High school is not simply a place to meet graduation criteria, it is a stepping-stone toward your future career. If your future aspirations include being a biomedical researcher, civil rights attorney, software engineer, film director, or marine biologist, you can either obtain an outstanding foundation for your success or risk being unprepared based on your course selections in high school.
The blog will serve as a comprehensive guide for high school students and parents to make thoughtful and deliberate decisions that propel you toward a desired career. We will discuss early planning, mapping interests, choosing electives wisely, and building your academic profile.
1. Know Yourself: Start With Self-Discovery
Before you choose courses, you will need an understanding of who you are. What motivates you? What are your natural strengths?
You will want to start thinking about the subjects that you love. Often these subjects will focus on some future field of interest.If you like biology and chemistry, you may be thinking about studying some branch of medicine or following a career in environmental science.
You will also want to think about what you are doing when the time goes by so quickly, you forget about everything else. Are you passionate about problem solving, helping people, being creative, collecting, developing, analyzing data, developing processes, etc.? While your enthusiasm may not be neat and tidy to fit into a career, it can often get you access to a career cluster.
Next, do you prefer working independently or with others? This will help you start to figure out if you might have an interest in an independent career like places in coding or writing or collaborative careers like events planning or health care.
Finally, identify your strongest skills. Are you a good communicator, code writer, public speaker, empathetic listener, organizer or leader? Knowing your naturally inherent strengths will help you make course choices that will fit your career.
Self-assessments can be a useful way of informing your thinking. Self-assessments like Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or Holland Code Career Test can be used as a starting point for your own thinking. Self-assessments are valuable ways to apply and use frameworks to create a better understanding for yourself of how your personality and interests relate to career fields.
2. Explore Careers: Investigate Before You Invest
Now that you have a grasp of your interests and strengths, it's time to start narrowing down career paths. Don't wait until college to do this work. High school is an ideal time to experiment and start narrowing down options. After all, you are still years away from committing to action plan, and it is completely normal to change your mind down the road.
You can spend time job shadowing professionals, conducting informational interviews with people in careers that you admire, Societies equation, or researching career paths using resources like O*NET and LinkedIn Career Explorer. You should also consider joining popular school-based opt-in groups or clubs, such as debate teams, robotics, and HOSA competition. These activities will expose you to real-world roles in various industries. You can also pursue online education through a course on Coursera or Khan Academy.
These can allow you to sample fields of interest and inquiry while limiting your commitment in case it does not work for you. Even completing a 10-hour online course will be sufficient for you to tell if you are actually interested in the subject of learning. Remember that exploration is not the same as making a decision. Exploration narrows down your options, even the base of all possible alternatives, "beyond convenience"; and in doing so, you can start to make better choices as you progress.
3. Align Interests with Core Subjects
Once you have a cognitive pathway to follow, you need to start mapping out your core courses towards your expectations of your future career. If you are even remotely considering a STEM career e.g. engineering, medicine, informatics, you should make a concerted effort to take the highest level of math and sciences that your school provides. Ultimately, that means taking calculus, biology, chemistry, physics, and if you are considering computer science, taking whatever course involves coding, or AP Computer Science.
If you are interested in a career in the humanities - such as law, journalism, or international relations - then you want to take as much English language, English literature, history, and government subjects as possible. You might also want to consider taking some electives such as psychology, or philosophy, if they are available to you.Business minded students should take as much economics, statistics, and accounting as possible, while artistic students should be taking courses in art, media, or writing.
The key for your selections is that they demonstrate both rigor and alignment to your career aspirations. Notably, colleges will view this alignment and applaud it.
4. Prioritize Rigor AND Relevance
Colleges and future employers will not only notice difficult courses, but the right difficult courses. For applying to engineering programs, AP Physics and Calculus will be more relevant than AP Literature or Art History! Likewise, AP English Literature courses or Honors Creative Writing classes are more relevant than AP Biology to an overall creative writing program or to journalism.
It is always good to take rigorous classes that relate to your educational and career goals, while also not taking too much and being overwhelmed! Finding that balance with challenging classes, while also managing your coursework to fit sustainable coursework will allow you to be academically successful and not go nuts!
5. Make Smart Elective Choices
Electives provide an opportunity to pursue an interest void of the core academic pressure you’ll experience with your concentrations. So, be smart about how you choose them.Thinking you might want to be a filmmaker? Take video production. Think you might be interested in law? Consider a mock trial or debate. Curious about medicine? Look for courses called anatomy, health science, etc.
If you cannot find an elective that is suit you interests in high school, maybe it'd be worth taking an online course, or dual-enrollment course, or summer course at a community college to expand your portfolio, learning something new, or gaining skills you can transfer to an assigned professional industry you want to explore.
6. AP, IB, and Dual Enrollment: Level Up Strategically
Sophisticated academic pathways, such as AP (Advanced Placement), IB (International Baccalaureate), and dual enrollment can add currency to your transcript.If your school offers APs, choose wisely. If you want to pursue medicine, take AP Biology. If you're into tech, take AP Computer Science. If you're interested in law, politics, or national affairs, take AP US History.
IB is similar, but has more of a global focus, and especially writing focus, which is valuable, if you're considering an international career.Dual enrollment is where you can take college courses while in high school, often at a nearby community college. Depending on your direction, these can be even more valuable than APs.Use these advanced options, but keep an eye on balance. It's better to do well in four APs than to overreach in seven.
7. Extracurriculars That Complement Your Courses
Courses demonstrate academic preparedness, but extracurriculars show passion and initiative. Try to get your activities to align with your course work. For example, a student who is interested in biomedical engineering would want to take AP Biology, join Science Olympiad, and volunteer at the hospital. A student who likes journalism would take some English electives and join the school newspaper.
While breadth is important, depth is more important. Two good activities over four years are more important than ten superficial activities. Find opportunities to take on leadership positions, recognition or awards, and/or carry out projects that you can use in your college application.
8. Seek Mentorship and Guidance
Mentors can offer fresh perspectives, help clarify your goals, and help you avoid mistakes. A great first step is to meet with your school counselor. They can assist in your development of a four-year plan of courses that best align with your postsecondary goals and career interests. Your teachers of the classes you enjoy may also have information regarding electives, summer programs, or they may even consider writing you a letter of recommendation in the future.
You can also pull on the resources of family members, college alumni, or professionals in the field you are considering. Ask them questions about their experiences, challenges, and regrets. Don't try to put everything together yourself; learn from someone else's experience.
9. Review and Adjust Yearly
Career interests can change over time. What was exhilarating in year one may not excite you in year three-and that’s just fine.
At the end of each year, take stock of your plan. What did you like? What did you find easy? What felt like a drag? Use this information to refresh your pathway. You are not stuck.Revise your involvement in electives, extracurricular activities, and course rigor. If needed, change direction. Colleges appreciate students who develop and make thoughtful modifications.
If you are a high school student pushing yourself to stand out in college applications, RISE Research offers a unique opportunity to work one-on-one with mentors from top universities around the world.
Through personalized guidance and independent research projects that can lead to prestigious publications, RISE Research helps you build a standout academic profile and develop skills that set you apart. With flexible program dates and global accessibility, ambitious students can apply year-round. To learn more about eligibility, costs, and how to get started, visit RISE Research’s official website and take your college preparation to the next level!
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