The first point is that the homework load is overwhelming indeed. This is similar to what is going to happen in college, yet small difference always exist. In college, students will have many more papers to write, longer assignments from math and science classes, and bigger projects. Yet most students only take four to five classes a semester in college and most of the classes are not everyday classes. This gives the students much more time to complete the homework and, more importantly, read ahead. High school is definitely much more condensed. The minimum amount of classes required per semester is six, and many student take seven as well. Every class meets everyday, which means that homework is very likely to be due that next day. Therefore, the workload seems to be overwhelming. Many high schools pride themselves with offering many AP courses, which I think is a great thing to have. AP classes are called “advanced placement” for a reason. They are college courses taking place in the high school. This is an excellent way to prepare for college because the material being covered is the same and the student can get a feel for how the material being learned changes in level of difficulty. However, once again there is that small difference that makes a big difference. The teachers in high school tend to be much more involved with the student when teaching the course; none of the classes are simply just lectures. The homework tends to be easier and so is the grading. In essence AP classes in high school only give an experience of how the course materials might be different in college.
The more concerning issue is that high schools are not preparing students for college early enough. What I mean by this is that I officially started worrying about college in the middle of Junior year, and now I have too many things to do and too many things to remember. Some people might argue against this with things like that the ACT and SAT tests are available to take in the eighth grade already. Sure, that is a big part of getting ready, but it surely isn't the only thing. Counselors should be more involved with student planning starting Freshman year. Everyone should start making lists of all the clubs, sports, volunteer work, hours, dates, and whatever else can be crammed into those college resumes because, after all, that is the goal of high school: to get that perfect looking transcript and resume to get accepted into the college of one’s choosing with scholarship money. Now, it is very hard to remember what I did my Freshman year. If I had received and official chart to keep track from the beginning, maybe I could feel a little more relaxed. Instead, I have to try and do as many things as possible during my Junior and Senior year. Maybe the problem is that high schools don't hire enough counselors. Each counselor at my school has about 400 students and that is too much to individually help everyone in their future plans. More counselors could mean better quality of help from them. I encountered numerous occasions in which my counselor simply directed me to another source of information where I could do my own research. Or, in another instance, I was simply given a packet for a credit flex, instead of help where to find a suitable instructor to test me out of a different language I speak fluently.
In short, high school is trying to prepare the student for college, but not to the fullest potential. Obviously I wouldn't want for high school to be exactly like college, but I definitely would greatly appreciate more help in planning out my future in a college. Mass assemblies and power points simply aren't good enough. My suggestions would be to start early, get more counselors, and make planning more individualized.
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