College Preparation
No matter what career path you choose, you need to start preparing yourself for your career and for college during your high school years. If you plan on attending a college or university, you need to complete the college preparatory curriculum at your high school.
Academic Requirements
The classes you take, your GPA (Grade Point Average), your class rank and the results of your standardized tests will all play a role in your college admission process. Most colleges calculate your GPA using the grades you achieve in the core academic classes.
Review the core requirements with your guidance counselor, but they usually include at least three or four years of the following:
- Math
- English
- Social Sciences
- Science
The difficulty of the courses you take (sometimes referred to as minimum core or rigorous core) also plays an important role. It is usually better to take more difficult courses and get average grades than to take easier courses and get the easy “A”. If you are stronger in certain subjects, take higher-level classes in those subjects. If your high school offers Advanced Placement (AP) courses, take advantage of them.
College admissions usually consider class rank — where you rank compared to others in your graduating class. Class rank is determined by your grade point average.
In addition to your GPA, rank, and course requirements, colleges will also carefully review your scores on the standardized tests such as the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) and the ACT (American College Test).
There are practice tests online and detailed descriptions of all of the test requirements. Listed below are just some of the sites we recommend.
SAT
Preparation
ACT Preparation
SAT
and PSAT Registration and Preparation