For students hoping to attend an Ivy League or other highly selective college, one of the most important parts of the application starts years before they ever open the Common App.
It starts with the classes they choose.
Selective colleges aren’t simply looking for students with high GPAs. They want to understand the academic choices students made within the opportunities available to them.
Did the student challenge themselves? Did they pursue advanced coursework when it made sense? Did their academic choices become more rigorous over time? And do those choices support the interests they say they want to pursue in college?
For families targeting highly selective schools, course selection should therefore be part of a larger admissions strategy beginning early in high school.
Our four-year roadmap for building an Ivy League profile starting in 9th grade explains how academics, extracurriculars and application strategy can develop together throughout high school.
Here, we’ll focus specifically on the academic side: What classes should a student take if they’re hoping to attend an Ivy League or Top 20 college?
Do Ivy League Colleges Care About Course Rigor?
Yes. But course rigor needs to be understood in context.
Colleges receive a student’s transcript along with information about the high school they attend. That means admissions officers can evaluate the courses a student selected based on what was actually available to them.
A student attending a school that offers 25 AP classes has different options from a student attending a school that offers five.
This is why there isn’t a universal number of AP, IB or honors courses that every student needs.
The better question is:
Did the student build a challenging academic program based on the opportunities available at their school and their ability to succeed in those courses?
For students targeting the most selective colleges, the answer should generally demonstrate substantial academic rigor.
But “take every advanced class available” isn’t a strategy.
The goal is to build an appropriately challenging academic program in which the student can also perform well.
What Classes Do Ivy League and Top Colleges Expect?
Requirements vary by college, so students should always review the specific recommendations of the schools they’re considering.
As a general foundation, competitive applicants should expect to build a high school program that includes sustained study across the major academic disciplines:
- English
- Mathematics
- Laboratory science
- History and social science
- World language
Students should be cautious about dropping a core academic subject too early simply because they have already completed their high school’s graduation requirement.
A student targeting highly selective colleges should think beyond:
“What do I need to graduate?”
and instead ask:
“What academic preparation makes sense for the colleges and programs I’m considering?”
Those can be very different standards.
How Many AP Classes Should You Take for Ivy League Admissions?
There is no magic number.
Taking six AP classes does not automatically make a student more competitive than someone taking four. And taking 12 doesn’t guarantee admission anywhere.
Context matters.
Admissions officers can consider:
- Which advanced courses the high school offers
- When students are allowed to begin taking them
- The student’s overall course load
- The progression in difficulty from year to year
- Performance in those courses
- The student’s academic interests
- Other demands on the student’s time
For example, imagine one high school offers 20 AP courses while another offers only six.
A student at the second school shouldn’t be penalized simply because they couldn’t take courses that didn’t exist.
At the same time, a student applying to highly selective colleges who consistently chooses less demanding options despite having access to appropriate advanced courses may present a different academic profile.
The objective is rigor in context, not accumulating AP classes for the sake of accumulating them.
AP vs. IB vs. Dual Enrollment: Which Is Best?
Families often ask whether colleges prefer AP, IB or dual-enrollment courses.
There isn’t one universally superior option.
Each can demonstrate academic rigor.
AP Courses
Advanced Placement courses provide standardized, college-level curricula across individual subjects. They can be particularly useful when students want to demonstrate advanced study in specific academic areas.
IB Courses
The International Baccalaureate program offers a rigorous, structured curriculum emphasizing critical thinking, writing, research and interdisciplinary learning.
Students pursuing the full IB Diploma take a coordinated set of advanced courses rather than selecting individual advanced classes independently.
Dual Enrollment
Dual-enrollment programs allow high school students to take college-level courses, often through a local college or university.
These can be particularly useful when a student has exhausted the advanced coursework available at their high school or wants to pursue a subject beyond what the school offers.
The right choice depends on the student, the high school and the available curriculum.
Should You Take the Hardest Classes Available?
Not automatically. This is where families can get into trouble.
A student may hear that selective colleges want rigorous coursework and conclude that they should take every AP or advanced class available.
But an overloaded schedule can backfire if the student becomes overwhelmed and academic performance suffers significantly.
Instead, students should consider:
- Which subjects are genuine academic strengths?
- Which advanced courses align with their interests?
- How demanding will the total schedule be?
- What extracurricular, athletic, work or family commitments does the student have?
