Has anyone ever told you that AP Students NEVER sleep?
Well they were right. Read this before making any final decisions on AP classes. You might change your mind.
It is common in this day and age for high school students to get little sleep on a regular basis. That is simply part of the high school experience. What varies is how often a student needs to sacrifice sleep in order to get work done.
I introduce you to the AP student, one who spends more time studying than sleeping. It is common for students to take multiple AP and honors classes to look as good as possible for college. Students take as many as 4 even 5 AP classes at once simply to strengthen their college apps. Something that these students do not tell you is that these classes often ruin their lives. It is common for these students to spend more time studying at home than they spent learning in school; this is simply the way it is. Life becomes almost routine: 18 hours of studying followed by 6 hours of sleep (and that's on a good day). These AP classes truly take a toll on the student and drain him/her of all energy. The week becomes one long, extended cramming session with almost no sleep. This is the life of an AP student.
This sounds pretty bleak right? - It gets better. AP students are more often than not required to work over vacations and take the initiative to perform well. There is ALWAYS work, even when the students think they are done. These classes ruin vacation. An AP student might get a random Wednesday off from school, but all of the teachers take note of this day off, and use it as an excuse to give extra homework so that a student is “better prepared for the AP test.” Thus the student spends his/her entire day off catching up on AP work. So much for a day off from school... All that vacation does is speed up the AP class. The teachers think that because a student does not need to spend the day in class that he will have more time to work, so they adjust their workload to reflect this misconception. Even summer and semester break are corrupted with AP work.
So what about the classes themselves? -Honestly, students usually fall asleep. The classes are interesting in themselves, but AP students usually run on 6 or less hours of sleep every night for the entire school year. This lack of sleep makes it very hard to stay awake in AP History, for example, even though the subject at hand might be interesting. Students lose class time because they are so tired from all of the AP work that they had the previous night. Thus they need to work more diligently and longer after school to make up for the time lost in class because of dozing off. They stay up late finishing AP homework and are tired again the next day, which usually causes them to fall asleep in class once more. The AP student is caught in an endless cycle of sleep deprivation.
What of weekends? -HAHA, weekends do not exist for the AP student. Many students need to go to school during the weekend just so that the student will learn everything by May for the AP Tests. Time not actually spent at school is used working on, you guessed it, AP homework. Just like vacations, AP teachers use weekends as an excuse to pile up more work. Most AP students simply accept the fact that they will have no social life at all due to their work. The ONLY good that comes from the weekend is that students can sleep in a little longer.
Then there is the issue of extra curricular activities. Most AP students realize that extra curriculars are key to college applications and are involved in a few. For a previous post on why Extra Curriculars are so important, please click here. These activities take away from valuable study time, but are necessary (if not just to remain sane). As if AP students were not already stretched thin enough... The point remains that everything takes away from study or sleep time. Pure leisure time is virtually nonexistent. The word "Party" does not even exist in the vocabulary of an AP student, is replaced by words such as "perseverate."
AP students are caught in an endless cycle of work and sleep deprivation. School becomes life; life becomes monotonous. Students escape this cycle once they graduate, but are only met with real college work. Consider this the next time you sign up or tell someone to sign up for an AP class.
Posted in: AP work,Standardized tests,student sleep deprivation
19 comments:
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Alena
http://grantsforeducation.info
Thank you Hattie! I am glad that you enjoyed my blog. Please tell your friends about it as well!
It is good that It is common for students to take multiple AP and honors classes to look as good as possible for college.
Thanks,
masters degrees online
Basilace, I Read your article and the comments. I commend your analysis of the AP program and your defense against "Anonymous". Which if I might add, was entertaining. I am a prospective AP student (5), most of which I have have a passion or interest in. I'd like to agree with your fact on how dropping an academic class would be "educational suicide". In Addition to that point I would also like to point out how appalling the jump between Honors and AP classes. I have been told by so many teachers how slowed down their Honors classes have become. They say that they are basically teaching the Honors classes at a Academic level. However, the AP classes haven't lost their rigor, most likely do to the AP exams maintained rigor. Which sadly forces Honor level (back when Honor level class were not equivalent to academic) to be pushed up to AP level and work harder (even more harder than you stated) or be forced to stay in Honors classes and as you stated earlier suffer from "educational suicide".
