Do the college/DE options you are considering include French, Chinese, or Spanish at a sufficiently high level to be of educational benefit to her?
The college or dual enrollment (DE) options currently offer Spanish and Chinese courses, but they are only available at beginner to intermediate levels. However, there is an option for Japanese. I’m concerned that adding Japanese might be overwhelming given her busy schedule. It might be more beneficial to have the option to completely opt out of the foreign language requirement instead.
The IB school also only provides Chinese and Spanish as its language offerings.
This just posted on another thread - note the last line.
BUMD
Getting into highly ranked schools is just the beginning… I know a coworker’s brother who dropped out of JHU and a coworker who transferred out of MIT. Fit helps you on finishing up with a degree/diploma. Our close friend’s daughter got into Princeton but it was not affordable and went to state flagship with full ride and on the way to becoming a neurosurgeon.
This student is not yet a high school student…and already it sounds like their whole life, including schooling and a career as a doctor, has been planned.
I would suggest you look at the strongest school curriculum. In my opinion, the IB does that.
AP courses are fine enough, but if your student pursues medical school, any required courses for medical school admission will need to be taken at the college level…or higher level ones if the student does get AP credits.
I’m not a fan of early college, and I’m really not a fan of early college for doctors. The average age of a first year medical school student is mid 20’s.
Your potential medical school applicant has a LOT of things to do in addition to graduating from high school, and undergrad.
I think there is a lot of value in not rushing things…especially in medicine where there are many many years of schooling, tests galore every step of the way, etc.
So…pick a good high school program.
Worry about medical school a LOT later.
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Japanese language high school courses or college courses?
In California, many community college language courses are considered equivalent to high school years as follows, according to University of California A-G Course List
- College semester 1 = high school year 2
- College semester 2 = high school year 3
- College semester 3+ = high school year 4+
Also, has she checked whether her skills at the various languages are higher than the available courses in Spanish and Chinese?
Here is a Spanish language placement guide from UCB, including descriptions of what is learned at each level, and links to syllabi: Spanish Language Program | Spanish and Portuguese . Note the section at the bottom for heritage speakers, which may have some similarities to your student’s experience.
There’s nothing wrong with planning ahead when she has a clear vision of her goals. She simply wishes to follow in her grandparents’ footsteps, and there’s nothing inappropriate about a parent supporting that choice.
Typically, CLEP credit is offered by some public universities and colleges. Anyone interested can find specific information on College Board’s CLEP pages. Elite private colleges almost certainly won’t accept CLEP credits.
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It’s not. I have firsthand experience here, having entered HS proficient in 4 languages in addition to English, 2 of which, including Italian, were not offered in my HS, and one of which has no AP test. My learning, though, was partially derived from living and attending schools in which the languages were spoken. My school strongly recommended continuing one language past the AP level or starting another from scratch. I did the latter. For giggles, I did take the AP Italian exam, which was really a waste of money. While I took Italian courses in college, their placement exam would have saved me $99. The foolishness of youth.
Were her travels in a time machine to Ancient Rome?
In all seriousness, AP credit in 5 languages will be beyond useless. The benefit for one will be fulfilling the college foreign language requirement for graduation. Anything else will be elective credit at best. College admissions will not be impressed. And still, colleges will expect some foreign language study during HS.
Not to discount your daughter’s claim, but my eyes automatically roll when a teenager claims proficiency in a language that is neither spoken at home or in the neighborhood. She’s much better off fully developing reading/writing/speaking/listening skills in one or two foreign languages than not having depth in multiple.
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SL is the only required. But your D could definitely do an HL class in one of her languages to fulfill IBD requirements and to demostrate ability. As the IBD is quite rigorous, she might welcome this as an easier class.
I’m casting another vote for IB. The whole diploma program is well thought out and offers a thoughtful, rigorous, and well-rounded educational experience.
More though, I’d advise picking a high school that’s going to allow her to be her best possible self - in and out of the classroom. These are 4 really important years in a lifetime, so while you’re smart to be thinking ahead (avoiding “if only I’d known!” moments), please don’t let high school become an extended college admissions test.
Remember that kids go to med school from all kinds of universities, and many of the best planners deliberately chose their less expensive state schools to have $ for med school. Even if your D trips up in high school, she can do well at any college. And that’s what determines what medical schools is an option.
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You’re quite amusing! I had such a good laugh. To be honest, Italian, Spanish, French, and Latin all share a common origin. When you’ve mastered one of them, learning the others becomes significantly easier. Some might even consider it a bit like cheating. Grandma taught her Latin alongside religion, and I view it as a stepping stone that greatly aided her understanding of higher-level literature later on. It certainly played a crucial role in her ability to learn Italian, Spanish, and French simultaneously. 
Of course there is nothing wrong with planning ahead and supporting your child’s goals, but this student has not even started HS and her vision and goals can change (or maybe not) drastically in the next 10 years.
To me, supporting her goals means attending HS and choosing the right classes (AP or IB), doing well in school, socializing, and being involved.
She wants to run for school president? Great! You are her biggest cheerleader! She has an opportunity to teach/tutor a foreign language two towns over at 6:00? Great! You will tweak your work schedule and make sure she gets there. She will have a rigorous schedule, and the rest will follow. She doesn’t need to take classes or tests that are not offered at her school. She doesn’t need 12 APs.
HS is a big transition in and of itself, and she isn’t even there yet. College is an even bigger transition for many. And she doesn’t need to go to the top ranked college to get to medical school.
Your daughter may enter college with premed intentions and realize she made the right decision. However…she may begin to shadow and realize it’s not for her, change her mind etc. She may realize she doesn’t enjoy direct patient care, etc. A lot goes on in those 4 years- it’s hard to envision this in 8th or 9th grade. She doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.
