Recommended High School Courses

Our suggested courses cover all four years of high school and will give you a very solid academic record. Remember, these are only our suggestions – you might need to modify them for your own situation. We give special consideration to students with honors and advanced placement classes.

• Four years of English including college preparatory courses in composition and speech
• Four years of math including algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus and functional analysis if available
• Four years of laboratory sciences including biology, chemistry, physics, computers and additional courses in the sciences
• Three years of social sciences including history, economics, government and behavioral sciences
• Two years of a modern foreign language including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian or Spanish if possible – all cadets at the Academy must take one of these seven languages
• One year of computer science

Standardized Testing

• The ACT and SAT tests are an important indicator of your academic ability.
• Plan to take them early.
• Each of these tests has a slightly different emphasis, so you should take both to reflect your true potential.
• You may take these tests several times to try to improve your scores – your highest scores will be accepted.
• Your results must be in our records for you to be considered for an appointment.
• When you register for the tests, request that your scores be sent to the U.S. Air Force Academy. The SAT code for the Academy is 4830 and the ACT code is 0530.
• See your guidance counselor, Air Force Academy Admissions Liaison Officer or base education officer for registration procedures and test dates.

Sophomore Year

See your guidance counselor to schedule the PLAN or PSAT as a sophomore. This will give you time to improve low scores before taking the SAT and/or the ACT.

Junior Year

You should take the SAT or ACT in your junior year. One of these is required of all candidates.