High School Curriculum

College admissions officers place the greatest value on the high school transcript, both in the choice of academic courses and in the grades achieved in those courses. Our experience has taught us that students who take demanding courses in areas that are the most important to the colleges, who follow through on these subjects at the most advanced level possible for them, and succeed in those courses have more options at more selective colleges. Keep in mind that the more competitive colleges will be looking for a program that exceeds high school graduation requirements.

The academic disciplines most valued by the colleges include: English, history, math, science, and world languages. Philosophy and government are also valued as courses in which students have to write and which challenge them to master the English language. In contrast, psychology and economics, for instance, are not as valued in the admissions process, except when they demonstrate your interest and fit for a prospective major.

At the same time, good grades in regular (college preparatory, non-honors, non-AP, or Standard Level IB) courses will open doors at many excellent colleges. Competitive colleges and universities prefer applicants to complete math through at least pre-calculus. They also look for follow-through in the major lab sciences—biology, physics and chemistry. Four years of a world language can offset a weaker science program. Many high schools are now also requiring electives in computer science and/or personal finance.

Here is an example of a solid high school curriculum:

Good grades in such a program will be sufficient for many colleges. But if you are a strong student aiming at more selective colleges, you may need to follow a more advanced program (to the extent your school offers higher level courses).

Math: A more challenging program might include calculus or AP Calculus, either the most advanced BC level for top math students or AB for strong students. Some students would like to select statistics as their math follow-through, however, it is less desirable to the colleges than calculus. The strongest math students may follow up AP Calculus in junior year with multivariable calculus or linear algebra.

Science: Taking the three primary lab sciences—biology, chemistry, and physics is the standard; a follow-up at the AP level in at least one of them makes the program significantly stronger. AP Environmental Science is valued if the student is committed to a future in the field or isn’t strong enough to thrive in AP Biology, Chemistry, or Physics, but it is generally considered a more modest AP course.

World Languages: Discontinuing a language and starting another one in the junior and senior year is not an ideal progression as colleges prefer to see students persevere through the third year or fourth year when the literature of the language is being studied in the original text. Four or five years of one language and two years of another is fine, but the colleges want to see a thorough follow-through in at least one.

Putting it all together, the following program would be competative at most selective colleges:

Top students aiming for the most selective colleges often take an even more rigorous curriculum.

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB)

Students planning to pursue the highly regarded, two-year IB Diploma Programme would be well-served by choosing IB courses within the five core subject areas U.S. colleges most value: English, math, world language, science (biology, chemistry, physics) and history or global politics. For example, more selective colleges would prefer one of the three core lab sciences instead of Environmental Systems and Societies or Sports, Exercise & Health Science. Similarly, History would be better than Psychology or Business Management. This is particularly true for subjects pursued at higher level (HL). If you are considering a STEM major and are planning to attend a more selective college, ideally two of your three HL courses will be (Mathematics) Advanced Analysis and Approaches, and either Biology, Chemistry or Physics.

THE BALANCING ACT

While colleges value students who have challenged themselves in the classroom, they also expect your transcript to show strong and/or improving grades. Therefore, it is important to pursue a program in which you can be successful and avoid undue stress. While willingness to take an advanced class is admirable, you should avoid taking a class you will struggle in that might adversely impact your grades in that or other classes. Our general rule of thumb is if you can achieve a B+ or better in the more advanced level, go for it! Please be sure to discuss your curriculum planning with us to ensure you are making appropriate choices within your high school’s offerings and your abilities.