Junior spring and senior fall: arguably the two most challenging terms of one’s high school career at Choate. Both terms come with the added stress of the college application process added on to more academically demanding courses. Can it be determined which term is more difficult, or does it vary overall, from person to person? I addressed this question to the class of 2019:
Amisha Iyer ’19:
“Yes. Well, there’s the added stress of college applications. Junior spring: it wasn’t that intense in terms of college, because we didn’t actually have to apply at that point in time, whereas now it’s a lot of essay writing, essay revision — all of that stuff. I’m also taking harder classes this term, but I don’t know if that applies to most people, so that’s also a lot harder. I guess in junior spring, there were a lot of applications to leadership programs, but now that those are already decided, I feel like there’s less stress in terms of that.”
Arsh Sekhon ’19:
“Personally, there is a lot of stress from classes, and obviously junior year is harder than freshman or sophomore year, but the stress doesn’t even compare to senior fall. Not to scare you, but it doesn’t compare. Over the past three weeks, I’ve never felt this way before. I would also say that I think prefecting adds a little stress to it, especially prefecting freshmen.”
Reeve Sobol ’19:
“I would say senior fall is a lot harder than junior spring. First of all, because you’re taking harder classes than you were as a junior. The hardest classes you take as a junior are the ones that are like senior-level classes, so as a senior, you’re taking that plus a year, usually. And you also usually have time to specialize more in your courses. For example, I’m taking two science courses, which is a lot harder than if I was spread across all of the disciplines. And then, also, even if your workload for senior year isn’t worse than it was junior spring, it’s definitely not going to be easier, and you also have a ton of stuff to write for colleges — you have to go through that whole process. So, it doesn’t really end in the sense where in junior spring, like if you finish homework, you get a break. Senior fall, you don’t get that break time.”
Tyler Redlitz ’19:
“I think academically, senior fall is easier. The problem is that I play a varsity sport in the fall (boys’ varsity soccer — come out to our games). The varsity sport takes up a lot more time, and the other thing is applications. Junior spring was when I got all of my work done, which was like ‘great, got the work done, I can do some extracurricular stuff if I wanted.’ But, now, it’s like, ‘get all the work done, and suddenly there’s a whole new set of work to do.’ And it’s all long-term work. It’s not like you’re done, ever.”
Blake Migden ’19:
“Socially, nutritionally, mentally, physically, spiritually, I’m drained. They’re [junior spring and senior fall] both hard and add up to hell. I’ve learned that perseverance is a lie.”
Aaron Xing ’19:
“I think senior fall can be both difficult and easy depending on your course load. I personally took more challenging and time-consuming classes during my junior spring, so my transition to senior fall has been relatively stress-free. The college process does take up a lot of time, however, so get your stuff done early so that senior fall isn’t horrible.”
The polls are in: senior fall proves to be the more difficult term compared to junior spring. Nonetheless, the two terms are strenuous in their own ways. Redlitz emphasized the importance keeping a good mindset during these stressful times. There’s a broad range of advice for the junior class as they trek through their fall term, from Sekhon’s recommendation of “making lists” to Shraya Poetti ’19’s straightforward “Good luck, Charlie.”
