Hi.
I am a Canadian student doing online school at an American high school. I will be applying to many American colleges, soo…
Is US History going to be recommended or required of me to take? I’m not American and I live in Canada, so I didn’t think it would apply. Many colleges list it as required, but I was told that it could be waived because I’m not American. I’d much prefer to take AP Micro/macroeconomics if possible.
Thanks!
When colleges list their recommended HS curriculum, it is meant to apply to most, but by no means all, applicants. There is zero expectation from colleges (with the possible exception of the UCs) that a non-US student studying outside of the US have a US history (or US gov) course; few secondary schools, aside from international schools, outside the US even have this as an elective. There will be an expectation, and it’s probably a HS graduation requirement anyway, that you will have a history course of your country/region.
That said, if your online HS has a US history course as a diploma requirement, then a US history course would be required.
Do you have a Canadian history class? They may expect to see either a Canadian or a US history course. If your receiving an American diploma it might be required no matter where you live.
I do not have the option to take Canadian History. My schedule is a general SS p/f, World History, AP Psych, and AP Micro/macroeconomics.
I actually don’t think it’s a requirement at my school. I’ve checked before, but I will check again. This school has a ton of international students; the only thing American is the courses.
So, if I can’t take Canadian history, am I in the clear to continue with the courses above?
Thanks for the help!
Is your online school an accredited school? Ask them what American colleges students have gotten into without taking a US History class or a history class representing your own country. Also contact admissions at some colleges your thinking about (email if you can’t call) and explain the situation and see what they say - it could be a college by college decision.
It looks like you will only be taking one true history class with the other 3 being social studies electives. Since most schools I’m familiar with require at least 2 if not 3 actual history classes to graduate I’m not familiar with college applications with out that. However both your school and colleges should be able to let you know if that could/would impact admissions. In general though college admissions can require more than what is needed for high school graduation so if your school offers more history and it is recommended after you do some research with schools it might be a good idea even if economics sounds more interesting.
Thank you! I’ll do that and send some emails to college admission counselors as well. I could have sworn that I was told USH was a non-factor for me, so hopefully, that is the case.
I would make sure you clarify that you aren’t planning on taking either USH or Canadian history.
Typically the universities expect 1 year covering the international student’s country’s history. I can’t imagine you’ve never studied Canadian history??! It may be split into a sort of “Integrated Social Sciences”, with 1/3 world history, 1/3 Canadian history, 1/3 geography/other social science, over 2-3 years, but it’d still “count”.
There’s a chance I’ve taken something in middle school, but other than that there is nothing. I took a general social studies pass or fail, world history, AP Psych, and AP Micro/macro (plan to anyway).
I’ll send an email to all the colleges on my list and hopefully, I can figure it out! Praying that I don’t have to take USH though!