[photo by Casey Serin via flickr]

With stress from parents and friends and the extreme pressure to get into the perfect college, students are beginning to feel overworked.

With a large selection of honors classes available, schedules are becoming more rigorous as early as sophomore year.

“I have two five point classes and all honors classes this year and I’m taking five AP classes and Spanish three honors next year,” explained sophomore Pasha Minkovsky.

College being the ultimate goal for most students, it is understandable the severe intensity that the year before applications are sent out is given.

“To many, it is important to get into a good college and feel junior year is what really counts,” explained junior Justin Quan

“The only reason I’m taking all five point classes next year is because I really want a 5.0,” explained Minkovsky.

It is well known that along with a student’s GPA, colleges look highly upon their SAT/ACT score.

“We spend a large part of our year’s class time preparing for the SAT/ACT. For example in English class, we spend a large portion of class preparing for the essay writing and vocab,” explained junior Eric Smith.

“During junior year you can start taking AP classes so people like to load up on classes to help them on their college apps,” continued Smith.

Senior Alan Kaptanoglu, who achieved a 5.0 junior year and a 4.5 this year, was recently accepted into Stanford University.

In explanation of his choice to take all AP classes, he said, “I think that taking a lot of AP classes my junior and senior years was worth it because colleges really like to see those on your application.”

Although Kaptanoglu’s main focus for taking on such a rigorous schedule was getting into an excellent college, it wasn’t his only motive. He also wanted to explore classes that interested him, such as math and science.

Even with such an intense set of classes, on top of playing soccer this year, Kaptanoglu found a way to keep his stress levels low and even get to bed on time.

As colleges demand a student both outstanding in and out of the classroom, students after school life has become as blocked up as their every day school life.

With mandatory practice for most school sports starting around 3:30 and usually ending around 5:45, vital homework time is lost.

“When soccer is in season, I usually finish my homework at the earliest around 11:00 or 11:30,” explained Quan.

KidsHealth.org states that, “Most teens need about eight and a half to more than nine hours of sleep each night. The right amount of sleep is essential for anyone who wants to do well on a test or play sports without tripping over their feet. Unfortunately, though, many teens don’t get enough sleep.”

With having to try and be a normal teenager on top of everything else, is it really worth it?

“Sometimes it is tough and stressful, but I think it will be worth it in the end,” explained junior Shannon Stengele.