4 years of a language vs. 4 years of social studies in HS

<p>I hadn’t realized SUNY’s like to see 4 years of Social Studies, but given that NYS requires 2 years of World, 1 year of US and a semester each of Gov and Econ to graduate I’m not completely surprised. (Though there are ways to test out of the Gov/Econ requirement.)</p>

<p>As for Yale they may have no language requirement, but how would you interpret this?

[quote]
Generally speaking, you should try to take courses each year in English, science, math, the social sciences, and foreign language. <a href=“my%20emphasis”>/quote</a></p>

<p>^Somewhere around that Yale quote, it does talk about taking the most rigorous available. </p>

<p>IMO- and IME- it all has to make sense, in the context of the kid’s record, the hs and the future plans. I’ve seen kids double up on non-rigorous classes in sr year. That’s a problem. We could figure better if we knew OP’s dau’s college interests. And, she can look at some target schools and see how they phrase it. Many top schools say 3-4 lang and 3-4 history/social science. Some say only 2 yrs history/ss and 3-4 language.</p>

<p>OP here. Thanks for the replies. Here is what she has to take next year:</p>

<p>Full year courses:
English IV
Intro to Cell and Molecular Biology (dual credit course)
Advanced Chemistry (already had one year of Chem in sophomore year)
AP Calculus (AB or BC, depending on results of this year)
Mentorship (this is an off-campus internship requirement)
and:
Spanish IV OR Ethics and Public Policy (her dilemma)</p>

<p>Half year courses:
Nutrition
Sign Language
Fitness
EMT-B training </p>

<p>So that’s the context of her decision.</p>

<p>In college she wants to be pre-med and is interested in majoring in chemistry, history or political science. So the Ethics and Public Policy course is of genuine interest to her. However, I see the advantage of taking the 4th year of language as well. Doctors in this country increasingly need to speak Spanish to communicate with their patients. Her grandfather, who is a retired doctor, pointed this out to her.</p>

<p>I’ll pm you in a while.</p>

<p>Spanish.</p>

<p>For college admissions and for the world we now live in.</p>

<p>If she opts for the ethics/public policy class, but is still concerned about being conversational in Spanish for the future, she can look into studying abroad in a Spanish-speaking country. That’ll probably go further than the 4th yr. language in high school.</p>

<p>D2 is taking Spanish IV this year and thinks it’s been a waste of time. If possible find out what the curriculum is. Seems like D2 has been watching a lot of movies in Spanish. Kind of wish I’d let her drop it at semester like half a dozen other students did.</p>

<p>I think she should take what she wants. </p>

<p>Few colleges are rigid about their language or social studies requirements, especially for students who can explain a deficiency (as your daughter can because of the rigid requirements of her magnet program).</p>

<p>For all those people who say that Spanish is a useful skill, did your kids actually learn to speak Spanish and understand spoken Spanish in high school? Mine didn’t – and one of them got all the way to level 5 (and a 5 on the AP exam).</p>

<p>^I got a 3 on the AP French Language exam after 4 years of high school French (starting from French I), and I was reasonably confident in being able to survive if thrown into France. It wouldn’t have been pretty, but I’d have gotten by just fine. I did benefit from a wonderful FL teacher.</p>

<p>

If the D wants to maximize her chances of admission at a highly selective school, she needs to take 4 years of Spanish. Maxing out FL is an explicit plus factor (regardless of major or aspirations) at many schools; maxing out social science, as far as I know, is not.</p>

<p>OTOH, she can say, “screw it,” to admissions strategy and just take what she wants. That’s fine; it’s what I did with music, which I enjoyed greatly but wasn’t going to win any competitions in. IMHO I did “pay” for that decision in subsequent results, but I don’t regret it.</p>

<p>It’s important to actually look at what various colleges state they’d like to see.<br>
Princeton: if possible, 4 lang, 2 hist.<br>
Grinnell: 3-4 years of lang and 3-4 of history/soc sciences.<br>
Stanford: 3 yrs of the same foreign lang and 3 yrs of history or social studies.
Brown: Social Studies at least 2 years of history, including American history; Foreign Language at least 3 years, preferably 4 years of a single language
Swarthmore: one language for 4 years, * if possible.*</p>

