Next Year’s Curriculum – What to Take?

Spring is the time for high school students to consider next year’s classes.  Curriculum rigor is essential to prove a student will do well in college classes.  Let’s consider these questions to ask when setting up next year’s course load. 

Consider Your College Program of Study – For example, if the student plans on majoring in Psychology, perhaps AP Statistics makes more sense than Calculus. Of course, a student majoring in engineering is Calculus bound and should take the course in high school to prepare.  For a major such as construction management, some schools require first-year students to take Calculus while other schools do not.  Do your homework! – review the core curriculum requirements for your program of study.  Each school’s academic section within their websites hosts this information.

The Common Data Set – This is an excellent tool for obtaining basic facts such as the high school credits a college or university requires.

For example, let’s consider three Virginia public colleges/universities and the recommended foreign language requirement.

• The College of William and Mary – 4 years

• University of Virginia – 5 years

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute – 3 years

Careful high school curriculum planning is vital to the college application process!