The Five Core Classes: Breadth Over Depth

A student in the foreground sits at a desk with a pen, cell phone, and paper on top.

Why a balanced academic foundation is key.

Parents often wonder, “Should my student focus on classes related to their prospective major or career, and if so, how should they begin?” I’ll dig more into the second part of that in my next blog post, but as for the first part, students should be addressing their high school coursework from a position of breadth, not of depth.

 Ask almost any college and they’ll likely agree that they aren’t looking for students to specialize in high school. They prefer students to demonstrate that they can be successful within the five core course types—English, math, science, social studies, and world language— because that is what they will be expected to do in college. Although your high school may not require you to take 4 credits of each to graduate, most colleges do, in fact, like to see that you have taken them. Maintaining all five core subjects throughout high school shows college readiness and intellectual curiosity.

Admissions officers review transcripts by subject area, not just Grade Point Average. So while your straight-A student may have an unweighted 4.0 GPA, that’s not an automatic in, especially at the highly selective colleges. Students without 4 credits in science, for example, can be an automatic dealbreaker, even if your student’s high school only requires 3 science credits to graduate. Furthermore, if one of those credits was a middle school biology course, that doesn’t mean your student should sit out on a science class senior year even though they do have 4 science credits. In other words, colleges don’t want to see you sitting the bench in the fourth quarter of high school. A humanities lover who skips math or science senior year might seem less prepared for the rigor of college academics. A student taking all AP STEM classes but dropping world language may appear narrowly focused.

Foreign language recommendations tend to be the area I see the most pushback on. In my state (North Carolina), only 2 world language credits are necessary to graduate high school. I would venture to guess that over half of the students I work with abhor their foreign language class experience. They cannot wait to get their two credits out of the way. For plenty of schools, that is totally fine. If it’s that much of a mental and emotional burden, then it’s important to find schools with a policy that aligns with that preference. However, far too often I start meeting with a student junior or senior year and it’s already too late to right the ship for a college like Bard or Boston that requires 4 foreign language credits. Not to mention the myriad of colleges like Johns Hopkins and Harvard that don’t require any yet recommend 4 foreign language credits. 

When course planning, keep it aligned with both college goals and student wellness. As I mentioned above, taking only 2 years of a foreign language isn’t going to automatically bar you from Harvard, but you will want to weigh your pros and cons accordingly when making your class selection decisions. Mix levels strategically — for example, honors English and regular-level science can still reflect balance. The goal is not perfection, but progress and consistency across all five core areas. Have open, strategic conversations with your teens each year about class choices and balance. 

A well-rounded academic foundation doesn’t just impress colleges — it builds confidence, adaptability, and lifelong curiosity.

Equip your student for success with our Ultimate College Readiness Checklist! This essential guide covers all high school years, ensuring they excel in every step of the college application process.