Thoughts on high school activities
High school is an important time in your development. It represents 4 years during which you're growing rapidly, and what you do in high school plays a major role in shaping your future prospects.
Your high school experience will include:
- Coursework
- Extracurricular activities
- Standardized tests
- College applications
Coursework
The basics
High schools have graduation requirements. Depending on your high school's requirements and your future ambitions, your coursework will likely include at least the courses required for admission by the University of California:
- World history and United States history
- Four years of English
- Three years of math, including Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2.
- Two of biology, chemistry and physics.
- Two years of foreign language.
- One year of visual or performing arts.
In order to get into prestigious colleges, you'll almost certainly have to take more demanding courses than the minimal requirements for University of California admission. For example, Stanford University's department of admissions says:
We expect freshman applicants have engaged in a rigorous curriculum and chosen from among the most demanding courses available in secondary school. It is not necessary to have loaded your schedule with every advanced course offered; but if such courses are available to you, we expect you have taken advantage of many of them. Our most competitive freshman applicants often have four years (grades 9-12) of English, four years of math (including calculus), four years of social studies, four years of science (including biology, chemistry and physics) and four years of a foreign language.
When you consider which high school courses to tkae