<p>I don’t know enough about college admissions to offer any advice. My D’s GC is firm on 4 years of the same FL if applying to highly competitive colleges. They may be being over-cautious. They are known to be conservative.</p>
<p>5boys-- I agree with the way you are leaning–let him have some say in this–the course work is tough enough, even if you love the topics. Mine did a total of 3 years of Spanish (1 in middle school and 2 in HS). He liked it okay, but not enough to go to the AP level which was next. Instead he took an AP in another topic he was more interested in (European History), and did well. The 3 years only of language didn’t negatively impact admissions, as he got into good schools (UVA, Berkeley, CMU, Michigan, Brown).</p>
<p>5Boys, we did get an answer at a Vassar information session that didn’t say “you won’t get in without 4 years of a language,” but that made it seem pretty important to have. My D had decided not to take AP Spanish (after excelling in her first 3 years of Spanish) because of scheduling/teacher issues, and so she could take some academic classes that really suit her interests (including other APs). We fully supported that. Life’s too short, and high school is too rigid. A senior ought to have some chances to follow their intellectual interests!</p>
<p>Anyway, Vassar strongly encouraged 4 years. But other schools she likes (including Conn) seem fine with 3 years of a language as part of a rigorous college-prep background. So she’s applying to those other schools.</p>
<p>As with the case of mom in virginia’s son, UVa requires 2 years, but recommends 5 years of foreign language. That didn’t keep him from gaining an offer of acceptance. Obviously the academic path he chose showed strength, commitment, and mastery at a level that that was equal to, or greater than the FL recommendation. They use a holistic admissions policy so essays, LORs, and ECs also could have outweighed that FL. If your student isn’t happy with it, and has another path, they can certainly find success. I think the key is simply to continue the academic path. As others have said, life is too short to press our students into years of a subject they are miserable in. Yes, mine is completing five years of FL, but I wouldn’t think of demanding he take APEuro or APUSH. He’d be miserable! I think it’s a good early lesson. It’s okay, and healthy to chose where to place their energies instead of trying to do everything, and risking mastery in all subjects.</p>
<p>My son’s college (Amherst) is very selective and they highly recommend four years of the same foreign language, but he only took three years of Spanish and they accepted him. He’s a junior there now. I think there’s some leeway with the language requirement at most selective schools – it kind of depends how interested they are in the rest of what the student is bringing to the table. Giving up a year of FL because the student was doing something else interesting isn’t hard for admissions to understand.</p>
<p>Just a note about Vassar… My dd was admitted with only 3 years of FL credit in high school. However, she had an additional 2 credits from middle school and did complete through AP. I really always took it to mean they expect the student to have credit through level 3. Fwiw, she also only had 3 years of social studies-- also through AP. She sacrificed those areas so she could have 7 years of science and 5 years of math. She was admitted to several top-20 LACs. I don’t think it came up anywhere.</p>
<p>Our son only took three years of Spanish and it did not hurt him in the least come college admission time. He applied to colleges like Case, RPI, Oberlin, Rutgers, and Wooster. Not only was he admitted to the six colleges he applied to but he was offered over $300,000 in merit scholarships including $25k/yr from RPI(which included $15k via the RPI Medal) and $17.5k/yr from Case. Oberlin was the only college who offered little merit aid.</p>
<p>Colleges are about matching and fit - if you opt out of 4 years of foreign language for whatever reason and you aren’t accepted to a particular college because of that, then so be it. It isn’t the right place for you.</p>
<p>You are going to be evaluated based on what your school offeres. Not all schools offer 4 years of foregin language. Not all schools offer AP in foreign language. If your school does not offer it, it will not be held against you. Students get accepted to selective schools having taken 3 years of foreign language. Students get rejected from selective schools having taken 4 years of foreign language. This is where your school profile comes into play, especially if it discusses the sequencing of courses.</p>
<p>In NYS you only need 1 year of foreign to meet the state’s graduation requirement. You can pick up the year of foreign language based on the spanish/foreign language proficiency exam taken in 8th grade. If you get an 85 on the NYS spanish/foreign regents exam, you are elgible to pick up 3 units (6 credits of spanish/foreign language). You could essentially graduate high school in NYS with 3 years of foreign language without ever actually taking foreign language in high school.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned not taking Euro History. I can’t agree with that. Not for the sake of admissions but we need to know how our society came to be. No? So much happened in Modern Europe. So much of what we are at is a developement of that period, isn’t it? I would feel quite uncomfortable if my kid chooses not to take it.</p>
<p>I was the one that mentioned APEuro. DS has taken history every year, Gov’t, US & State, World History pre & post 1500 (two years). He just didn’t take AP classes in those subjects. He actually had an awesome World History teacher in MS who covered more Euro history than his hs teachers did. So yes, I agree that the social sciences are very important as a well rounded education. Not every student is cut out for AP in those classes just as not every student is cut out for APChem.</p>
<p>On the flip side I have a freshman that can’t wait to get into AP social sciences and is amazed at our lack of choices. We will guide him, but his choices with be geared to his strengths and interests.</p>
<p>That sounds great unlike my kid’s school. They seem so preoccupied with not being Euro centric. My kid knows everything about Africa but no idea of Renaissance. I am not saying Africa is neligible. I just don’t know how anyone can pretend to understand even Africa without knowing Europe.</p>