Students:

• Talk to your school counselor (or teachers, if you don't have access to a school counselor) about the following:
  
  
  • Tennessee State high school graduation requirements (for a PDF printout of these requirements, please click  here).
  • Attending a college or university
  • Establishing your college preparatory classes; your schedule should consist of at least 4 college preparatory classes per year, including:
    
    
    • 4 years of English
    • 3 years of math (through algebra II or trigonometry)
    • 2 years of the same foreign language
    • 2 years of natural science
    • 2 years of history/social studies
    • 1 year of art
    • 1 year of electives from the above list
      
      
  • Using the Student Planner to keep track of your courses and grades.
  • Enrolling in algebra or geometry classes and a foreign language class for each semester (most colleges have math and foreign language requirements)
  
  Remember, you will have more options if you start planning now for college and do your best to earn good grades.
  
  
• Create a file of the following documents and notes:
  
  
  • Copies of report cards
  • Lists of awards and honors
  • Lists of school and community activities in which you are involved, including both paid and volunteer work, and descriptions of what you do
  
  
• Start thinking about the colleges you want to attend. (Hint: Use our Select a School module to help look for schools.) Once you have narrowed down the list of colleges and universities in which you are interested, start visiting the campuses; our Campus Tours section can also give you some valuable information.
• Find out about AP and other honors-level courses:
  
  
  • What courses are available
  • Whether or not you are eligible for the classes that you want to take

Parents:

• Get information about what courses your student needs to take to graduate high school and be eligible for college by attending back-to-school nights and meeting with the high school counselor and teachers.
  
  
• Attend college fairs to learn more about college opportunities.