<p>That’s what my D12 did, too. Chose to hang out with the “Orch Dorks” instead of taking more AP classes. I wish she hadn’t had to choose, but life is full of trade-offs.</p>

<p>^Love the name! :D</p>

<p>That is a much more compelling social science class than I was thinking of. Hm. Tough choice. Good luck.</p>

<p>There’s a certain irony here in that no matter what the student decides, the decision may change when the time comes for the high school to actually determine its schedule.</p>

<p>Often, courses that students take their senior year – including level 4 or level 5 foreign language courses – have only one or two sections. Inevitably, some students cannot be scheduled into the courses they want because two subjects meet at the same time. Yet they still get into college. Many, many kids have to write something on their college applications like “I did not take Spanish 4 because of a conflict with BC Calculus” or “I did not take BC Calculus because of a conflict with Spanish 4.”</p>

<p>Colleges understand this situation, just as they will understand that a student in a specialized magnet program may not have the exact distribution of courses that they would like to see for students in standard high school curricula.</p>

<p>Spanish
I think four years of a foreign language looks much more impressive.</p>

<p>Funny, I emailed 3 schools and Syracuse to discuss the 4th year of Lang vs Hist choices because my son had a conflict in Jr. year. Syracuse recommends 4 yr of Soc Sci. but doesn’t require it. UC boulder, USC and Univ of Wash said 3 years of lang fulfills their requirements. Only USC felt that trying for the 4th would be suggested even if it was a different Lang. </p>

<p>I would go with 4 yr Span. Colleges offer plenty of interesting hist/soc science classes. If she attended a school that wanted a 4 th yr lang, she would have to then take the 4th year then (which could be difficult) or pick and entirely different lang (why bother) as I don’t think they would let her retake Span 1,2, or 3. </p>

<p>I struggled a bit too in looking at my son’s choices for Sr year. Should he take a 4th year of soc/sci purely for college admission or another science which he would enjoy more. In our school the 4th year soc sci can be met with Gov or Psych/Soc. My son doesn’t love hist though he did take AP Hist which is 2 yrs in our state. </p>

<p>I think some classes are better taken in college while others are best taken in HS since you won’t likely take them in college. My son is taking anat and physiology not a 4th yr of soc science because in reality, only health majors take A & P in college while all college freshman can take Psych/soc. He won’t be going into a healthcare field so this is really the better time to take it even though colleges may feel differently.</p>

<p>As a science magnet with a rigid curriculum…isn’t it likely other students have been in the same situation before FROM HER SCHOOL? Chances are, it’s the kind of decision other kids at the HS have to make every year and the guidance counselors will know if there’s a preferred selection from the point of view of selective colleges. Can she ask the guidance counselor what other kids have done…or…find kids who have been admiitted to the kinds of schools she’s interested in, and find out what they’ve done?</p>

<p>Most top colleges look at this kind of selection within the context of the high school…especially if it’s a school that sends kids to selective colleges each year.</p>

<p>OP here. Many students who take the Ethics and Public Policy course already have 4 years of Spanish because they started in middle school. The HS only offers Spanish and Latin. My D took French in middle school and had to start at Spanish I in grade 9. I really wish she had taken Spanish way back then. Oh well.</p>

<p>The Ethics course is taught by a highly regarded teacher who doles out recommendation letters like gold nuggets. Those who take the course often consider it the capstone of their HS career. Frankly, the language courses at the HS have ranged from mediocre to serviceable at best. The school focuses on the sciences, not arts and languages. You don’t go to a steakhouse to order the chicken.</p>

<p>D does not mind taking a semester of language in college. She is not trying to get out of requirements. I guess it’s a matter of judging whether one should do what looks better at the expense of what might actually be better (from an academic experience standpoint). Deadline for selection is tomorrow. Thanks for all your comments.</p>

<p>If the social science course is a better academic experience, then take it–just, be prepared to have a slight disadvantage in the application process. IMHO it’s worth the trade-off.</p>

<p>I would go with the social studies class. For me, it comes down to a highly regarded teacher, and seems to be the student’s preference. Just make sure the GC notes on the counselor rec that there was not space in the schedule for both a 4th year of Spanish and a 4th year of social studies.</p>