- Can the student realistically succeed in the proposed schedule?
There is an important difference between challenging yourself and overloading yourself.
A thoughtful academic plan considers both rigor and performance.
Should Your Classes Relate to Your Intended College Major?
For students who already have a strong academic interest, course selection can help demonstrate that interest. A prospective engineering student, for example, might pursue the most advanced math and physics courses available. A student interested in economics might pursue calculus, statistics, economics or advanced social sciences. A prospective writer or humanities student might take advanced English, history, world language or other writing-intensive courses. A future pre-med student might build a strong foundation in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics.
This doesn’t mean a 14-year-old needs to choose a career and design every high school class around it. Students change their minds.
But as genuine interests develop, academic choices can provide opportunities to explore those interests more deeply.
The same principle applies outside the classroom. Our guide to extracurricular activities for college admissions explains how students can deepen their interests through activities, leadership, independent projects and other experiences.
Together, coursework and extracurricular activities can help create a clearer picture of what genuinely interests the student.
Does Senior-Year Course Rigor Matter?
Absolutely.
One mistake students sometimes make is assuming that because most applications are submitted during senior year, senior-year classes don’t matter very much.
They do.
Colleges see the courses a student is taking during senior year, and many receive midyear grades as well.
For a student applying to selective colleges, senior year generally should not look like the student stopped challenging themselves as soon as junior year ended.
That doesn’t mean senior year must be impossibly difficult.
But students should think carefully before dropping core academic subjects or replacing challenging courses with a noticeably lighter schedule.
Senior year is still part of the student’s academic record.
What Classes Should Students Take in 9th Grade?
Freshman year is about establishing a strong academic foundation.
Students should focus on:
- Adjusting successfully to high school
- Developing effective study habits
- Taking appropriately challenging courses
- Building strong foundational skills in math, English, science, history and world language
- Exploring subjects that may become deeper interests later
Students do not need to fill freshman year with the most advanced courses imaginable simply to prove something to colleges.
The objective is to establish a foundation from which academic rigor can increase over time.
Our college admissions timeline by grade provides a broader look at what families should be thinking about during each year of high school.
What Classes Should Students Take in 10th Grade?
Sophomore year is often when academic interests begin becoming clearer.
Students may begin:
- Increasing the rigor of their coursework
- Taking additional honors or advanced classes
- Identifying subjects they particularly enjoy
- Considering which AP, IB or advanced courses make sense for junior year
- Exploring potential academic or career interests outside the classroom
This is also a good time to look ahead.
Course sequencing matters.
The math class a student takes in 10th grade, for example, can affect which math courses are available in 11th and 12th grade.
Families shouldn’t evaluate each year’s schedule in isolation.
What Classes Should Students Take in 11th Grade?
Junior year is often one of the most academically important years of high school.
For students targeting highly selective colleges, this may be the year when the academic program becomes substantially more rigorous.
Depending on the student and school, that could include:
- AP courses
- IB courses
- Honors courses
- Dual enrollment
- Advanced math
- Advanced laboratory sciences
- Higher-level world language
- Specialized electives connected to academic interests
Junior year is also when students are balancing academics with standardized testing, extracurricular leadership, college research and other responsibilities.
That makes thoughtful scheduling particularly important.
A challenging schedule is useful only if the student can manage it successfully.
What Classes Should Students Take in 12th Grade?
Senior-year schedules should continue the academic trajectory established during the previous three years.
For many highly competitive applicants, this means continuing advanced coursework in core academic subjects while also pursuing classes connected to their interests.
Students should avoid thinking of senior year as a victory lap.
At the same time, they should consider the demands of the application process itself. Essays, supplemental applications, interviews and deadlines can consume significant time during the fall.
The strongest senior schedule isn’t necessarily the one with the greatest number of advanced courses.
It’s the one that demonstrates continued academic engagement while remaining manageable.
What If My High School Doesn’t Offer Many AP or Advanced Classes?
Students are evaluated in the context of the opportunities available to them.
You cannot take a class your school doesn’t offer.
However, students who have exhausted their school’s curriculum or want additional academic challenge may have other options, depending on their circumstances.
These might include:
- Dual-enrollment courses
- College courses
- Approved online courses
- Independent study
- Academic research
- Summer coursework
Students should not assume they need to independently recreate a curriculum their high school doesn’t provide.
The key is making thoughtful use of the opportunities that are reasonably available.
