<p>I'm currently a junior right now who's taking all AP's. I did not want to take Spanish 3 my junior year because it would lower my GPA. I want to improve my class rank. However, I was wondering if this was a bad idea. Are all major schools looking for four years of a foreign language? Would it hurt me a lot if I didn't take Spanish 3 junior year? I dropped it to take AP stats. I have strong EC's like being in the top 100 for speech and debate nationwide and getting 7th in the state. I also do research on plant genetics with a professor at a local university. Would Harvard care if I didn't take Spanish 3 until senior year?</p>
<p>It might be acceptable. We really don’t know. But what is of more concern is your reason for not taking it. Typical H admitees plow fwd, taking classes w/o regard for GPA because they are naturally academically aggressive students – not kids worried about their class rank. You’d be wise to omit that faux pas…</p>
<p>So your plans are to take Spanish 3 your senior year? After you’ve been on the sidelines for a whole year?</p>
<p>Frankly if I were you, I’d drop one of those APs (AP Stats?) and take Spanish 3 this year. 7 or 8 APs on your transcript won’t matter. Missing Language your Junior year would raise an eyebrow.</p>
<p>Here’s what Harvard says about foreign languages:
[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Preparing for College](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/preparing/index.html#language]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/preparing/index.html#language)
With that in mind, you’ll have to decide for yourself.</p>
<p>I second what T26E4 said. Especially the part about not focusing more on GPA and class rank than on actually becoming educated.</p>
<p>medadvice: Let me emphasize something I did not before. Your attitude about GPA > learning will probably come across in teacher recs. This is a HUGE anchor on your application. For your sakes (in competitive college apps), you better change this attitude or else you’ll have ZERO chance.</p>
<p>Schools like Harvard reject posers by the tens of thousands. This is how you’ve portrayed yourself. Heed this warning.</p>