<p>I am currently a sophomore in Northern Virginia and I am in Spanish 3.</p>
<p>Anyways, I really do hate Spanish. I mean I've gotten A's all three years but I just don't like it. Originally I wanted to take Latin but after I thought about it, it seemed like a dead language, you know? To get straight to the point, should I keep on with Spanish (though I hate it) until I get into AP Spanish or should I just change languages? Which looks better? Hopefully I get into UVa and break into investment banking (what I'm thinking about).
Anything helps!</p>
<p>Drop Spanish if you hate it, but if you’re just a hs sophomore, replace it with another foreign language. Having taken Spanish will give you a head start on Latin. Yes, it’s a dead language, but there’s a lot of good literature in Latin and it will improve your grasp of English as well by improving your vocabulary and your understanding of grammar. French is another option–it’s also a Romance language, so having some Spanish is a help, but French pronunciation is a lot more difficult for English speakers.</p>
<p>If you go to UVA College of Arts and Sciences, you will need to take 2 years of a foreign language, which gets you to an intermediate level of fluency, OR show that you have equivalent prior preparation. Most kids need to have taken 4 or 5 high school years to place out of UVA’s language requirement entirely, but many are able to satisfy the requirement with just a semester or two of additional study. However, it’s perfectly acceptable to start a new language at UVA provided you don’t mind committing four semesters to it. My S, who took four years of Spanish and two years of Japanese in hs, decided to start Russian at UVA rather than see whether he could place out of the language requirement via Spanish.</p>
<p>Most liberal arts colleges have foreign language requirements that are similar to UVA’s.</p>
<p>Well I’m trying to get into the school of business. And yes I do in fact hate it. I was thinking of dropping Spanish for Latin or French. You are right about French though. I have sooo many friends who complained their first year of French. So would it be better if I had 5 years of Spanish (including AP Spanish) or 3 years of Spanish and 2 years of Latin/French?
Thank you soo much jingle.
Any other opinions?</p>
<p>It is way to early in the year to be deciding, or more accurately giving up on, a language next year. At the earliest you will have to put in your requests in January so I would give it some time. You may find when you are closer to completing your third year you may feel differently. If not, Jingle is correct, Latin is a good choice and helps with the SAT CR vocabulary.
Check with your GC to see what the most successful students at your school have done. There may be a preference in admissions that is very visible when looking at transcripts of students that have been accepted to specific universities. You will want to know this BEFORE you make the decision to give up Spanish next year.</p>
<p>Thanks blueiguana
Yeah, I guess you’re right. My question is what you sort of talked about where you said something about the preference in admissions. Would it look better to have continued a language all the way through or to know multiple languages?</p>
<p>I also speak Bengali (can’t write or read) and can understand most Hindi/Urdu, which really isn’t important but you never know. </p>
<p>I took German all through high school, until finally in senior year AP I was so hateful towards it that I withdrew from the class, which itself ended up being another ordeal… I had an A and my teacher was the head of the department, so to drop I had to get her to sign the form (if you want to drop at my hs your teacher doesn’t have to agree, just the department head – makes sense if it is a personal issue, of course it backfired on me). She wouldn’t sign it for a week, so I sat in the back of the room doing other homework until my mom and guidance counselor ganged up on her. She just couldn’t sign it when I had “the highest score on the latest test…” but gosh I hated her!!! (And German. But she was a big part). Anyways… I took Spanish at the local CC that fall, and loved it. I also went to Hebrew school when I was younger (and took a year of Modern Hebrew my junior year through the local Jewish college) and eventually decided to take Hebrew at UVA to fulfill my 4 semester requirement. I loved it so much I actually took 5 semesters and then private tutored that spring when the class didn’t fit my schedule. I also took a semester of Yiddish, and a 2nd semester of Spanish. I’m glad my German helped me with my Yiddish, but really other than that I do not why I put myself through that in high school. Even knowing that it could/would affect my college decision, senior year, I just couldn’t do something I hated so much. Even if I hadn’t gotten into UVA, life goes on, and there’s no reason for you to spend the next few years of your life doing something you dislike for a chance at getting into UVA. I LOVE languages but I just hated German at my high school so much… You need to do what’s best for YOU! Anyways that is my 2cents, hope your decision is easier when you do course selection…</p>
<p>Also if it helps, my junior year when I was on the fence about taking German senior year, I decided to sign up for it because if I decided to drop (which I heavily considered the whole first week of the class but decided to stick it through for UVA… clearly that did not work out) then that would not impact my schedule at all, whereas if I did not sign up but changed my mind later and wanted to add in, then either my schedule might not fit German or I might have to drop another class I like. So that way you have the freedom to drop it if you do not like it but to stay in if you think you can push through it.</p>
<p>So do you think that taking the AP class would better my chances of getting into Uva? I mean yes, i do hate Spanish but it is for the best, you know? I agree that you shouldn’t do something you hate but I am honestly willing to do it if it helps me get into the college(s) i want to get into. If no, then that is a whole different story. Thanks.</p>