Why does high school matter?

High school is the stepping stone to your future! It is a time of exploration, self-discovery, and growth. Most importantly, it is a time to prepare for college. Your level of academic achievement, the extracurricular activities you participate in during high school, and your reputation as a school citizen will impact you greatly in the college admissions process.

• English
  Four years (A solid foundation in literature and composition)
• Math
  Three years of college-prep math (two years of algebra and one year of geometry)
  Note: Business math is not considered college preparatory and will not meet the basic requirement.
• Science
  Three years (two must be lab sciences-biology and chemistry)
• History
  Two years (one of which must be U.S. History)
• Foreign Language
  Two years of one foreign language

Of course, this is just the bare minimum. You should remember this rule of thumb: Always exceed the minimum in anything you do, especially in planning coursework that would enhance your application to college. This is especially true if your dream is to attend an Ivy League school such as Harvard, Princeton, or Yale and/or if you intend to apply to colleges with the same high selectivity rating as Stanford, Williams, or Amherst. These colleges only admit the most competitive students.

What program of study is recommended for prospective applicants to highly selective colleges?

Strong applicants to any selective college should take the most rigorous secondary school curricula available to them.

An ideal four-year program of study should include:

• English
  Four years with extensive practice in writing
• Math
  Four years (algebra, geometry, pre-calculus; calculus
• Science
  Four years - biology, chemistry, physics, and an advanced course in one of these subjects
• History
  Three years including American and European history
• Foreign Language
  Four years of one language
  

It is critically important that students who aspire to gain admission to a highly selective college must enroll in the most demanding level of instruction available to them at their high school to be a qualified applicant. For most students this would mean taking these solid academic courses at either the Honors or AP level throughout their high school career AND achieving mostly A’s (if not all A’s) in these high level classes. It is one thing to enroll in the most demanding curriculum available, but it is yet another to be able to achieve the necessary high grades in all of them. It is crucial that you know yourself well. What is your academic ability and, most importantly, what is your level of motivation and drive to succeed in classes of this rigor? It will not serve you well to earn a “C” in any of your classes if your dream is to attend a selective college after high school. You must maintain high grades across the curriculum to keep competitive in the applicant pool applying to a highly selective institution.

Is it better to take easier courses and get an “A” or to take harder classes (such as an AP or Honors level class) and get a “B?”

As a general rule, you should always elect to take the highest degree of challenge that is appropriate for you. In perusing your high school transcript, the admissions committee will first look for evidence of academic challenge by examining your course selection. Then they look at your grades to determine how well you have performed at that level of challenge. Admissions officers want students who demonstrate a real love of intellectual pursuit, who are very well-prepared for the rigor of college coursework, and who seek challenge rather than avoid it. In response to this same question posed to a Harvard admissions rep, he said something like: “For our type of school, it is always better to take the most demanding courses available even if it means getting a ‘B,’ but we do hope that you get the ‘A!’” Keep that point in mind when building your schedule of courses.  MyFootpath.com has good articles about pre-college planning and course work.

What can you do if you have taken all of the demanding courses available at your high school or your high school doesn’t offer any AP courses?

Your senior year coursework should show a similar degree of intensity of rigor as you have demonstrated in preceding years. Even better, your courses should demonstrate an even higher degree of challenge than in years past.

Sometimes, though, it is not easy to fill your schedule in your last year of high school with challenging coursework, especially if your high school is small and offers only a small number of classes and limited offerings. Even
if this is the case, you do have options. You could enroll in classes at a college or a university nearby to supplement your regular high school coursework while earning college credit at the same time. If no college is
nearby, you could take an online Distance Learning Course. In addition, you might even approach one of your favorite teachers and ask to do independent study with him/her. Perhaps you could prepare for an Advanced Placement Test on your own in a subject of your interest. If you are whiz in computers, you could study and take the AP exam in computer science. If writing is your forte, perhaps you could prepare for the AP English test. To choose any of these options would require ambition, a trait admissions officers would love to see. You would also be demonstrating your passion for learning and your ability to do college-level work.

Academics is just one part of your high school experience. Your involvement in activities outside the classroom is just as important in the college admissions process. Read on and learn how extra-curricular activities can positively impact the college admissions decision.