Thanks again, loved your article.
loved the way you explained things. Much better many here
bba
thanks for this article.
i am a new AP student as a sophomore in high school and the year hasn't started yet, but i'm already flooded with homework. i have one week left until i go back to school and i'm spending it trying to finish my AP World History summer assignment. i'm not a procrastinator, but having been gone on vacation for half of the summer and starting the assignment a month before school starts seems to have not been enough. of course, the school year has been cut to fewer days which means less time to get the work done in time for May, but i feel like in my later life, no one is going to care whether i finished my tenth grade history summer assignment or not. for some reason i have this idea in my head that unless i ace all of my AP/honors classes, i won't be accepted into any colleges and won't be able to get a fulfilling career. neither of my parents took AP classes in high school and they both have great jobs, but the world is changing and is, unfortunately, putting a whole lot more pressure on us kids.
basically i'm scared about what this year has in store for me and whether or not i'll be able to succeed. i've started to think that it's not going to matter in the long run, but i know that i'll do it anyway because that's just the kind of person that i am.
I’m glad I took AP classes! Not only did they get me into university, but also they PREPARED me for it. While my new friends on campus struggled, my time was well managed and I did quite well. Last May I graduated with honors from one of the world’s top twenty ranked schools (according to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings).
Oh, and in High school I was on the volleyball team (we had a 90 minute practice every day), in a school play, on the debate team, managed to log 40 hours of community service a year (I know, keener overkill haha) and I had a great social life.
Though many of your points are good (I did do schoolwork over winter vacation…and I had a blast doing it with my friends), I think you’re selling the experience short and underestimating the individual’s ability to create a great high school experience regardless of the workload.
Don’t get me wrong; advanced classes are not for everyone. But if you can do it, then why sell yourself short?
P.S. I actually averaged around eight hours of sleep a night (but I know for a fact that some of my classmates slept less).
Maxx
Good work, i like your blog theme, and content ofcourse
mba
Honestly, this article is very interesting, but I don't think that every AP student is completely deprived of sleep. Honestly, I had a friend in middle school who didn't sleep until midnight every day and I finish my homework at four pm. Now she is at the best HS in the US, and honestly, she still sleeps at midnight.
It's probably just time management. I'm a sophomore taking 2 AP courses, and I'm involved in various honor societies, Science Olympiad team (nationals!), volunteer clubs, plus violin and other stuff outside school. Honestly, I still finish my homework/studying before 7.
Your article is just a bit exagerated, but it is probably true that students are suffering from AP courses (a friend of mine is only taking 1 AP course, and she doesn't sleep until 4 am).
Like your blog ~~~
Cassi
I do honestly hate ap and hate my life at times because of it. However, there are students at my school taking four and five aps and they do not fit this description. They still have social lives, play sports, etc.
I can say that this perfectly fits exactly what I'm going through. I'm barely getting 3-4 hours a sleep a day and with my extracurricular activities like water polo it really cuts into my sleeping time. I'm also part of USC's Med-Cor program that takes up four hours of my saturday and I also volunteer at the hospital during the weekends. It's actually quite funny considering I actually haven't slept yet. I'm currently trying to finish my AP calculus homework and I have to leave for water polo practice in an hour. I can completely relate to this article but then again it's all about time management. My teachers might pile a ton of homework on me but it's completely manageable.
Hello, I loved your article. I am a student who takes 5 AP classes at the moment, 3-4 hours of sleep per day. I have a very strong set (not list) of extracurriculars.
However, I would like to note that I am not the typical cutthroat AP student. I believe this system is just lame bureaucracy, and everyone learns differently. The value of a college degree is diminishing every day making getting into the better schools tougher and tougher. I have a force of will, but on the other hand, I do feel depressed often because I am such a lonely person. It is my force of will that I want to get out of this high school hell and start a new life in college that motivates me.
I will admit, I am stretched thin. I do find interest in computer science, but yet I can't go to my robotics team often because I need to practice piano to win a state competition. It is however not a huge problem, as I believe everything I do will benefit me when I am an adult. I take classes and extracurricular activities for myself, not just for the sake of pleasing admissions officers.
The part that pisses me off the most is how ignorant many AP students are on how they're being controlled by bureaucracy. They have no soul. All they are focused on are points, points, and more points. All they show is that they are smiling machines that store data inefficiently in their hard drive compared to an actual computer. They have no passion. The only passion they have is to get 90% or higher, which is retarded if you ask me. I don't like my fellow AP students; they are either too antisocial, or too focused on reaching a bureaucratic threshold on their extracurricular activity (e.g. Getting 9001 points in a state-wide track competition). Non-AP students do have souls, but they talk about matters that don't interest me at all (Like American football). I hate how I am stuck between these two groups and can't get along with any of them.
