High School Course Requirements for College Admissions

While admissions standards vary greatly from one school  to another, nearly all colleges and universities will be looking to see that applicants have completed a standard core curriculum. As you choose classes in high school, these core courses should always get top priority. Students without these classes may be automatically disqualified for admission (even at open-admissions colleges), or they may be admitted provisionally and need to take remedial courses to gain an appropriate level of college readiness. Standard Requirements for College In general, a typical high school core curriculum looks something like this: English: 4 years  Foreign Language: 2 to 3 yearsMath: 3 years  Science: 2 to  3 years, including lab science  Social Studies and History: 2 to 3 years  Art: 1 year Keep in mind that the  required  courses for admission differ from the  recommended  courses. At selective colleges and universities, additional years of math, science, and language will be necessary for you to be a competitive applicant. High School and College Admission Requirements When colleges calculate your GPA for admissions purposes, they will often ignore the GPA on your transcript and focus solely on your grades in these core subject areas. Grades for physical education, music ensembles, and other non-core courses are not as useful for predicting your level of college readiness as these core courses. This doesnt mean that electives arent important, as colleges do want to see that you have a breadth of interests and experiences, but they simply dont provide a good window into an applicants ability to handle rigorous college courses. Core course requirements vary from state to state, and many of the more selective colleges will want to see a strong high school academic record  that goes well beyond the core. Advanced Placement, IB, and Honors courses are a must to be competitive at the most selective colleges. In most cases, the strongest applicants to highly selective colleges will have four years of math (including calculus), four years of science, and four years of a foreign language. If your high school doesnt offer advanced language courses or calculus, the admissions folks will typically learn this from your counselors report, and this wont be held against you. The admissions folks want to see that you have taken the most challenging courses available to you. High schools vary significantly in the types of challenging courses they can provide.   Note that many colleges with holistic admissions do not have specific course requirements for admission. The Yale University admissions website, as an example, states, Yale does not have any specific entrance requirements (for example, there is no foreign language requirement for admission to Yale). But we do look for students who have taken a balanced set of the rigorous classes available to them. Generally speaking, you should try to take courses each year in English, science, math, the social sciences, and foreign language. That said, students without a basic core curriculum would have a hard time gaining entrance to one of the Ivy League schools. Colleges want to admit students who will succeed, and applicants without proper core courses in high school often struggle in college. Sample College Requirements for Admissions The table below shows minimum course recommendations for a sampling of different types of selective colleges. Always keep in mind that the minimum simply means you wont be disqualified immediately. The strongest applicants typically exceed the minimum requirements. College English Math Science Social Studies Language Notes Davidson College 4 yrs 3 yrs 2 yrs 2 yrs 2 yrs 20 units required; 4 years science and math through calculus recommended MIT 4 yrs through calculus bio, chem, physics 2 yrs 2 yr Ohio State University 4 yrs 3 yrs 3 yrs 2 yrs 2 yrs art required; more math, social science, language recommended Pomona College 4 yrs 4 yrs 2 yrs (3 for science majors) 2 yrs 3 yrs Calculus recommended Princeton University 4 yrs 4 yrs 2 yrs 2 yrs 4 yrs AP, IB, and Honors courses recommended Rhodes College 4 yrs through Algebra II 2 yrs (3 preferred) 2 yrs 2 yrs 16 or more units required UCLA 4 yrs 3 yrs 2 yrs 2 yrs 2 yrs (3 recommended) 1 year art and another college prep elective required In general, it isnt difficult to meet these requirements if you put in a little effort as you plan your high school courses with your guidance counselor. The bigger challenge is for students applying to highly selective schools that want to see high school coursework that goes  well beyond minimum core requirements. Always keep in mind that your high school record is the most important part of your college application. When selecting classes, you may be handicapping yourself on the college admissions front if you take the easy path. Source Advice on Selecting High School Courses. Yale University, 2019.