Many schools require a strong background in English classes, which typically include literature and writing classes. Schools will often recommend four years of English classes, or an English class taken for every year of high school, as a requirement. Some schools may allow you to bypass this requirement with a high score on the English portion of the ACT or SAT.
The recommendations and requirements for science and math will vary from school to school, but having a minimum of two years of math and two years of science is advisable for college admission. Many schools prefer to see three to four years of math, so increasing the number of math classes you take could make you a better candidate for admission.
Colleges like to see at least two years of social science with at least one year specific to American history. Taking additional social science courses such as geography or European history can boost your candidate profile. Admissions departments also prefer to see at least two years of a foreign language. The two years of foreign language study should also be of the same language. Therefore, if you took one year of French and then a year of Spanish, you should consider taking Spanish for one more year to meet admissions requirements.
Most schools look at test scores on the SAT and many will recommend a minimum score. In addition, some schools may also ask for the scores from the ACT test as well as the SAT. Students can often take the tests more than once to help boost their scores. A placement test specific to the school you are applying for could also be required as a part of the admissions process.