No matter what your college aspirations are, it is a good idea to take college prep courses in the above areas. This will help keep your options open when college admissions time rolls around.

The most rigorous courses offered in high schools today are Honors, AP and IB courses.

DEFINITION OF HONORS, AP, AND IB COURSES
Offered from freshman through senior years in most schools, honors courses are usually the first level of advanced courses that are available to students in high school. Some schools require students to take certain honors courses and receive at least B grades as a prerequisite for enrolling in AP or IB courses.

Advanced Placement Program (AP) courses are offered by high schools in a number of content areas (see chapter on AP tests for a list) for which the College Board offers examinations in May of every year. Graded on a scale from 1-5 (5 = the maximum score), students with higher AP test scores are often eligible for college credit and/or advanced placement into some classes at college.

International Baccalaureate (IB) courses are a part of a two-year program usually taken during students’ junior and senior years, which lead to an IB high school degree. IB tests are also offered at the end of each school year, and scored on a 1-7 scale (7 = the maximum score). Many colleges also accept IB test scores for college credit and/or advanced placement into college classes. AP and IB courses are usually more difficult than honors courses. Information about the IB program is available on their website: http://www.ibo.org

Taking rigorous courses is one thing, but having a balanced life is just as important. As for how many advanced courses to take, choose as many challenging courses as you can handle well, along with the other things you do. Students with learning disabilities must be especially careful about not taking on too much.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! For students wishing to apply to the Ivies and other selective colleges, take as many of the above as Honors, AP and IB courses as makes sense. A good number of “solids” is 20 by the time you finish your senior year. Students can check the specific requirements of the colleges in which they are interested by consulting the High School Preparation section for each college on their own websites, and also as listed in The College Board's College Handbook.

FRESHMAN TIMELINE FOR ACADEMIC WORK

COURSES
The courses you choose as a freshman set the stage for course selection for the rest of your high school and even college career. For example, if you take French 1 as a freshman, you can take Honors or French 2 as a sophomore, French 3 or AP French Language as a junior and then AP French or French Literature as a senior.

GRADES
Freshman year can be an important time to establish yourself as a good student. After all, teachers talk among themselves; so by having good grades in at least a couple of tough courses your first year, the likelihood of your reputation preceding you is much enhanced.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! Colleges look for grade trends. If you happen not to do that well in a course or two during your freshman year, it’s not the end of the world. However, getting good grades from that point on is important.