My daughter is currently taking an honors Chinese 3 as a sophomore and wants to drop it and take IB physics and double up on more advanced science classes. She wants to pursue medicine. How would colleges view this
I think it might depend on the college and their admissions requirements. I have read on here that completing the required courses in the same language is desirable.
Some colleges have language requirements for admissions; some just have recommendations. Either way having at least three years of the same language is a good idea, especially at selective schools. Many other applicants will have four.
Your daughter also has to think about language proficiency requirements once she’s in college. Many colleges require demonstrated language proficiency for graduation. Different colleges have different ways of measuring proficiency – e.g. number if years, AP/IB scores, their internal exams – and if she’s not up to the required level of proficiency, she may end up taking language in college.
It all depends on where she wants to attend college. If she is not reaching for the Ivys or the Top 20 schools, you may have more flexibility. It’s best to contact prospective schools (or study their websites) and understand what they require vs. what they recommend for high school courses.
My D was accepted to OOS ranked public with 2 yrs Latin and 2 yrs Spanish, when the requirement was for 3 years of the same language. So sometimes there is flexibility. The more elite schools will have less flexibility.
I believe in studying what the student wants to learn, and choosing rigorous courses that interest her will show her passion as she applys to colleges.
I really think you should talk to admission reps at schools she wants to go to. My son was also interested in science. He opted to take more science - had two years of language. Did not hurt his admission or scholarship offers at all. The science background in HS is very good for these science kids later - and taking AP and a rigorous schedule in science has value too.
Usually, colleges would view a student who completed level 3 of a language in 10th grade as having 3 years of foreign language, not 2. Check with your daughter’s guidance counselor and some admissions reps to be sure, though.
Having 3 years will satisfy many college’s admission requirements, although there are some that prefer 4.
Is she not IB diploma? Is the physics HL? I think I would get her to do the chinese 4 but if she isn’t heritage, maybe there is something missing in the picture. My sr is IBD and has all 3 sciences, one AP (bio, soph) and 2 HLs (physics and chem) and did SL spanish but finished that in jr year which was a bonus for sure (they start languages in grade 7). Non heritage chinese is a different ball game.
I thought the HS themselves require certain foreign language classes for graduation.
We are from TX and D needed 3 years of Spanish.
Generally they do, and the requirement varies by school. As an example, my school’s requirement is 3 years of one language or completing level 3. If one completes level 3 as a freshmen, he’s set. If OP’s DD attended my school, she would have met the graduation requirement.
NYS is level 3 for a Regents Diploma - but my younger son completed Level 4 (3rd year in high school) because some colleges refused to say whether level 3 was good enough and many preferred to see four years in any event. Your daughter will significantly reduce her chances at some selective colleges if she doesn’t take another year, but many won’t care.
S2 only took two years of Spanish. He went to a large directional state u. His college major did not require foreign language at the college level.
I think this is absolutely fine. I know several families with talented science students who switched their focus away from foreign language after sophomore year, eliminating it in favor of doubling up on AP Sciences. One kid is at Yale now.
I would have her take one more year. She should have variety in the classes she takes in high school. One more science class is not going to make a difference for admissions. However if she isn’t doing well in the language class then I might think about it.
I wouldn’t recommend my son’s path, but it worked out ok. He only took one semester of community college foreign language (worth two years of high school here in California). He was accepted to some good schools including one Ivy and two UCs, but he definitely took a chance by doing it that way. And as a matter of fact, on his original transcript, he had planned to take a second semester at the college in spring of senior year, but he hated it so much, I let him drop it and risk admissions. It worked out ok.
OTOH, he did have reasons why he didn’t do language (he had a hearing loss in one ear, had surgery and a hearing aid fitted in junior year, so we just didn’t even think about foreign language until senior year) sort of. I don’t know how much that factored into colleges’ decisions.
My son took 2 semesters of Chinese. He got into 5 of the 6 schools with only 2 languages. One thing though, he is going to Chapel Hill in the fall. They require you to take a placement test. If you pass the placement test you can prob get out of the first class 101 of the language but you need 3 semisters of a language. Now that he doesn’t want to take Chinese in college he is starting over. Does your daughter want to do Chinese in HS?
There are three potential issues here:
How much foreign language doe she need to have in order to meet the graduation requirements at her high school? If she’s finished two years of foreign language, she’s probably done with that.
How much foreign language does she need to have in order to apply to the colleges and universities that are likely to be on her list? Look carefully to see if the wording is “recommended” or “required”.
How much foreign language would she need to have to graduate from the colleges and universities that are likely to be on her list? Would she be exempt from that requirement if she has X years in high school or a score of Z on an SATII/CLEP/AP/other exam?
Happykid needed two years to graduate from her high school, two years for admission at her state U, and no additional years once she got to her state U. She was done with foreign language at the end of 10th grade.
My kid #1 finished level 3 foreign language in 9th grade and never took a foreign language again. He had enough to meet his high school’s requirement, his university’s admissions requirement, and the university’s foreign language requirement.
On the other hand, my kid #2, who took foreign language all the way through AP (which is level 5 in our school system and way beyond what her university required for admission) still had to take one additional foreign language course at her university to meet graduation requirements.
Go figure.
"My daughter is currently taking an honors Chinese 3 as a sophomore and wants to drop it and take IB physics and double up on more advanced science classes. She wants to pursue medicine. How would colleges view this "
-If she wants to pursue medicine, then the name of the college that she attends absolutely irrelevant. Then choose the college that will view you D’s application positively, do not need to do more than that. Overalll, any college that matches your kid’s personality and wide range of interests and preferrably also is very cheap for your kid will be the best choice if Med. School is in plans. That was my D’s route and it worked vbery well!
Another thought - I do not believe that there is any advantage in having Chinese (for a medcial student). There are plenty of fluently speaking Chinese medical students (majority of D’s class by far are Chinese). However, have some fluency in Spanish has opened some additional opportunities at Med. School for my D.