I just discovered that the University of Delaware requires high school students to have 4 years of history/social studies in high school. Does anyone know of any other schools that have this requirement? For many STEM students like my child this seems like a surprising requirement.
The point of this requirement is that students should enter college well-educated across the curriculum, having challenged themsselves in classes that demand more analytical reading and writing skills. So most schools that are a least moderately selective will either require or recommend four years in all core subjects, including social studies. High school is the place to establish a broad foundation, not prepare for a specific college major.
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First-Year Students Admissions Requirements | University of Delaware lists the 4 years of history and social studies as being required, but āAt least two of the social studies units must be history courses, and one of these history courses must be world history. An additional unit of math or science may be substituted for the fourth social studies unit. Social science courses like psychology can count toward the remainder of the social studies four-unit requirement.ā
This suggests that the fourth year of history or social studies is actually effectively an academic elective limited to history, other social studies, math, or science.
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Thank you, but respectfully, I donāt think this is great advice. Most college admission people will highly recommend a student has a āspikeā, that is, an area of strong interest and expertise. This shows passion for an area and helps that applicant stand out from all the generic applicants. And course we arenāt talking about not taking history at all during high school. We are still talking about 3 years of history, and almost surely more in college due to distribution requirements. This seems likely sufficient for a future scientist, engineer or banker, for example.
Well, even Harvard only suggests three years of history as being āidealā. Itās rare that 4 years is required rather than recommended, but the clarification above that the 4th year can be substituted with a math or science also means it is not actually fully required.
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This is very helpful, thank you.
You can google the common data set for any college and you can see the schoolās minimum required/recommended HS coursework.
For the most selective colleges, the spike (or exceptional achievement of some sort) preferably sits on top of a well-rounded academic base that is something approximating 4 years in each of the five academic core areas plus a year of arts (though there may be some leeway for applicants from 6-period high schools who may have difficulty fitting all of that in along with stuff like PE and health requirements).
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I donāt know of any colleges that require four years of SS.
A āspikeā is not necessary for the vast majority of colleges. And I agree with ucbalumnusā¦spikes are in addition to a well rounded rigorous curriculum. Most students donāt have a spike. I define a spike as a high level achievement and/or award.
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A āspikeā is all the basics covered with one area that is extremely strong; if the would be spike is a linear subject (math, foreign language) level reached would be post AP, sometimes significantly so; if the subject is broad and non linear (English, Social science/history, Science) then number of units beyond the basic 4 is more relevant.
So, for a STEM kid wishing to attend a more than moderately selective university (most State flagships, Polytech/stem public universities, Top 40-80LACsā¦), the expectation would be 4 units each of History/social science and English, foreign language through level 3 or 4, with Math through Calculus and 4 science units including some at AP level and including Physics. For a spike, Math would be MVC/Diff Eqs/Discrete and/or AP Physics C (both) or college level General Physics/Chemistry and/or STEM electives (CS, PLTW) on top of the above, with some leeway wrt the 4th year of social science, science, or foreign language if the university is selective but not significantly so.
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I would be surprised there are many schools that require four years of history or social science. Many schools donāt even offer our years in high school.
That is a piece of advices that really is really mostly relevant when applying to a handful of very popular private colleges, and even then itās not accurate.
At all public universities, the primary criteria are academic. With non-academic criteria, they are looking at evidence that the student has other interests and invests in things other than school work. Unless they are looking to recruit a students as an athlete, they really donāt care that much that an applicant has a non-academic EC in which they gained national recognition. At some flagships and large publics, only academics matter, and a very large proportion of the students are auto-admits based on GPA, test scores and/or class rank.
For a small number of private colleges which both have holistic admissions and are very popular, things can be different. Since they are looking to have a wide variety of students, they often like finding students with something that differentiates them from all other applicants who are academically very strong.
However, almost all applicants are āspikyā, since very few people, much less teenagers, are really interested in more than one or two areas.
In fact, that is why many of these colleges have requirements like āfour years of social sciencesā. They want students who have a well-rounded academics before the student starts college. People who have well rounded educations do better in their own narrow fields of interest, despite what they may think.
I have dealt with engineers who cannot communicate, with architects who have no understanding of physics and material science, physicians who donāt understand physical chemistry, historians who donāt understand basic human biology, and physicists who have no idea about what you can do in a populated area. All had the same philosophy that having one āstrong area of interests and expertiseā will make them better at what they do.
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The University of Alabama does. Freshman Admission | University of Alabama
Our high school only requires 3 years and there arenāt great choices for the 4th year. We asked admissions and a 2nd year of a world language can be substituted for it.
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With an acceptance rate of around 76%, I expect Alabama is quite generous with what they consider āsocial studiesā. Like yours, there are many high schools that donāt have good (or even any) options for 4 years of SS. (no shade at all to Alabama)
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Probably for OOS applicants at least. I believe I read the state of Alabama requires 4 years in high school, so in-state applicants should have it.
As I recall, there were quite a few schools S24 looked at that said something like they ārecommendedā (not required) ā3-4ā. The suggested interpretation of that recommendation at his feederish HS with plenty of advanced History and Social Science electives is you should probably do History/SS electives senior year, unless you had a really good and obvious reason not to.
Then most kids I know about did that, and that did not seem to stop them from getting into arbitrarily selective colleges. I am actually skeptical about āspike theoryā to begin with, but I agree whatever it plausibly means, it does not mean every selective college wants you to have an unbalanced HS academic record.
But some, like Caltech, say, only requires one year each of History and Social Studies, and recommends only three total. The way we would interpret that, Caltech might be more inclined than some others to prefer additional STEM as a senior.
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Yet they only require one year of foreign language. I think everywhere else Iāve looked at requires at least 2. So for most students it would be easy to make the same substitution you are, I guess.
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I donāt believe that is true IF the student hasnāt met their requirements for taking a well rounded high school course of study.
IOW, there are many STEM students who will also have taken four years each of English, social studies, math, science, and up to level 3 or 4 of foreign language AND then added electives or were accelerated in math to get to higher levels of study.
ETAā¦āsocial studiesā is a very broad academic area that includes history, civic, and many other courses. Check with your high school to see which courses are in the social studies arena. I think you will find something of interest.
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The American higher ed system has always been rooted in having a classic liberal arts education. Students need to have an understanding of the world, their place in it, and how to read and write properly. Students at MIT take social studies and history and English. The same is true at many other US colleges known for STEM. A kid who only wants to take science classes doesnāt get an exemption. There are universities in other countries that donāt have such requirements.
No college requires a spike and kids get into Stanford and Harvard with nary a spike to be found. Those colleges are seeking qualities, not spikes.
If your student is aiming for the most selective schools, it is best to ensure your child meets their recommended high school course sequence.
As a side note, given the decline in writing and language skills and lack of historical knowledge many students seem to have at the moment, I hope colleges continue to seek these minimum requirements.
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I agree this is so dependent on the schools that OPās kid is targeting. The more selective the school, the more likely it is that the majority of admits will have four years in all five core subject areas. Wesleyan, for example, is directly saying in admissions sessions that applicants really need four years in all core areas to be competitive. OPās kid can ask these questions of their AO and/or when they are in live or virtual admission sessions.
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