I’m a Sophomore currently in Honors Spanish IV. I have a pretty proficient comprehension of Spanish, but nowhere near fluent. I have a 96 overall so far (coming to the end of the 1st semester), and am wondering if it is necessary to continue into the AP levels of Spanish if I want to be competitive for state engineering schools (Virginia Tech specifically for me).
My Spanish IV teacher recommended AP Spanish Lang to me, but I’m already planning on a heavy AP courseload in my Junior year and don’t want to take AP Spanish Lang if it doesn’t have some exuberant benefit to my future.
I am a high school senior so please just know that this is my personal opinion. If it were up to me, I would continue with AP Spanish Lang and graduate high school having taken 3 years of a foreign language. However, since you mentioned you will be taking a heavy AP course load next year, could you elaborate on which subject/how many AP classes you will be taking? If you’re planning on taking 2 or less, then I would suggest you take AP Spanish Lang and if you’re taking 3 or more, then I think AP Spanish Lang should be put off.
In addition, will you be applying to any colleges in California or out of your home state? (I applied to UC and CSU’s and they recommend 3 years of a foreign language although it isn’t necessarily required). Ultimately, it’s up to you and whether you can take the workload and still balance your social life with your school life. Wish you the best and keep up the good work!!
Hey! I’m a current junior, and I took AP Spanish Language last year in addition to some ‘heavy’ courses like AP Bio, and I really enjoyed it!
Spanish is not something that would be particularly helpful to me as a prospective neuro major, but, like you, my Spanish teacher told me to take it after my freshman year. I found that it was a great class to take as a break from some of the other classes and activities I was involved in.
I did have an excellent teacher who did not let anyone in her class really get a bad grade, so I guess it comes down to what type of teacher you have. But I would encourage it!
It’s also good to show colleges interest in a non-STEM field for a more holistic transcript instead of one wholly focused on STEM classes.
Good luck!!!
So this year I’m currently enrolled in Honors Spanish 4.
My AP/DE courseload is looking as such:
AP Physics I
DE College U.S. History
DE College Composition 11
AP Computer Science A
My home state is Virginia, and I can’t really afford out-of-state tuition for schools that are my target level.
So I’m mainly looking to apply to schools like Virginia Tech, or out-of-state that can give scholarships or financial aid to bring it down to in-state tuition levels.
My daughter is a freshman at VT (we are out of state). She is a finance major. She took AP Spanish all the way up to AP Spanish VI. I can’t say if it helped her VT application or not (she is not required to take any foreign language at VT for her major, and you may find the same for the engineering major). She liked Spanish, and was good at it, so she kept taking it. VT will let her use the AP credits toward another elective.
What are your course options if you don’t take the Spanish? Engineering admits are competitive everywhere so I would think adding more math & science courses in your next 2 years would be beneficial if you’re planning to apply to Engineering or CS. That said, I do think that advancing up through the AP levels in a foreign language does add something to the level of course rigor a student has, as those upper levels are quite challenging.
If I don’t take AP Spanish Lang, I’d likely end up taking another humanities-related course. I was thinking about taking a 2nd history class since I have a strong interest in it, and it’ll help broaden my courseload. (either AP Euro or AP World: Modern) There aren’t really any other engineering courses I can take Junior year without running out of classes to take Senior year that is related to my field of interest.
I’m basically between AP Spanish or a 2nd history class at this point.
Are you pre-med? If you are Spanish will be incredibly useful. Speaking a second language, particularly Spanish in the US, is always useful in an increasingly global world.
I get what you mean. Learning languages is in effect broadening horizons, and the OP would benefit greatly from that. I am in fact planning on going on the premed track, but I wanted to emphasize the somewhat arbitrary nature of taking AP Spanish in place of a class like AP Stats or AP CompSci, or AP Psych. I am taking these classes now, though, so by all means, go for AP Spanish!
PS. Although I mentioned that my teacher was lenient about grading, I did end up getting a 5 on the exam with little self-study. It’s an easy course if you like Spanish. AP Spanish Literature is another matter, though
Wow! That is a pretty heavy course load of AP and Dual Enrollment classes! In my opinion, I would suggest leaving out AP spanish lang from your junior year schedule since it looks like you’ll be pretty busy with the rest of your classes. Although, if you’re still interested in Spanish, then you can always take it senior year if time allows. You’re doing great! (: