Is it possible to be accepted to a 4YR University or College out of High School without meeting the 2 YR foreign
Language requirement? Thank you in advance!
If it is a requirement, then it will probably difficult. You could email admissions at the colleges of interest to find out. If there are extenuating circumstances which kept you from completing the 2 year requirement, it could be addressed by your GC other than that, it is a requirement for a reason. There are other ways other than taking 2 years of FL at your HS. 1 semester at a local community college of a FL= 1 year of HS. You could also pass the SAT 2 Subject test for one of the Foreign Languages to fulfill the requirement.
If it is required, you will have to have a decent reason why you could not meet it.
Usually when they state 2 years they mean the student should have taken language level 2. You don’t get penalized if you took classes in Middle School and are ahead of the curve if that is the concern.
You need to reach level 2 for your application to be considered unless you have a valid reason.
You could take two semesters of a foreign language at a community college , this fulfills the level 2 requirement - the easiest is probably Italian.
You could look for colleges that do not have a two year language requirement, e.g., Auburn has no langiuage requirement for admission. As to those with 2 year requirments, that means reaching the second high school level of the language and not necessarily taking language for two years in high school. Some have alternative ways to meet the requirement such as submitting an SAT language test with some particular score or higher. Also, some will consider you if you have some excuse for not having two years, e.g., UIUC requires two years but will consider applicants with less if there is some good reason for not having two years. Also, if you are an international applicant from a country whose language is other than English, most do not requiire a second “foreign” language for those, but they need to show proficiency in English. In other words, check the particular colleges and see what their rules actually are to see if you can possibly be accepted without two years of language.
Is there a reason that you don’t have the two years of language that your guidance counselor can explain in his/her recommendation?
In our school district, you may not even graduate from HS without level 2 foreign language.
If you’re a NYS homeschooler you could graduate without any languages if your parents didn’t think to compare the high school graduation requirements to college admission requirements. I’m not sure about the regulations in other states. Another reason someone could graduate without a foreign language is if they have certain learning disorders. I think people with an official diagnosis can be excused from the requirement, but there would be a paper trail for that.
It looks like OP is the parent and is trying to figure out a schedule to raise her son’s GPA to 3.0 to qualify for Bright Futures. Unless he has a learning disability, I don’t think he can skip foreign languages. If he needs them to qualify for Bright Futures, you’d have to contact them directly to find out if they make allowances.
California only requires one year in either a foreign language or an art to graduate. So I guess it is possible someone might not notice that colleges require it and not enroll.
It really depends upon the HS. My son’s California HS required 2 years Foreign Language as a graduation requirement but I would think since most California HS students would try to apply the Cal States and UC’s, that they would gear their requirements to the college requirements.
Most California high school students go to a community college or no college at all.
I’ve looked into this question somewhat because my D2 struggles with the foreign language requirement. As of now she has one year of Latin and is not enrolled in a foreign language class for her sophomore year of high school. I’m hoping that eventually she will complete online Latin 2. But I have researched the issue and ascertained that in our state (AZ), a foreign language is not required by the state or by our school district to graduate. Our state universities require 2 years of the same foreign language. But when I looked into that further, I figured out that the 2 year requirement from the state universities is for “guaranteed admission.” The websites indicate that if you have a “deficiency” in meeting the admission requirements, you may still be considered for admission. So if she doesn’t complete the second year of Latin, then I think she will have to try for the discretionary admission at the state universities, or start at community college, or look for another college that doesn’t require 2 years. I’m still holding out hope that she’ll eventually do the second year of Latin.
^Note that there is often a college graduation requirement in foreign language, and the more you’ve taken in high school, the better off you are in college. In addition, the pace of introductory foreign language classes in college is brutal - that one year of Latin would be covered in two months… So that, for a student who struggles with foreign language, taking it in high school as much as possible, so as to place as high as possible and have as few classes as possible, would be easier than betting on the college having no language requirement for graduation or on the student acing the placement test. Reaching level 2-3 in high school often means just one semester in college at many mid level colleges.
I hear you @MYOS1634. Nothing would make me happier than for her to do 3-4 years of foreign language in high school. D1 followed the traditional path toward a top school and is a sophomore at Pomona. With D2 I’ve had to completely change my approach and focus on the “right now” instead of the longer term path. We take everything one semester at a time with the main goal being keeping her in school and moving forward. It may be that she will eventually do ASL in college to satisfy a foreign language requirement. But that’s a problem for another day.
I don’t know what the OP’s situation is, but I think the OP needs to research first what is required to graduate from his/her high school and then what the specific requirements for admission are at schools he/she might be interested in.
This issue is of interest becasue my dyslexic and dysgraphic son struggled, but eventually completed, the required two years. However, we are both concerned with college. I have heard, provided there is a good reason, that some colleges will let students complete history and culture courses in lieu of a foreign Lang requirement to graduate from high school. Does any one have knowledge about this?
@4sslack , you don’t state what your child’s issue is with FL, but without an IEP, it will be hard to get around the requirement. Your child can complete American sign language online through Level 2 and it will be accepted. There are a number of LD kids who do this. It is important to do it through an accredited online education company.
We have looked into ASL as well which is offered by some of our local community colleges. If she can’t/won’t do a second year of Latin then that’s another option, especially once she is old enough to drive herself to the class. The CC credit for ASL would also be accepted by our state universities.
Some schools count sign language and computer science as the language requirement.
@sensation723 ^ do those colleges state these options on their websites? If not, how would I research to find which colleges count sign language and computer languages?
I may be wrong, but I thought that @sensation723 was referencing HS’s which count it toward graduation requirements.
In any event, IMO, it’s safe to say that a HS offers a subject like ASL as a foreign language, that the college will accept it as meeting the admissions recommendations/requirements. However, just because a college accepts ASL does not mean that it will fulfill the FL language requirement for graduation. As an example, Harvard recently reintroduced ASL into the course offerings, but it does not fulfill the FL graduation requirement since it does not have a reading component.
In terms of CS, I’m not aware of any college that accepts it in lieu of FL, although there may be a few. In this case, I don’t think there is a shortcut to finding out who does and who does not; you’d need to ask each college