Preparing Highschool Kids for College

I think that high schools could prepare students for a college environment better by increasing the workload in the senior year. During my senior year in high school, it seemed as if the work load because easier than previous years. Alongside the smaller workload, most students were met with a more laidback attitude from staff and fellow students. Senior year was probably one of the easiest years of my high school, and because of that, I really don’t feel prepared for a college learning environment. A great example of the handicap I had coming from my high school is my skill in math. Throughout high school we had an awful math program. Going into my junior year, they had switched the entire system from “Core Math,” which just brushed over the basics of everything year after year, never really teaching you anything to “Integrated Math,” a much better system. This change was a huge problem for a lot of kids. Core math never really taught us anything because it only focused on introducing us to different concepts, then relating those concepts to absurd things like selling white water rafting tickets. The whole ordeal has been very stressful up to a month ago, when I dropped out of Pre-Calc here at UMD. That class was extremely overwhelming and way over my head; this drastic change in workload and retention skills were too hard to grasp, and I think my high school education is to blame.≠