The College Preparatory Pathway

At Oak Park High School, there is a presumption that most students are working toward the goal of entering a two or four-year college upon graduation. With that assumption we have posted here on our website the activities, procedures and information sources that will assist in achieving that goal. There are 2,400+ four-year colleges and universities in the United States and they have varying levels of selectivity. Approximately 100 of them are considered “highly” selective. Another tier of colleges are considered “very” selective, then a huge number are ranked as simply “selective” and a final group are considered “non-selective.” The elements in a student’s profile that a college will evaluate in the selection procedure boil down to these things are listed in the order of their importance below:

• The strength of the academic curriculum (how rigorous or hard is the curriculum a student is taking)?
• How well did the student do in those courses (i.e. grades)?
• What are the results on national tests (i.e. the SAT Reasoning test or the ACT, the SAT Subject Tests, and the APs)?
• Is the student involved in any kind of extracurricular activities (sports, school government, clubs, church groups, community groups, work)?
• Letters of recommendation from a counselor and teachers.
• Well-managed application (strong essay, where required, demonstrated interest in college, where applicable).

The year-by-year timeline we have posted here will help you pay attention to these steps so that the fall semester of a student's senior year proves to be the culmination of all of these steps. OPHS also subscribes to a state-of-the art college & career service called Naviance to help parents and students navigate the difficult college admission process. You can learn more at the Naviance page on our website.

While academic admission requirements are not the same for all colleges and universities, the following year-by-year course selections, are recommended for students planning to attend the University of California (UC), the California State University (CSU), and other "highly selective" private and independent universities. 

The UC "a-g" Subject Requirements: The UC college preparatory course pattern is also known as the "a-g" subject requirements. The University of California is the institution responsible for reviewing high school courses in the state of California to certify that they meet the college preparatory standard. To satisfy the UC subject requirements, students must complete 15 units of UC-approved high school coursework. (A unit is equal to an academic year, or two semesters, of study - which would be a total of 30 semesters or 150 credits in the Oak Park system.) At least 7 of the 15 units must be taken in the last two years of high school. Click on the " UC a-g" Subject Requirements" link to learn more about these requirements, as well as to view the list of courses at Oak Park High School that fulfill them.