Criteria for college admission varies greatly. University and college admission committees consider, to varying degrees, the following: Class rank and GPA, The type of high school courses actually taken when compared to the courses available in the high school, Quality of the student's academic record, Performance on the college admission tests (SAT, ACT), and The development and the maturity of the individual in areas outside the academic classroom.

Course requirements for entrance into three general categories of colleges are listed above. The academic prerequisites, typical of colleges in each of the categories listed, may change from year to year, and therefore, should be used only as general MINIMUM GUIDELINES. Specific information may be obtained from the counselor, college profiles, college catalogues, the Counseling section of the website, and the college representatives who visit the district high schools.

Students should be aware of a definite return by colleges to a preference of a traditional and classical college preparatory curriculum. Narrowly defined, college preparatory courses are found in the five traditional academic departments: English (literature and composition courses), Mathematics (computer science is not generally accepted as Math), Science (lab courses), Social Studies and Foreign Language.