Hi guys!
In my school, only three years of history are required to graduate, so most kids only take three years (2 USH and 1 World history), and then take another course instead in the free slot. In a question I asked previously, people commented on me not having a History course junior year, since four years of history is recommended by some competitive colleges. My problem is that the only challenging history courses in my school that I haven’t taken yet are AP American Government, AP Comparative Government, and AP European History, none of which I really want to take for a whole year, and the other courses offered in the history department are ones which most kids say not to take because of how easy they are.
So with that said, is it really required to take 4 years of history? I haven’t seen any school that explicitly requires 4 years of history, but I do know that if a college recommends something, you should definitely try and have it. If I have to, I could take take another history course senior year, probably European history, instead of an elective but I would definitely prefer to take the elective course, so what do you guys recommend?
Wouldn’t AP US government be a substitute for a typically required government / civics course, so that it would not consume an additional space in your schedule? (And the typically required government / civics course would be counted as a social studies course within the category of “history and social studies”.)
If you meet your high school graduation requirements you do not have to take any more history classes. However if you are applying to a college that suggests 4 years of history classes simply not having 4 may be enough to weed you out when a college has tons of people who do meet the 4 class suggestion especially since it is a Core subject just as important as math, science etc. If your applying to top colleges yes it can be an important factor.
However no one has said you need to take an AP history class. Colleges don’t expect you to only take AP classes. You can take psychology, geography, anthropology, sociology, economics, law etc which usually counts toward the 4 classes since it includes social studies. If you want to apply to a college that wants 4 history classes and you choose not to that is fine but realize it could affect your admissions. The lower down you go in selective/top colleges typically 3 is fine.
@ucbalumnus Government and civics is not required in all high schools/states