Weekly Themes And Elective Class Schedule: Fill & Download for Free

The School Day:The day starts off by waking up way too early in the morning. I wake up at 5:30 so I have extra time in the morning, as I tend to be zombie like, especially towards the end of the week. My bus comes at around 6:35, which is ridiculous because my stop is the last one and it is only a 10 minute drive to the school.I arrive at school at 6:45ish, which is about 35 minutes before school even starts. In this time I usually go to the library with a friend or boredly wander around the halls. School starts at 7:20.At my school we have 4 hour and a half classes on an A day-B day schedule so classes are different on A days than on B days. We have four mandatory core classes: English, math, science, and history; a mandatory study hall for 9th graders; and 2–3 electives. In the IB program one of the electives must be a foreign language. All 9th and 10th graders also have to take P.E./Health.Cafeteria food is disgusting. I always bring my own lunch. Where you sit is pretty free for all: try to get a table before they’re all taken and sit with the friends who happen to have the same lunch as you.Athletics are pretty competitive in the US and most schools have several sports teams and clubs. Both are really fun and many extra curriculars (sports, clubs, marching band, etc) are offered so everyone can participate. My school has a very spirited and friendly environment, so sports are extra fun. Also, the band kids aren’t as weird/geeky/nerdy as movies portray them.Homework. I have lots of it. Study Hall is a real lifesaver. Depending on the day I can have anywhere from 1–4 hours of homework.The stereotypes: True or False?Not all smart people are nerds. Cheerleaders are actually really friendly. Not that many Jocks are dumb. Most people are friendly. Not every popular kid is mean. There are tons of people (including myself) who don’t fall into one of the stereotypical categories of students like the ones mentioned above! For example, I’m in concert Band, but I’m also a three season athlete and I have mostly As in my classes.Finally, some additional American type things in our schools:There’s pretty much a flag in every classroom and we say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, followed by a “moment of silence,” which is actually about 30 seconds.Standardized tests. In Virginia, we have SOLs alongside final exams, the SAT, and many others that I can’t remember.the PACER: repeatedly running back in forth across the gym, increasing the pace every 6–7 repetitions until you’re literally sprinting. I’m on the cross country and track teams and I still hate it. We also have to do push-up, curl-up, and flexibility tests.Homecoming. At my school it’s not just the football game. We have a spirit week, a bonfire (in which we burn a cardboard cutout of the other school’s mascot), a pep rally, a mini parade, a dance, and homecoming hallways. In homecoming hallways, each class (as in grade) has to decorate their own specific hallway according to a theme. This year it was seasons, and each grade picked one season. Then, judges rank the hallways according to how well they were decorated. Finally, is the game itself. Everyone is dressed up in school colors and some people even have streamers and face paint.Finally, my last point: the hierarchy. It’s a rigged system. Everyone hates the freshmen. In school-wide competitions, like homecoming hallways, freshmen get last pick and usually always lose. At pep rallies, we have Sing-off, in which a song starts playing, then your grade has to recognize the song and start singing karaoke. The catch? The seniors and juniors get their song played at full volume, while the freshmen can barely hear theirs. A few times as a freshman, they didn’t even play a song, they just watched us expectantly. I understand that freshman are the newbies and generally annoying, but it’s a little ridiculous.

If you are asking about a grade as in middle school or high school, you should study from the teachers, meaning you follow directions or instructions as these grades are highly basic and will establish the necessary facts for a college study. You can study as reviews, outlines, teacher guides, or study groups to instill the material throughout the semester, and also examine what you have learned and how prepared you are for an exam worth a lot like a midterm or final exam. You should ideally have studied in a way that you are continually learning facts, basic propositions, or weekly themes as in passages or concepts that are explained. And at the same time working in a cumulative way, to be comprehending across weeks and specific details and facts. Most teachers are looking for a partially developing mode of reasoning, where you can show you can handle the multiple subject curriculum. This means you can balance each subject throughout your 6 period schedule, working between them, not confusing them, and working to combine them or find that good composition. This will show in your overall transcript semester by semester, and throughout the expected 4 years of study before you apply to college. These classes also shape your overall preparation for college in terms of electives in the general education system of areas or categories of academic subjects. You are held to a higher standard in these subjects in college, than when you have studied them in high school. This means you know how to plan for courses quarter by quarter or semester by semester, you have an inkling, sense, or foresight for the major, and also a good sense for the areas of your general education. That will also show on your transcript, between the quarter or semester college schedules, and how you have performed in each course in each quarter or semester. You can see that as a chronological progression, insofar as you show work that improves, a good course selection and composition, or an overall strong academic record.

