Hello,
I am currently a high school sophomore taking my second year of high school Spanish (Spanish II). I am planning to apply to many top colleges such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Harvard, MIT, and Cornell. Many of these schools recommend 3 years of a foreign language, but as of now, I am thinking that I will only end up taking 2 years of Spanish in high school. It’s not that I don’t like Spanish- I actually really like learning it and it is a subject I am fairly good at. However, there are so many other classes that I want to take in the coming years that I don’t have room in my schedule to take a third or fourth year of Spanish. Also, taking Spanish III would bring down my GPA since it is not honors or AP. If I don’t take Spanish III next year, I will be able to take AP Computer Science Principles, AP Calc, AP Physics, AP Biology, APUSH, and honors English, which, if I get all As like I always have, will allow me to have a 5.0 GPA my junior year. That would, I think, pretty much solidify my class rank as 1, and graduating as valedictorian is something that I have wanted since middle school. If I were to take Spanish III, I would have to give up either AP Physics or AP Comp Sci, two classes that really interest me and are more related to the field I want to major in/pursue a career in (biochemistry/molecular biology, possibly a minor or double major in Comp Sci). It could also put me at a disadvantage in terms of GPA, even if I were to take Spanish online. Will only having 2 years of Spanish really hurt me in college admissions? The only school I think I will apply to that explicitly requires 3 years of a foreign language is Cornell, but their engineering school does not require 3 years, so maybe I could just apply to their biomolecular engineering or biomedical engineering program instead of their arts and sciences college. Thanks for any advice!
The top schools generally want students to reach level 3 or 4 of a foreign language. You can look at each college’s website and/or google the common data set for each college you are considering and look at section C5. For example, the common data set for Harvard is here and they specifically recommend 4 years of foreign language. https://oir.harvard.edu/files/huoir/files/harvard_cds_2017-18.pdf?m=1526405420
The college you mentioned accept around 4% - 10% of applicants and don’t have enough space for all of the exceeding well qualified people who apply. Most everyone who does apply will have the required/recommended coursework so your application will be at a disadvantage if you do not. Colleges are looking for people to have a well rounded HS education. Do no forego foreign language for electives, even if the electives are AP classes. If you want to finish your last two years of language by taking two semesters at a CC over the summer or in an accredited online program that might be an option but I’d clear it with your guidance counselor first.
You might want to read through the thread pinned on top of this forum as well. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1802227-faq-foreign-language.html#latest
Thank you. What about the online courses bringing down my GPA? Do you think that taking the language classes would still be worth it, even if they bring down my GPA? Or do you think taking an SAT Subject test in Spanish and scoring well would compensate for not taking 3 or 4 years of Spanish?
You are way too worried about your weighted GPA.
Colleges seem to strongly prefer foreign language over AP Computer Science. Is it possible to skip your lunch period to add Spanish to the classes you want to take and still optimize the number of weighted classes?
Also, something to keep in mind is that many colleges (definitely Yale and Stanford from you list) require proficiency in a foreign language so if you don’t continue now you will have to start back up.
Did you have Spanish in 7th/8th grade? Just asking to make sure you are only completing level 2, not level 3. My S stopped after 10th grade but he had completed level 3. It wasn’t an issue for him in admissions, but now after a two year hiatus he will have to start from scratch in college.
You need to talk to your guidance counselor about how your school counts online/CC classes. Perhaps you sent that transcript separately. I expect that all top students in your HS will take 4 years of foreign language so you should all be in the same boat. Read through the link I provided and please stop obsessing about your GPA.
No, actually, the majority of students at my high school only take 3 years of Spanish. Spanish is the only foreign language offered at my high school, and many students are native Spanish speakers, so they start with Spanish 2 and then maybe take Spanish 3 sophomore year and are done with their foreign language. AP electives are much more common than additional Spanish courses at my school, so the “top” students that I will be competing with in terms of class rank usually take those instead of more years of Spanish. I will talk to my counselor about how I could potentially take online Spanish courses without them hurting my GPA, though. Thanks for the advice.
An A in Spanish 3 is not something you should view as a negative.
This thread is everything wrong with GPA, ranking and weighting.
