<p>"4 Years of French Got me into UC Berkeley", that is what my friend said, who just got in.</p>
<p>I am currently a Junior and I have taken 3 years of a foreign language, currently in the 3rd, but do I need to do 4 years to get into the elite universities?</p>
<p>Basically, my senior year courseload already has the regular amount of classes, (Im taking Journalism, Academic Decathalon, AP Gov / Econ, AP English, AP Physics, AP Calc B/C), and I do not want to take French 4 AP because I do not want to have a tough senior year, and want take it easy. </p>
<p>Will not taking a 4th year of french influence my chances for admisson to elite schools like Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley, and etc (I have taken all AP/Honors and gotten A's, and Im valedictorian, so I think I might try), in comparison to if I do take a 4th year? </p>
<p>I think that as long as you supplement your 4th year (assuming that you’re not taking it) with another productive class. This doesn’t have to be academic, just something that you enjoy and can feel proud of.</p>
<p>I took only three years of spanish honors (started 8th grade, stopped sophomore year). In its place, I took psych AP for a year and this year I’m taking thanatology/philosophy. If you like art, why not try a class? </p>
<p>I got into Northwestern, Cornell, Brown, and UCs</p>
<p>Not taking a 4th year of a foreign language will not necessarily keep you out of UC Berkeley but this might: “…because I do not want to have a tough senior year, and want take it easy.”</p>
<p>Did the admissions people tell your friend that 4th year of French is what got him/her into Cal?</p>
<p>I bet not. I think it’s just speculation on his/her part. Plenty people get into the UCs without 4th year language; conversley many with 4 years of language do not.</p>
<p>Just the attitude of wanting to take senior year easy is an issue. If you really want a top college, senior year is when you knock the ball out of the park and tie up all your achievements with a pretty bow.</p>
<p>How on earth would your friend have the slightest notion why she/he got into Berkeley? I can only assume he/she is clairvoyant (a french word, your friend should know it ). That’s just a silly statement.</p>
<p>If you have a productive schedule next year? I seriously doubt it. </p>
<p>Plus, there is no way your friend actually knows why they admitted her. It’s not like they wrote, “We only let you in because you have four years of French.” on her acceptance letter. That’s a ridiculous assumption.</p>
<p>My 3 kids applied to a total of 35 colleges between them. Of all these applicantions we had only one clue of what helped get one kid into a college. He got a letter from the Dean of Admissions about his essay. At the other 34, we, like everyone else have no idea what happened in that room.</p>
<p>And there is an admissions rep who posts on these boards that has said some kids get the great essay notes and then don’t get in! So it’s probably 35 of 35 where we really don’t know.</p>
<p>It will help if you take a language all through high school. I’ve heard this time and time again from GCs and people who have been through this process before. You want to take as many years possible, unless there is some huge scheduling conflict. I will have taken 5 years by the time I graduate.</p>
<p>He had three years of Spanish. He had signed up for forth year (Spanish 11 honors) and the teacher was new and terrible so he dropped it (and added a college course instead).</p>
<p>It was not a problem anywhere he applied (0r at least I believe other things kept him out, not the language.)</p>
<p>i have not received any awards in French, dont plan to either…</p>
<p>when I say “I do not want to have a tough senior year, and want take it easy”, I mean that I will already have a tough senior year due to 5 AP classes, Journalism, and AcDec, and that adding a French IV AP class would not make my senior year any easier.
It was a tough experience making it through my junior with 3 APs, 2 Honors, and French 3 (Hon Chem, Hon English 11, AP Psych, AP Calc, APUSH) and getting straight A’s, I would prefer not to do something like that or harder than that course load. </p>
<p>The fact that my friend claims he got into berkeley because of that 4th year is not what I am trying to get at, I wanted to know whether the extra 4th year would help me significantly in the application process. Any other thoughts, and thanks for those who responded</p>
<p>i personally feel that academic rigor is one of the most important things on an application, and maintaining the hardest possible course load in senior year and having a really excellent midyear report to show for it are crucial. i can’t speak to the foreign language thing, since i took two years, then studied abroad for a year, and didn’t take a foreign language at all in my senior year. i didn’t apply to cal but i was accepted at some other excellent schools (stanford, penn, chicago). based on your latest post i can tell you really don’t want to take french ap… but it might help you get rid of a requirement at college if you do well and it will look great with all of the other classes, provided you can maintain your GPA. ultimately it’s up to you, but i think you should really go for it.</p>
<p>“^Applying to more than 5 universities (Not counting Ivies/schools with lower than 15% acceptance) is extremely unnecessary.”
If I had only applied to five, I wouldn’t have anywhere to go.</p>
<p>I have five years of Chinese (all As) and did not get into any UCs (well, except Riverside/Merced, but I didn’t even apply). I don’t think taking a fourth year will significantly raise your chances; it certainly wouldn’t hurt provided that you maintain good grades, but personally, I don’t think it’s worth it if it’s going to be a big distraction from your other classes. You already have a pretty tough course load what with four concurrent AP classes and all. Take something you’ll enjoy.</p>
<p>I think I will go ahead with taking AP french 4, although I was wondering if I took a class at a community college over the summer (say English 1A) instead of AP English to keep my course load the same, do the adcoms see JC classes on equal level with AP classes? Or is it better to have AP English instead of English at the JC?</p>
<p>and Phishy, your GPA and/or SAT must have been mediocre or fairly low to not have been accepted to UCs like Davis, Santa Cruz, and Irvine…</p>
). That’s just a silly statement.</p>