My AP U.S. History teacher said that it's hilarious how numbers on our test determine our self-worth. "Okay okay I know you guys determine your self-worth by the numbers on your test. But say to yourself 'I am a smart guy, or gal.'" He is so right on with this; it's not what college you go to that matters, but it's what you do in the college that matters (Of course I would still like to get into Princeton, but it's not the end of the world if I don't). This will be the difference between who succeeds in life and who doesn't in the future.
I like this blog especially since im doing a satire on AP students for AP english. I would like to say that I am in 6 AP classes and varsity basketball and NHS and have a decent social life. That being said i still find free time to relax. I believe that relaxing makes your work time more productive thereby allowing more sleep. Great article. ~Stevo
I agree with a lot of what you said.
Here's the hard truth:
When you sign up to take an AP class, you willingly submit your personal life to the demands of the course. If you don't, you won't get a 5 (unless you have a photographic memory or something of that nature).
Any serious AP student looking to earn scores of 3, 4, or 5 on the exams will recognize that studying does, in fact, become life. I am a senior taking 7 AP courses this year. I feel like there is not even room to breathe in my schedule. However, I recognized I would have no life outside of school before making my choice. I see students all the time who think that because they earn an 'A' in an AP course, they are the shit. Not true at all. If you're in AP, one word of advice: you're grade doesn't mean a thing. If you think you're getting a good grade in a course, but don't really understand what you're doing, you probably don't. This isn't to be harsh, but the exams aren't easy. The exams are made to test a FULL YEAR's worth (and then some) of studying. It is true you must really think if you are willing to put in the time and work on an AP course before you decide to take it.
All this being said, the courses are "do-able". If you put in the time and work, you can earn the score you seek. My recommendations, get a review book, always pay attention in class, try to limit procrastination, and DON'T FALL ASLEEP! (at least until after homework is done)
Good article.
This was an interesting read, as were all the responses. We moved this year and our two highschoolers enrolled in a highly ranked highschool & signed up for honors & AP classes as our previous highschool experience was that if they were not inadvanced classes, they were in with delinquents who disrupted the entire class. Because this high has a much better standard all around, the advanced classes were probably not necessary, but they are enjoying them. Interestingly, the problem class has been Honors Earth Science (not an AP), as the teacher has assigned a completely unreasonable work load, so my son is going to transfer to regular Earth Science for the second semester. Their AP teachers have a better balance of teaching material in class time, and a better balance in assignment workload.
In my experience with my kids education, there is a huge variety of work load, all dependent on the school & the teaacher & the class, so asking around is key.
For what it's worth, from my own education I have this observation: an intelligent person can do well even without the "elite" education. The education is just the beginning, it's what you do with it afterwards & throughout your entire life that counts. So aim for the best education you can in school & college, but know that it is not the be-all and end-all, and that success can come out of less-than-top experiences in either.
I loved this article. I am about to start my freashman year and have 1 AP class. I am kinda nervous. Me and 2 of my friends are going into this together to try and help with time manegment.
I am doing extra creidt stuff even with one AP class. Some of my friends are taking gifted classes and AP classes. Maybe if you are deprived of sleep if you do take AP classes get some help like a tutor or someone like that so you can get the sleep you need to pass the AP test.
I think this is exaggerated. I ended up with 37 credits in freshman year of college, making me sophomore standing, 27 from AP classes and 10 from dual enrollment in a community college. Many of these classes were the alleged hardest ones offered, i.e. AP Chemistry, Calculus BC (I skipped AB), etc. Not really that bad.
I found time for extracurriculars and my own designs, such as starting a freerunning group in the school and taking 6 hours a week for that. I found time to do an internship or two, go to Chinese School on the weekends (5 hours on a Saturday) and more. I wasn't that stressed. Sure some days I lost sleep, but most of the time I was pretty relaxed. I scored 5's on most of my exams too.
If you find yourself sleep deprived, you're probably not cut out for AP, or not working efficiently. It's really not that hard to do if you have the capacity to learn and adapt. If you don't, well then that's fine too, just don't take AP. It's called Advanced Placement for a reason - it's not designed for the generic student.
I am an AP student and this article does not truely reflect our lives. As an AP student we are taught at a higher level and have more expected of us. Although you claim we have no life, that is not true. There may be times with too much work and little sleep, but it pays off and is not that often.
Although AP courses and others like it are tough and a serious commitment, this article is more entertainment than truth...
You don't need to give up your personal life, weekends, etc. to take these classes. In my HS, my peers and I, for the most part, had outside activities and interests that we were able to do.
The only thing I can sort of agree with is that you will have those nights where you are doing homework up to 12. The thing is, though, this only has occurred for me if I had other things going on as well. It's not like I'm secluded doing my homework all night...
I get the feeling that this article was written by someone who hadn't quite grasped the concept of "time management."
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