Many high schools offer a variety of program tracks or levels of course offerings.  Students may have the opportunity to take courses at an honors, accelerated, Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) level.  These offerings are generally considered more difficult and demand more work on the student's part.  You may also find it more difficult to earn a high grade in one of these courses.  Faced with these choices, you may be asking yourself, is it better to take an AP course and get a "B" or a regular course and get an "A?" 

What's the best thing to do?

The most selective colleges in the United States look for those students who have challenged themselves and succeeded in the most difficult curriculum their school has to offer.  If you are trying to get into one of these colleges, the college admission committee will be looking carefully at the curriculum offered at your school and determining whether or not you pursued a rigorous program of studies.  The admission committee will be favorably impressed if you took the most difficult courses and if you did well in these courses.  From the perspective of the most selective schools, it's much better to take the AP courses and to get an "A!"

That's what it takes to earn college admission into the most selective colleges in America - a tough high school program and outstanding grades.  Very selective schools have a sufficient number of applicants who can demonstrate that they have met both of these expectations.  They do not have to look for an applicant who has one but not the other.

My school doesn't offer any of these options, am I out of the running?

Colleges and universities understand that the content of the program offered at the high school is beyond the student's control.  They can't expect you to have taken courses that your school does not offer.  The question isn't whether or not you have taken AP, Honors or IB courses, the question really is whether or not you took the most challenging program your school offered.   So while your school may not offer these options, you still will be expected to present a high school transcript that shows that you pushed yourself to the maximum.  That means that you should strive to complete the highest-level offering that your school has in each subject area. 

For example, if the most advanced mathematics course your school offers is in Calculus, the admission officer at a highly selective school will expect to see that you have completed, or are currently enrolled in, that course.  The same is true for foreign language, science and English.

What courses should I take in high school to increase my chances of college admission?

You should take a program that will allow you to keep all of your college options open.  In other words, a program that is demanding and comprehensive.  You will find that a high school experience that includes the following distribution of courses will put you in a good position for admission to more selective and very selective colleges and universities.

Additional work in the arts and humanities is also a positive. 

If you already have a list of preferred colleges, look at their admission materials to see whether or not they have specific requirements.  If they do, make sure that your experience matches their expectations.

I am in a really good school, one that is more competitive than most other schools.  They don't give a lot of "A's."  Does this hurt my chances?

College admission officers spend a great deal of time and attention becoming familiar with high schools.  Each year they visit hundreds of schools in an effort to learn more about what that school has to offer, what kind of students it enrolls and how the school grades its students.  As a result, they usually know which schools have "tough" grading standards and which schools have a more competitive student body. 

To help the college understand the school, secondary schools supply college admission offices with a variety of things like class ranks, grade distributions and what colleges its graduates attend.  This information makes it possible for the college to evaluate the student's performance in the proper context.  For example, an "A" average at a school in which 50% of the students hold an "A" average is not the same as an "A" average at a school where only 5% of the students earn an "A" average. 

The colleges I am considering aren't really all that selective.  Should I still take a hard program in high school?

The opportunity to attend a selective college isn't the most important reason to take a challenging high school program.  No matter what kind of college you eventually attend, you will probably want to do well.  A rigorous high school preparation greatly improves your chances of being successful in college. 

In the end, pursuing a rigorous program in high school keeps your college choice options open and better prepares you to undertake collegiate level study.  Students who write well, read comprehensively, think clearly and grasp mathematical reasoning do well in college.  You develop the skills in high school.  You enhance them in college.