I would slow down and focus on the present, as well as the next 4 years of HS. I would also not chase what is not offered within the school, but that’s me.
I want to end by saying that your daughter sounds impressive. Good luck to you as you get your questions answered and navigate the process.
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Is her learning reflected on any transcript? Levels reached through immersion or middle school can “count” in the same way biology, algebra1, geometry can “count” twds HS credit.
She will need one FL for the IBD. Since Spanish and Chinese are 2 she knows and they’re offered at the IB school, she would be fine picking one. (I would suggest Spanish wrt med school aims.)
Does the IB school offer Spanish or Chinese at HL level?
No one would fault your child for taking a FL she knows at HL level. (The school would likely require a placement test.)
Or would they support your daughter taking French at HL level?
In Spanish, does a local CC or 4-year college accept DE students and offer advanced classes involving history, culture, literature, films… (or, if such a class is offered in English, would a FL accross the Curriculum with films/books studied in both languages and an option to turn in papers in Spanish be available ?) However that class would not count twds the IBD.
Would taking the AP test require more than learning about expectations (there’s a rigid grid for AP FL, if you don’t follow what they expect answers showing linguistic mastery outside the expectations may not get all the points.) If not, there’s nothing to lose - AP changed deadlines though and you can now only register in the Fall.
If she or her grandmother went through the Italian system she would learn Latin as a matter of course. It’s probably the most obvious languages for her to take thr AP test in. The aim would be to document her out of class learning and being a heritage speaker for Italian.
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@wild : Maybe you can enroll her to science camps or premed camps ?
Most often local colleges/universities do offer the programs to kids. The programs are fun and helping them to learn more about science and/or medicine outside of classrooms.
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My 2 cents …
Personally, I don’t think it’s matter much in choosing AP or IB systems. The important benefits are to preparing students early in HS and give them the early start or foundation to tackle the hard/weed-out sciences classes in colleges. In addition, with many AP classes in additions to loaded ECs, students will learn or come up with a system to manage their time, which will definitely help them in college. Another additional fringe benefit is that they can use some of the AP/IB learning for college credits to bypass some lower level courses if they take the exams and pass them. Another idea is to prep her for SAT/ACT earlier if she is ready for it. For math portion, I think students will need pre-cal (SAT) and Algebra 2(ACT), but I’m not sure.
It’s great that she knows 5 languages and this will help her in the future. However, if the focus is preparing her for premed in college, then I would think choosing one language and become proficient will benefit her. In US, I think it’s a great plus to be able to speak/read/write in Spanish.
You can introduce her to health related activities by get her involve direct/indirect in the health care settings. As a I mentioned earlier, there should be several camps or clubs locally that you can enroll her during summers and breaks. You can also check out with your science teachers or city/county for any science clubs available through out the year. In HS, she can start volunteer in health care related settings. Our oldest daughter performed music in hospital and senior-assisted livings at early age and volunteered at local firehouse as EMR for 3 years in HS.
A path to medical school is long and tough, students may change their minds along the way. As parents of 2 (one is junior in college and other is a junior in HS), my wife and I prepared them during primary school year with extra activities but gave them the freedom to explore. My oldest daughter, makes all decisions relating to school and work. We are just supporting her with advices and finance.
This forums are filled with parents and experts who are willing to give great advices. I have learned a lot from them during my oldest applying for college and will look for advices when my daughter is ready to apply for med school.
Good luck !!!
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Seems like the choice of high school educational paths for the student depends on the following:
- Which options are there for foreign language that would be of educational benefit to the student and not appear to be grade grubbing? I.e. suitably advanced if in a language the student knows, or sufficient course work starting from beginner level in a new language. Has the student been tested or advised for placement in the languages already known?
- Which AP courses does the non-IB school offer?
- Which IB subjects are required and offered by the IB school, and which ones are offered SL only, HL only, or both SL and HL? (“which subjects” meaning which specific math, which specific science, which specific history, etc.; for example, not all IB schools offer all four IB math course choices, and not all of them offer HL in all of the sciences)
- Which college courses are available?
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Why don’t you have her take the AP test in her best (second) language and see how she does.
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@worriedmomucb Or @wild’s child could take level 4 and 5 in the languages she is best at. My understanding is the number of years is not as important as the level. If it is a non native language taking level 4 and 5 of two different languages would likely As and would look very good on transcript. I saw a post of a young lady who took Chinese, French and German. Got in to Harvard.
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A couple of thoughts. It sounds like your family has lived all over the world so IB degree would allow for most flexibility of college in the states or in another country. It is very difficult for American students to get in to great schools like OXbridge because they don’t value the same holistic application that US schools do and they want to see how you compare in their environment. Just food for thought. You might have her look to volunteer early as a translator in a medical clinic for great experience and to be around a medical setting while providing good to potentially underserved communities. It sounds like she will have amazing cultivated curation. You have an amazing canvas to work with. Make sure she has fun and enjoys being a teen This will go fast.
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This is an excellent idea. Please keep in mind that any volunteer work (or work) done in high school won’t actually be used if this student applies via the regular admissions route to medical school. She would need to continue these in college (but that would certain show a commitment).
I agree that using her language expertise could benefit her.
WRT curriculum, she needs strong preparation in Stem areas, but also others, as those are subjects on the MCAT should she go that route.
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Yes I agree but you can never start too early. My understanding is clinical exposure early is a key component to Med school acceptance. If she gets experience in HS and uses her language skills that will likely lead to early opportunities in college. Most research universities will likely have access to medical clinics that will need bilingual services. Seems to me likely a very attractive skill. Might also look at organizations like Dr. Without Boarders.
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