lol. First two years of high school are a joke. Im a junior now and it's challenging, but Freshman year was soooo easy and sophmore year was a little harder but still a piece of cake. High School is overall just easy. Btw I took a lot of honors classes and now I am in AP ones.

Sscnum21mvp

AP and honors classes are pointless. Unless your school has an agreement from a college and you end up at that college. AP classes don't transfer everwhere. If you want to get ahead junior/senior year. Look at taking some College courses.

Honors classes are a joke. AP classes acutally give you college credit, well for my school they do, so it's a good idea to take initiative and take some AP classes. But repeating Algebra even if you have a C+? That was a pretty dumb move... If something is challenging you get help but to repeat the same class is just stupid if you have the choice of moving onto higher level classes. Take advantage of what you have, son.SystemShock23

*snip*stanleycup98

How come no-one talks of IB? :P I'm taking it right now and it's pretty hardcorepowerman89

[QUOTE="stanleycup98"] Holy f***... yeah, this guy knows what's going on. Read this.CaptainAhab13

[QUOTE="powerman89"]How come no-one talks of IB? :P I'm taking it right now and it's pretty hardcoreCaptainAhab13

Honor classes are easy, there are a few exceptions depending on the teacher and subject though.

Try going for AP classes, and take as many as you can handle.. push yourself, and if it's too hard just switch classes in the first couple of weeks.

[QUOTE="ycdeo"]carbon fibre does reduce petrol costs in cars.swivet-

Take all the honors courses you can. High school, especially freshman year isn't difficult at all. Just do the work and pay attention in class. You most likely won't even study much, if at all your freshman year, even with all honors.

Go through with the extracurricular like you mentioned but don't overload yourself to the point of exhaustion. No point in doing a dozen different things if your grades start slipping.

Go ahead and take Spanish... it's the most practical. Sure some of the other languages sound cool but Spanish is so much more useful if you follow up on it, not to mention it's kinda easy. It might be different for where you live but for our high school, everyone took 2 years if they planned to go to college. Some kids chose to take higher years but as far as college apps are concerned, 2 years is fine.

I took both French and Spanish... they felt about the same, Spanish was slightly easier I suppose.

I have no doubt you'll get into the college you want to. Sounds like you are very thorough and know what you want. Most people push off thoughts of college until late Junior year or Senior year. You won't be studying 2+ hours a night until you get to your AP classes and even then it's iffy.

Only take honors/AP classes in subjects you like. You'll be miserable otherwise. Don't just load up your freshman year with tons of hard classes. Figure out how highschool works first.

1) You'll have lots of tedious, stupid assignments

2) Gym class sucks.

3) This is coming from a music student, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Im totally the anti-authority/anti-establishment guy.

4) Just dont go nuts with super hard courses- really take some time to get a feel for things.