What’s more depressing than coming back to school from an enjoyable summer and having to fill out tedious college applications?

Homework. Lots of homework.

Between college stress and other activities seniors do in a day, homework can be an added responsibility that can limit the time they have available.

What Students Think

“I don’t want to think about it because it stresses me out,” says senior Nina Gordon. In addition to taking two AP classes, she has to balance other responsibilities such as working four hours a day after school. It also includes being able to spend time with friends and having time for herself.

When asked how she manages homework, extracurricular activities, and college applications, she notes, “I do college applications on the weekends because [otherwise] I don’t have time.” 

On the other hand, senior Alison Daly has time to “Go to the gym, do college stuff, and do homework.” She is taking mostly honors classes and does not plan to apply early to college. “I don’t get too much homework because it’s still the beginning of the year. I get about an hour a night,” says Daly. 

Seniors Jocelyn Bickford and Maisie King view the situation differently. They both take five AP classes and devote three to four hours a day to volleyball practice. 

“All of my free time is devoted in some aspect to school,” says King. In an effort to reach early decision (ED) and/or early application (EA) deadlines, both due around November 1st, students like her must sacrifice their weekends and free time to get applications done and keep up with schoolwork. 

When asked if balancing all of these responsibilities can be overwhelming, Bickford responded, “I definitely feel that we’re getting more homework than last year. There’s also a lot of mental pressure.” 

King also agrees that she gets more homework this year, however, she notes, “It’s more unassigned homework though. Things like studying for tests and quizzes take up most of my time.”

Homework Policy

The homework policy for this year states that homework “must be equivalent to 30 minutes of work a night per course,” though AP classes are an exception to this rule. Even so, it is difficult to predict how long studying will take since it varies for each student, depending on their study methods and how confident they feel about the material. 

Mr. Dziedziak, chairperson of the homework committee, was asked about how the committee works, and he responded, “It was created last year, and we had about 15-20 teachers who met over the course of three to four months to make the homework policy user friendly.”

It is also important to note that when comparing last year’s homework policy to this year’s policy, homework was to be assessed at “no more than 10% of a student’s overall grade” while this year it is “no more than 20%.” 

Mr. Dziedziak addressed this change by saying, “Teachers think homework has more value,” and “Some classes get more homework than others.”

Nonetheless, not all students feel overwhelmed with juggling their academic and personal responsibilities. Senior Liam Champion mentions that he has some time to work on both college applications and his daily tasks. 

He is currently taking two APs and spends about an hour a night on homework, while also going to soccer practice and doing chores. 

He was also asked if he feels managing responsibilities would be easier if homework time was reduced, and he responded, “Yes, it would give me more time to sort things out, but it’s not terrible.” It is also important to note that he is not sure if he is planning to apply either ED/EA or regular decision. 

Conclusion

Seniors’ lives vary greatly. Some take more APs than others, some do sports while others do not, and some may even have jobs. 

However, for those applying to colleges, it adds on another responsibility that takes up a lot of time and effort. Homework is just one of the many things that can often overwhelm seniors. Is it just something they have to “deal with”?