Spanish 3 versus AP Biology versus some general elective

Answered

Hi @digital,

Thanks for your question. This is a good one. It's nice you are looking out for him.

Okay, here is the tea. All these schools are highly competitive so they want to see more core coursework than less core foundational work. So one common theme is that they give ranges and recommendations. For foreign language, UCLA/SCU recommends 3 years and USC 2-4 years. For lab sciences, UCLA/SCU recommends 3 years and USC 2-4.

What this tells me is that unless you are a legacy, faculty brat, recruited athlete, or huge $$$ donor, you want your kid to have 3 years of language and 3 years of science minimum okay? Otherwise, he becomes a less and less compelling applicant with core coursework he is not competitive with. Remember those who meet minimums are not compelling applicants. Those who exceed minimums and exceed preferred levels are compelling.

So right now he should be doing BOTH Spanish 3 and AP BIO senior year and removing any electives that are not core foundational coursework.

Santa Clara University- Before Applying

You should meet our minimum high school course requirements:

History and Social Science: 3 years

English: 4 years

Mathematics: 3 years required; 4 years recommended

Laboratory Science: 2 years required; 3 years recommended

Language Other Than English: 2 years required; 3 years recommended; 4 years preferred

Visual and Performing Arts: 1 year recommended

USC -A college preparatory track should include:

• English And Literature: 4 Years

• Math: 3–4 years

Students are expected to have earned a grade of C or better in at least three years of high school mathematics, including Advanced Algebra (Algebra II). However, we recommend that students continue taking math courses beyond Advanced Algebra when possible.

• Foreign Language: 2–4 years

• Laboratory/Natural/Physical Science: 2–4 years

• History and Social Science: 2 years

• Academic Electives: 3 years

UCLA - (other UCs are similar)

Academic Preparation

You must complete 15 A-G courses with at least 11 courses finished prior to the beginning of your last year of high school. To be competitive in the UCLA admission process, applicants should present an academic profile much stronger than any minimum UC admission requirements. See below for a listing of the A-G requirements:

2 years history/social science

4 years of college-preparatory English

3 years of mathematics (4 years recommended)

2 years of laboratory science (3 years recommended)

2 years of language other than English (3 years recommended)

1 year of visual and performing arts (if available)

1 year of college-preparatory elective

Good luck