The 20 Course Core: Choosing a High School Program
What do colleges want to see on a student’s high school transcript?
Let’s start with a quiz:
Which school requires more years of high school math: Arizona State or UCLA?
Which school recommends more years of foreign language: Cal Poly or Stanford?
You might be surprised at the answers.
In California, our public university systems dominate our understanding of high school course requirements. Students here are well aware of the “A-G” courses which make them eligible for our University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems.
In our quest to remember just which set of courses count as “C,” we often forget that the A-G system sets minimum requirements for eligibility–not a guarantee of admission or even a high bar. Indeed, the most competitive UCs (and CSUs!) take pains to remind prospective students of this fact. As a general rule, the more competitive the campus and the major to which the student is applying, the higher the A-G bar will be for its applicants.
For example, UCLA’s Engineering website reminds prospective students that “merely meeting the minimum eligibility requirements of the University is rarely sufficient for admission to an engineering major” (emphasis added).
Similarly, UC Berkeley’s EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) program explains that UC Berkeley evaluates “a student’s academic performance as measured primarily by the college preparatory, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate Higher Level (IBHL), honors and transferable college courses completed beyond the UC minimum” (emphasis added).
These higher bars aren’t limited to the UCs; impacted CSUs, desperate for any extra filter to sort the overload of applications, have also entered the game of raising the bar on A-G.
In a state dominated by its large public school system, California students also often forget that private schools don’t have to follow A-G at all, and that out-of-state public schools have their own minimum requirements. There are surprises behind every door.
Here’s a somewhat random selection of schools, public, private, and out-of-state.
Notes: I list A-G to broadly represent the UC/CSUs, but I’ve included Cal Poly since their recommendations are so different from A-G and (perhaps?) provide a clue as to the expectations of more competitive California schools. I have quoted or bolded a few interesting requirements; all others are exact or shortened to convey the key information.
*According to ASU’s website: “Applicants must successfully complete the ASU competency requirements. Admission may be granted with one deficiency in no more than two competency areas. Deficiencies cannot be in both math and laboratory science.”
**According to Stanford’s website: “We recommend you pursue a reasonably challenging curriculum, choosing courses from among the most demanding available at your school. We ask you to exercise good judgment and to consult with your counselor, teachers and parents as you construct a curriculum that is right for you. Our hope is that your curriculum will inspire you to develop your intellectual interests, not suffer from unnecessary stress.”
What can we learn from this quick comparison? One is that the most elite schools have little motivation to publish clear guidelines and the most freedom to wiggle when a student they like doesn’t meet them. Publicly-funded schools, under intense pressure to admit as many qualified candidates as they possibly can, must set a clearly defined bar for minimum admission, raising that bar at individual campuses and programs which are facing the highest load of applications.
What does this mean for a student trying to choose which classes to take next year?
There are some practical lessons to be learned from such comparisons.
In science, while A-G asks for a minimum of two years and specifies a wider range of options, some schools want a traditional biology, chemistry, and physics core. Why? These three courses are required at the college level for a surprisingly wide range of majors, and colleges want students who have had a high school course (especially for chemistry and physics) before they are required to take the course in college. When deciding whether or not to take physics in particular, a student would do well to search for the course requirements for specific majors at specific colleges. (Just one quick example: Marine Biology at UC San Diego requires a full year of physics for the major.)
Foreign language is like the wild west of college admission requirements. Cal Poly is the boldest in recommending four years; I suspect others would say the same if they felt they could. Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) and even Career and Technical Education (CTE) hold surprises, too (two recommended for Cal Poly but none for Stanford? Really?), which leaves any student wanting to create a solid program to wonder just what the “right” choice is.
As it always is in college admissions, the right answer is, “It depends.” A prospective engineering student might make a wise choice to give up tje fourth year of language to make room for another science or math course. A linguistics major, or even a business major, however, might want to consider continuing their language education as it could be more directly related to their fields of study.
With no other information, it’s safe to say that a traditional “20 Course Core” — 4 years each of English, history, math, science, and foreign language–is a strong traditional route which sends a clear message that the student is preparing themselves for college-level coursework. It’s also safe to say that there are courses outside this core which would enrich students’ experiences and bring them joy, growth, and even a greater understanding of their career interests, all of which are valid considerations.
At this time of year, I have many conversations which begin with, “Do I have to take X course?” My response is often, “If you don’t, what will you do instead?” Even in the face of “recommended” course paths, when the answer to that question is compelling, moving off the traditional path can often be the right choice.
