The Right Classes
Your picks in this lesson save to My Plan.
Here's the secret that breaks hearts every spring: before any human reads your application, a computer checks whether you took the required classes. Miss one, one year of a language, one math level, and many schools screen you out automatically, no matter how good your grades are. This lesson makes sure that never happens to you.
Before you start: where are you now?
Rate yourself honestly. Nobody sees this but you.
The typical minimums
Most four-year colleges require something close to this. Always check each school you care about (their admissions page lists it, or look them up on BigFuture):
Transcript detective
Jamie is a solid-B student applying to a state university. Here's Jamie's four-year plan. The computer is about to scan it. Can you find the problems before it does?
| 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th |
| English I Math 1 Earth Science World History PE / Health Art |
English II Math 2 Biology (lab) Civics Spanish I Weightlifting |
English III Consumer Math Anatomy Psychology Chorus Study hall |
English IV (no math) Sports Marketing Economics Yearbook Early release |
Now audit YOUR plan
Check everything you've already taken or are officially scheduled for. Be honest, the computer will be.
The fix, by grade
- 9th–10th grade: you have ALL the time. Just make sure the math sequence keeps advancing (toward Algebra 2, not away from it) and start a language you'll stick with for two years.
- 11th grade: this is the LAST easy year to fix a gap. Missing a language year or a lab science? Get it on next year's schedule now.
- 12th grade: take math senior year even if you've technically met the minimum. Colleges notice a math-free senior year, and college placement tests punish the rust. Gaps now can still be fixed with summer or community-college courses. Ask your counselor THIS WEEK.
- Any grade: bring your gap report to your counselor and ask exactly this: "Do my scheduled classes meet the minimum admission requirements for [schools you care about]? What am I missing?" Make them answer from the college's list, not from graduation requirements. graduating from high school and qualifying for college are two different checklists.
Add to your plan
Your gap report (above) can go straight onto My Plan as "classes to check with my counselor." Run the audit, then hit the button.
After the lesson: where are you now?
The big idea
The saddest rejection is the automatic one, a door that quietly closed back in 10th grade. Requirements aren't hard to meet; they're easy to miss. Now you won't. Next: how to pay for what's behind the door.