The first thing most people hear when they enter eleventh grade is, “Be prepared, junior year is always the hardest.” Junior year can seem very stressful when you consider ACT/SAT tests, as well as building your college application while taking more challenging classes and extracurricular activities.
The main reason people might feel more stress during their Junior year is the obvious fact of college. This is the point where students need to start thinking about where they want to go, and what they have to do to get there. “If you want to go to a good college, everyone knows that there’s so much pressure about [grades in] junior year so it’s mostly hard because you know the pressure that’s there,” Junior Aspen Franklin said.
Additionally with college just around the corner, students want to build up their resume. Colleges love to see more honors and AP classes on a transcript, so students may take on more strenuous work for those classes. Out of 46 junior and senior responses on a recent Google form, roughly 75% responded that they took more AP classes Junior year than they had in the previous semesters. “I did take two more AP classes that year, and then I was still in two honors courses,” Senior Makayla Shiek said.
Another unique thing about junior year is that students are taking the SAT/ACT tests. If a student is planning on applying for a college that requires these scores, it’s important to do well to increase the chance of getting in. This, however, adds another load of studying on top of juniors’ work. “I thought [junior year] would be just really hard, especially with colleges and the ACT,” Shiek said.
While it can be easy to get overwhelmed with an increased workload, there are always resources for students to get help when they’re falling behind, “If you go in early for those AP courses and get the help you need, then I feel like it wasn’t crazy stressful,” Shiek said.
Junior can also be different socially, and in that sense, it’s much easier. By Junior year most students have found their friends, so they don’t have to worry about meeting new people. “Friendship wise I feel like it’s easier because everyone’s taking more advanced classes so you can connect more [rather] than [if everyone was] all over,” Franklin said.