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The following are common concerns expressed by parents and students. If you need any help, please do not hesitate to contact us at contactavs@avs-academy.com. Our professional counseling and mentoring teams will certainly work with you and develop an action plan to address your specific concerns.
1.) Pressure with AP courses: High school introduces AP courses, and they put a certain weight on a student’s shoulders because of the prospect of gaining AP credit and making their higher education potentially cost less. This, coupled with the emphasis that teachers place on these courses, can cause stress for students to deal with the new atmosphere in high school.
2.) Confusion over course selection: Understanding course progression is important for students so that they can take the most logical class to follow what they are currently taking, and so that their learning process continues in the smoothest way possible. Not doing so can make their learning process unnecessarily difficult.
3.) Too many club enrollments: The same way that students spread themselves too thin during middle school with their activities, it can also occur during high school. Especially at a time when teachers are stressing the importance of extracurricular involvement, it is easy to devote too much time to too many activities, which negatively impacts growth in any one activity.
4.) Pressure of college preparedness: Throughout almost all of a student’s schooling, the importance of grades and college is stressed over and over again. This in turn causes students a certain degree of anxiety and places pressure to perform and meet these high expectations. The whole concept of college and applications looms over students like a dark cloud, and may have negative impacts on their overall performance.
5.) Fear of college essays: Many students find that writing essays is a subpar part of their academic capabilities, and when they have to write them over and over again for their college applications, it causes a certain dread for them. It is worsened whenever they remember that these college essays are perhaps the most important essays they have written in their lives so far.
6.) Academic pressure and GPA: High school is when the most emphasis is placed on school work and performing well to keep a high GPA, but it is often repeated too many times, causing stress for the students. They sometimes become fixated on just their GPA, and are unable to see the bigger picture. After all, a college application is not just a GPA, but a holistic view of who a student is. But continuous pressure on only a couple of aspects can lead to a drop in the other important parts of student’s identity.
7.) ACT/SAT test taking and preparation: Another major component of college applications are standardized test scores. Students need to be able to put aside enough time to improve the necessary skills to do well on these tests. This can sometimes be difficult when they have to mix in school work and the time that takes up.
8.) Cyberbullying: While preparing themselves for higher education, students also have to juggle their social lives in this mix, which can potentially lead to negative encounters with peers. This is still a time of certain immaturity and lack of empathy, which causes people to “make jokes”, but fail to realize the full extent of their actions and words. Cyberbullying is one such way that these events take place.
9.) Time management: High school introduces many things to students, and they have to find ways to give each part of their lives the time it deserves. The only way to do this is proper time management skills, which is something that they can use for the rest of their lives. The sooner they develop these skills, the better it is for them.
10.) Peer pressure: While high school opens many positive doors and opportunities for students, the same is also true for the bad. It more likely than not that any one student will be asked or offered something that they know they shouldn’t do. The obvious ones are drugs and alcohol. It is important for students to understand the right action in these situations.
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