College · Applications

Find the missing course
while there is time to take it.

Put in your four-year plan, then check it against the courses your colleges require. See what is met, what depends on next year's plans, and the one change that closes each gap.

Check my coursesWhat you get

The checker

The worked example is a junior's plan checked against two example patterns and the NCAA Division I rule. Add your own colleges from their admissions pages.

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What you get

College · ApplicationsFree

What you finish with
A four-year grid of your courses, a met-or-short check against up to four colleges or patterns at once, the exact shortfall in each subject, a plain fix for each gap, a printable report and a .csv of the plan.
Who it is for
High school students in grades 8 to 11 choosing next year's courses, their parents, homeschool families writing a transcript, and school counselors at course-selection time.
Format
Browser tool. Works on a phone or computer and from the keyboard. Print the check or save the plan as a spreadsheet file.
Access
Free. No account and no sign-in. Courses stay in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Applications space in Caveat College.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Add each course you have taken, are taking and plan to take. Mark lab sciences, the math course's level and the language.
  2. In step 2, tick the patterns to check, and add each college with the numbers from its admissions page.
  3. Read the results. Short means missing even with your plans; "with plans" means next year's schedule has to happen.
  4. Take the fixes to your counselor when you choose next year's courses, and print the check for the meeting.

Check my courses

How the check works

Counting rules, written out so you can check them by hand.

Counting

  • A year-long course is 1 credit and a semester course 0.5, as you enter them. Years and credits are treated as the same thing, as most colleges state them.
  • World language counts the most years in one language, since colleges usually ask for years of the same language.
  • "Math through" compares the highest math level you reach with the one the college names: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, Calculus.
  • Each area is checked twice: with every course, and with completed and current courses only. That is how a requirement shows as met only with plans.

The NCAA Division I rule

  • 16 core courses: 4 years of English, 3 of math at Algebra I or higher, 2 of natural or physical science (1 lab if the school offers one), 1 more of English, math or science, 2 of social science and 4 more core courses (any of these or world language).
  • 10 of the 16 finished before the seventh semester, 7 of them in English, math or science. The checker counts grades 9 to 11.
  • Only courses on the high school's approved list count, and there is a minimum core-course GPA. Confirm both with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

The two example patterns are not any one college's rules: they show a common minimum at public universities and a common recommendation at selective colleges. In the worked example the plan meets the public-university example and the NCAA rule, and falls one year short of the selective example's three years of one language: two years of Spanish. Courses are made up.

Sources

  1. NCAA Eligibility Center, "Division I Academic Requirements" and the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete: the 16 core courses and the 10/7 rule (eligibilitycenter.org, ncaa.org).
  2. Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, "Prepare for College" checklists for high school students at studentaid.gov: plan challenging core courses early and check each college's course requirements.
  3. Common Data Set, section C5 ("Distribution of high school units required and/or recommended"), which most colleges publish on their institutional research pages: the source for the numbers you enter for each college.

General information. Each college sets and changes its own requirements; read its admissions page or ask its admissions office. The example patterns are illustrations, not a promise of admission or eligibility. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.