Do Summer Classes Help With College Admissions?
Sometimes, but summer coursework shouldn’t exist simply to add another impressive-looking line to an application.
Summer can be valuable for:
- Exploring an academic interest
- Taking a course unavailable during the school year
- Pursuing research
- Developing a skill
- Participating in a meaningful academic program
- Taking college-level coursework
- Creating space in the regular-year schedule
But not every expensive summer program provides an admissions advantage.
What matters is what the student actually gains from the experience and how it fits into the student’s broader interests.
Common Course-Selection Mistakes for Highly Selective College Applicants
Taking advanced classes simply to accumulate them
More isn’t always better. Course choices should demonstrate challenge while remaining appropriate for the student.
Choosing an easier schedule solely to protect the GPA
A perfect GPA doesn’t tell the entire academic story if a student consistently avoided appropriate academic challenges.
Overloading and hurting academic performance
The opposite problem is equally real. An unnecessarily overloaded schedule can create significant stress and negatively affect performance.
Dropping core subjects too early
Meeting high school graduation requirements isn’t necessarily the same as building the strongest academic preparation for selective college admissions.
Ignoring course sequencing
The choices students make freshman and sophomore year can determine which advanced courses become available later.
Waiting until junior year to think strategically
Academic planning works best when families consider the entire four-year progression rather than making each year’s choices independently.
Build a Four-Year Academic Strategy, Not Just Next Year’s Schedule
One of the biggest advantages of starting college planning early is the ability to make intentional decisions over time.
The question shouldn’t simply be:
“Which AP classes should I take next year?”
It should be:
“What academic path makes sense for this particular student over four years?”
That means considering the student’s:
- Academic strengths
- Interests
- Potential college majors
- Target colleges
- High school’s curriculum
- Course sequencing
- Extracurricular commitments
- Testing plans
- Workload
- Long-term admissions goals
That academic plan should also connect to the rest of the student’s profile.
As we explain in How to Get Into a Top 20 College: What Actually Works, selective admissions isn’t about finding one perfect GPA, test score, extracurricular activity or course schedule.
It’s about building a strong, coherent application over time.
Get Help Building Your Student’s Academic and Admissions Plan
Families don’t need to wait until senior year to begin working with a college admissions consultant.
In fact, course selection is one of the reasons earlier planning can be valuable.
At Concierge College Consulting, we work one-on-one with students and families to develop an individualized college admissions strategy based on the student’s academic profile, interests and goals.
That can include guidance around course selection, extracurricular development, testing, college lists and eventually the application and essay process.
For students beginning earlier in high school, the objective isn’t to turn every decision into a college admissions calculation.
It’s to make sure today’s choices don’t unnecessarily limit tomorrow’s opportunities.
Explore CCC’s college admissions consulting packages to see how we support students at different stages of the admissions process.
Frequently Asked Questions About High School Classes and College Admissions
How many AP classes do you need for Ivy League colleges?
There is no required number of AP courses for Ivy League admission. Students are evaluated based partly on the curriculum available at their high school and the academic choices they make within that context.
Do Ivy League colleges prefer AP or IB?
There is no universal preference that applies to every Ivy League institution or applicant. Both AP and IB coursework can demonstrate academic rigor. Students should build a challenging curriculum based on what their high school offers and what makes sense for their academic goals.
Is it better to get an A in an honors class or a B in an AP class?
There isn’t a universal formula. Colleges consider both course rigor and academic performance. Students should pursue appropriately challenging courses in which they have a reasonable opportunity to succeed.
Do colleges care what classes you take senior year?
Yes. Colleges can see a student’s senior-year course schedule, and many also receive midyear grades. Students targeting selective colleges should generally continue taking appropriately rigorous courses during senior year.
Do you need four years of a foreign language for Ivy League colleges?
Requirements and recommendations vary by institution. Students should check the current policies of the colleges they’re considering before making course-selection decisions.
Does dual enrollment look good for Ivy League admissions?
Dual enrollment can demonstrate academic challenge, particularly when it allows a student to pursue coursework beyond what is available at their high school. Its value depends on the student’s overall academic program and circumstances.
When should families start planning high school classes for college?
Ideally, families should begin thinking about the four-year academic progression during freshman year because early course choices can affect which advanced classes become available later. Students don’t need a complete college list at 14, but understanding course sequencing early can preserve future options.
