Yes, someone else mentioned that one. The California system is it’s own beast, that’s for sure!
Washington public universities allow an 8th grade foreign language course to count toward one of the years of foreign language required if a higher level course in that language is taken in high school:
Oregon public universities require either two years of foreign language in high school or level 3 or higher foreign language or equivalent:
https://admissions.uoregon.edu/second-language
I rarely post, but I figure this might help people who don’t have the standard 4 years of foreign language in high school.
My kid took Spanish 1 in 7th/8th grade. A few kids were recommended to take Spanish 3 in 9th grade, so he skipped Spanish 2. I was a little worried he wouldn’t have a good foundation. In 10th, the school wanted to keep the AP Spanish Lit class alive (not well attended), so he took that with a great teacher instead of AP Spanish Language. At the end of 10th, he took both the AP Spanish Lit and the AP Language tests and scored 5s on both, so clearly my worries about his foundation were unfounded. He ended high school with 2 years of Spanish, but reached the highest level attainable.
Fast forward to college application season. I was a little worried about his unusual path with foreign language. He applied to many reachy schools and was admitted SCEA to his top choice, plus three other top 5 schools (when Columbia was still in the rankings 
) So you can spend hours parsing what these colleges say on their websites about academic recommendations, but they will make an individual determinations based on the totality of your student’s resume.
My kid picked his own path for ALL (but one) of his classes with no input from us. We weren’t thinking of the reachiest of reach schools in 9th grade. That only became a realistic possibility in spring of 11th grade, and by then, most of his class choices were already a done deal.
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AP Music Theory is a very, very difficult class at my kids’ school.
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Yep, as noted a couple times above, colleges will always make allowance for students who ran out of opportunities at their schools and many will also consider the holistic circumstances.
Disagree @DrPrimo-- S22 took AP Music theory online through Eastman junior year. He has been taking theory steadily from age 6 through the children’s chorus he was in and had completed the highest level offered. The AP Music theory course helped him continue to sharpen his skills that he needs as an incoming voice major, and he placed out of the basic level thus saving a semester of Music Theory and giving him the ability to pick up an extra elective during the course of his undergrad years. While you are correct that nobody escapes taking Music Theory and Aural Skills, the semester saved is of value to him. Honestly, even if he hadn’t placed higher (and it’s still a basic level that first years take), it gave him the confidence that he is at the level he needs to be as a first year music major.
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I’d clarify that taking the AP music theory exam may not be of much use for a future music major. Learning the AP music theory concepts will be beneficial. Most music schools do have their own placement exam for theory but it’s certainly possible to place into a more advanced course than Theory 1 with prior knowledge.
I also agree with @compmon to let the student take the course they are interested in. There’s always trade offs, but there’s benefits too.
Good for him! Great news… not my experience tho
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I believe the OP was asking if they should take AP theory or stick with the 4th year of a language. I have read on this forum that the 4th year of a language was of great value, especially when applying to top colleges. Knowing what I know… unless one plans to be a music major and the specific college considers the AP theory course difficult (not all do), then my advice still is to stick with the language. I think it will take the OP further than the HS theory class. Just my 2¢. Good luck!
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@DrPrimo, we all have different experiences and different kids. One of mine got into a “top school” after dropping a course listed as required for the university, in order to take music theory. The theory class enhanced music outside of school, and the college seemed to care more about that commitment than the list of required classes. I believe the GC also wrote a note. But the OP’s situation may be very different.
As an aside, it can be tough doing music at the college level, whether BA or BM program, with a bunch of kids who have done conservatory prep or even who have done theory in high school.
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I’m still wondering why this student couldn’t take level 4 of foreign language as a junior, and music theory as a senior? Why?
That fourth level of foreign language would keep additional college options open.
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no idea if this is the case but at our school ap music theory is only given every other year
Again, if the choice is due to a scheduling conflict, VHS and other online courses can help.
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