To be honest, I felt like the hardest part of Brown was in getting accepted in the first place. In high school, I took as many AP/honors classes as my school schedule would allow, while maintaining a high GPA, preparing for the SATs and AP tests, lettering in two sports and participating in various other extracurricular activities. Essentially, I had no spare time and was wiped out at the end of every day of my sophomore, junior, and first half of senior year of high school.Once I was accepted and got to Providence, I was surprised by how laid back it was. As a new student, you are expected to take responsibility for choosing your course load, but that is no big deal. Unlike my high school, a full load is 4 courses per semester, which is about 15–20 hours of actual class per week (which isn’t always mandatory), plus section meetings, labs, assignments and projects. One of the best parts of Brown’s academic system is that there are no core course requirements, which allowed me to study more subjects and topics that interested me than I would have been able to otherwise.I didn’t take “easy” classes, though some were fairly straightforward, while others were incredibly challenging. I took classes in engineering, chemistry, a wide assortment of computer science courses, multivariable calculus, discrete math, astronomy, geology, some history, a couple of philosophy classes including formal logic, The rest were economics, and a required accounting class, in order to qualify for a Business Economics degree, which is a bit more focused than the economics degree concentration.As it turned out, I was only 2 or 3 courses shy of a double major in business econ and computer science, which is not an easy path. Not to put down some liberal arts degrees, but there are concentrations, especially those in STEM, that are far more difficult and time intensive than other degrees, for example, history, poli-sci, philosophy, psychology, etc. Anyway, I decided not to stay the extra semester to finish the double major, which worked out just fine in the end. I still got the opportunity to be a software developer when I decided that was something I wanted to pursue more recently, after a career as a Paramedic and firefighter was unfortunately cut short by injury (a story for a different answer, perhaps).Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t breeze through my studies at Brown. I definitely worked hard, but there is so much more freedom and spare time that you can build into your schedule and use to your advantage. If you are reasonably adept at time management, you should do just fine. It may actually seem easier than you might expect going in, as it felt for me.Midterms and finals were stressful and difficult, chemistry and engineering labs, and especially computer science projects were incredibly challenging and time consuming. There were some entire days and nights that passed when I never left the on-campus CS lab, as well as occasional all-nighters for other big assignments. However, even so, I still had more than enough time for leisure activities and fun outside of school work.I rushed and joined a fraternity, and midway through sophomore year, I was nominated Social Chairman of my house, which meant I got to be the one to plan and publicize all of our parties and social events, of which there were a lot (as long as we weren’t on 30-day periods of double secret probation, that frequently arose because of something related to a previous party). It was my job to make absolutely sure those parties were as fun and successful as possible.In all seriousness, that position in and of itself ended up being an awesome learning experience in practical business applications and was among my first opportunities in a real leadership position. I had to organize and purchase everything we needed, hire DJs, rent equipment, find decorations, and delegate logistics to my housemates as necessary. I also got to design and print an annual house T-shirt for “Spring Weekend”, which is a yearly campus-wide celebration.I learned how to go about obtaining temporary liquor licenses through planning meetings with councilmembers at City Hall, well in advance, so that we could legally charge at the door, buy and take delivery of the most vital and expensive “supplies” via a beloved local liquor distributor and trucking service. I also had to look into novel and cost-effective ways to advertise in order to ensure our events were profitable, or at very least, break-even. We always had different themes, from dress up cocktail parties to tropical, Halloween, western/cowboy, etc.It was very satisfying to see a packed house full of young adults having a great time, and knowing it wouldn’t have happened without all that hard work and preparation. To top them all, I was able to pull off one fantastic Toga party for the ages, which wasn’t easy (since Brown did not particularly like, and actively discouraged Toga parties while I was there). It turned out to be an event that might be argued by some of my friends to be my crowning collegiate achievement. Well, that and graduating.I was later elected to that same Chair for Brown’s entire Greek Council to be the one to organize and throw even bigger, campus-wide parties and events, which was as fun as it sounds. In addition, when I wanted to, I went out to local bars and clubs, other house parties, dances and concerts on/off campus. I also attended a variety of Brown’s varsity athletic events as often as possible (hockey and basketball games were my favorite to watch). I also played intramural hockey and softball, and took on part time jobs here and there.When I could, I explored different parts of New England, including much of Providence and surrounding Rhode Island attractions like Newport. I also got to see parts of the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, New York and NYC, Massachusetts and Boston (I highly recommend seeing the Yankees play the Red Sox at Fenway, if you have the chance). Over one spring break, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend 10 days visiting a few friends who were studying abroad in Paris and London, so throw a pinch of international travel on my list of college activities as well. Like I said, if you manage your time well, you will have plenty of free time for fun, travel, exploration, and whatever else interests you.Jokes and fond memories aside, not all of your education at Brown will come from the classroom and assignments, especially depending on which of the many possible organizations you decide to get involved with at Brown. If fraternities or sororities don’t interest you, there are plenty of other opportunities through athletics (varsity, club or intramural), or hobby and social clubs that you can join and/or help organize. You will absolutely start down the path towards adulthood, and you will be exposed to all different kinds of people from all over US and the rest of the world.I absolutely had a blast during my 4 years at Brown, and made a ton of close friends that I have to this day. Brown trusts its students to be adults and to manage their time, work load, course schedules, and other responsibilities. It is nothing like high school, and there is no hand holding.Brown can be as hard or as easy, relatively speaking, as you make it. Like I said, if you are mindful of time management, able to moderate procrastination, and you are smart and organized enough to get accepted in the first place, you will likely find that the coursework can be quite reasonable in terms of difficulty. Nothing will be handed to you, but if you do your part, you should have no issue graduating.Happy to answer more specific questions that you may have in the comments. -Jeff