Many rural schools don’t have the breadth of offerings of the urban and suburban schools, but top colleges need and expect that level of drive and expectation. What to do? Study online or even self-study!

There are loads of resources for studying nearly anything you want. Accredited courses cost money but will give you a grade and show up on your transcript — demonstrating in a very clear way your dedication to academic rigor above the level of your school’s offering. This is a key element of a strong college application to selective schools or scholarships. The most effective are AP courses as they adhere to a national standard that college admission officers can count on.

I will divide the offerings into three main categories:
1) Accredited courses (AP and other) for credit and legit academic rigor
2) Self-study of AP courses
3) Interests exploration of literally anything

Online Courses
Limited offerings at your school? I’ve been there! Suburban schools offer as many as 6 languages and up to 40 (!) AP classes–though the average number of APs at high schools is closer to 12. You may have a few of these, or none. But jump online. There are a world of options out there if you’re willing to put in some extra time and effort.
1) AP Courses: Accredited AP Classes cost some real money, several hundred per semester. But they teach you a lot, demonstrate your real academic interest, and can elevate you (academically) a lot closer to the same playing field as non-rural students. They also can give your college credit and save you potentially a semester of college time (and money), coming out ahead on cost! Here’s a nice page listing places that offer a variety of classes. I found all of mine simply by Googling. Tip: Finding whether they are accredited can be tricky. If it’s not obvious, Google the program name plus “accredited” and it will often get you to where to can find the information.
2) Other Enrichment Courses: The internet has been a great democratizer of education. You can take classes in so many things. My school didn’t offer French, for example, so I found accredited online courses and studied during a free period. They were graded, went on my transcript, and cost a few hundred dollars a semester. Google your interests to find options and be sure to see if they are accredited and will give you a certificate for your school’s transcript.

Self-Study of AP Classes
You can LITERALLY use any resources you like to self-study an AP class — any subject you want. Here is a list of the more than 40 AP classes of the College Board. I recommend studying only APs if your goal is showing academic interest and rigor on your college applications, as APs use a standardized curriculum. For studying purely to feed your interests, see the next section.

For example, I self-studied AP Government and Politics, purely out of interest. It didn’t go on my transcript, so I called it out in the “Additional Information” section of the Common App. I used Khan Academy and YouTube videos by Adam Norris and Heimler’s History. Khan is great for all subjects, and there are teachers who have put out great lessons on every AP class on YouTube — you can find them if you look.

Interests Exploration — Study ANYTHING YOU WANT
What do you love? Birds, genetics, literature…? The world of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) has put literally millions of hours of the worlds best teaching out there in the world for you. I learned coding for $15 from Udemy, for example. Go wild!

The main platforms are:
Coursera
edX
Udemy
Khan Academy (for learning almost anything offered K-12)