All As freshman through junior year BUT...

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I'm writing about a problem I'm having that I'm currently losing sleep over.</p>

<p>I've managed to make all As and A+s, with an occasional A-, throughout my high school career, and am ranked in the top 1% of my class. Academics are the strongest part of my career. For my senior year schedule, I'm taking 6 AP courses and 1 honors business elective, which, in retrospect, was a horrendous idea. The grades in most of my classes match the rest of my transcript, with one glaring exception. </p>

<p>My school allows one to start their foreign language requirement with Level 1 in eighth grade (though that year doesn't appear on the transcript) and then take Level 2 in ninth grade, 3 in 10th, 4 in 11th and either Honors 5 or AP in 12th grade. There were some inconsistencies and issues with the Spanish track throughout the year, such as the fact that there was a permanent substitute for most of Level 4 Honors, and consequently, along with everyone else in my AP Spanish class, I currently have a C that's not going any higher in the foreseeable future. I'm applying to several top-level schools (Ivy and Ivy-level) regular decision, so my mid-year report will be evaluated as part of my application and I know my extracurriculars are not strong enough to make up for less than an A in any class.</p>

<p>I'm not sure whether I should drop the class for a study hall and have a withdraw-passing on my midyear report, move to Honors 5 (it's the same period in the same room as AP with the same teacher but different tests, which is probably part of the problem) or just suck it out. I've already submitted my Common Application to most of my schools stating that I'm taking AP Spanish, so I'm guessing that an explanatory letter will be necessary? Also, because most of my schools require or strongly recommend applicants take four years of language, I'm worried about dropping the class completely.</p>

<p>Any advice? Thanks so much, I'm losing so much sleep over this.</p>

2

<p>The “recommendation” of some selective colleges to take “4 years of a language” means to complete the equivalent of 4 years of the language. Some students (such as you) place into a level higher than level 1 at the start of high school. In other words you’ve achieved the 4-year recommended level at the end of your junior year. So taking level 5 or AP is truly extra credit.</p>

<p>So what should you do? Talk to the teacher. If you can manage a B it’s better to complete the first semester of the AP class than to try for a mid-course change. You can choose to not take the second semester. But the other alternative – transferring to honors level 5 will work – and should have no impact on your application. I’m not sure that a long explanation of why you made the change is necessary.</p>

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<p>Thanks. I definitely plan on talking to her tomorrow, I’m not quite sure what will show up on my transcript for the course title but I don’t really care at this point. The teacher doesn’t let anyone join the AP class unless they agree that they will take the exam, so I suppose if I’m asked on an interview I can pass it off as a financial issue. There’s no way even the best student in my class will get more than a 2 or 3 with my school’s preparation, and I’m not throwing away $86 when I have application fees to pay and 6 other exams to take.</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure I can’t drop an academic course at the second half of the semester. I suppose I can talk to guidance about auditing the course, but they probably won’t let me because the girl who’s a tenth of a GPA point behind me me class-rank wise is still taking the class. </p>

<p>Maybe I’ll ask my guidance counselor to throw in a note with the midyear report as a way of explanation?</p>