Yes, the whole GPA system is pretty unfair since it can punish you for taking more courses. However, graduating as valedictorian is something that I have dreamt about for a long time, and I am really worried that taking additional Spanish courses might bring down my GPA too much since my class is pretty competitive. I know that GPA is far from everything, but it is still something I want to take into consideration. I think I will go ahead and take at least one online Spanish class, though, because it sounds like it is pretty important for college admissions, and I do genuinely enjoy learning Spanish.
You need to focus less on your GPA and more on getting a well-rounded education. Two years of Spanish is not enough – you need at least three years. And online won’t cut it. Can you take a dual-enrollment college class or an immersive summer program that would give you HS or college credit? If you genuinely enjoy learning Spanish, don’t let concerns about your GPA get in the way.
The online class I mentioned earlier is an accredited online high school course that is approved by my school. The course would go on my high school transcript and is A-G eligible.
My d took French 3 at a university in the summer rather than taking another year at her high school. Not only did it go onto her high school transcript, but it also transferred directly to give her college credit when she got to college. Something to think about, since you can’t get college credit for high school language study until you get to AP in the fourth year. I think in-person classes are better for foreign languages, but if you’re planning to do an online class regardless, you might want to consider a university-based one in order to get both high school and college credit. One example: https://il.wisconsin.edu/catalog/course.aspx?course=U912-203
The lack of a “grade bump” is not a really good reason to cut short foreign language study… but if your HS doesn’t require another year of Spanish, you could theoretically take a college-level class (at community college or summer program or online) and just submit that transcript separately to colleges without having your HS add it to your transcript and GPA there.
My daughter was not val at her school (light weighting of her many many APs). Not even close. She went to Yale. Please don’t focus on val. Focus on getting a good, balanced, rigorous education. It will serve you well wherever you end up. Being val is wonderful those 10 minutes while you give the speech. After that, no one really gives two shakes about it, including all the kids you’ll be going to college with.
Our Val could not get into Harvard. Another student did. She was not an athlete or legacy. Not hooked in any way. No one knows for sure why that happened, but Val is certainly not the magic key.
My guess is that when schools go ahead and tell you what they want – minimum 3 years of language: you should believe them. There is so much we all have to guess at in the college application process, don’t throw away the few things we know for sure.
If you get an A in your Spanish class, your loss in GPA will be .01 or .02 at the most.
If you can take the Spanish class at a community college, then you won’t have to worry about the GPA loss.
I would go as far as say you want to have level 4 of a FL for some colleges to rate your academic record in the highest category. It’s a ‘checkbox’ that some Admissions offices will look for and if it’s not there you will be at a disadvantage.
Referring back to the beginning, it’s more than just Cornell:
Harvard: “Four years of a single foreign language”
https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/preparing-college/choosing-courses
Yale: " Generally speaking, you should try to take courses each year in English, science, math, the social sciences, and foreign language."
https://admissions.yale.edu/advice-selecting-high-school-courses
Stanford: “three or more years of the same foreign language.”
https://admission.stanford.edu/apply/selection/prepare.html
Each of those colleges reject 95% of applicants. Most applicants will have met the colleges recommended preparation. I really struggle with why any applicant would like to put forth an application in which they tried to pull out all stops.
Because there is no standard rubric for weighted courses, top colleges will focus on your unweighted GPA, or will apply their own weighting standards. Regardless. The impact of one or 2 unweighted classes on a 3.5 year GPA is akin to a pimple on an elephant’s butt. You need to take a step back and focus on the larger picture.
Depending upon where you matriculate, each class may not be seen as equivalent to the college’s intro course, and you may end up retaking anyway. So, IMO, just trying to jam in another AP is not a valid reason to choose a course.
If you do take Spanish 3 and have to give up AP Physics or AP Comp Sci I’d recommend giving up AP Comp Sci as many if not most schools don’t have a standard way to deal with it and schools have their own specific placement exam if you wish to try to place out of Intro to programming.
This has probably been said but if a school says something is “recommended” that should translate in your head to “required”. Definitely continue on with Spanish. I agree with dropping CS if you have to make the choice.
It hasn’t
Not necessarily. These schools also practice holistic admissions, so the choices will be evaluated in context. If there is a valid reason for the choice (e.g. following the British curriculum) than that choice will be viewed differently from an invalid reason. In my mind, decisions which will get a closer scrutiny include:
• I don’t like the subject/I like another subject more
• I don’t like the teacher/the teacher does not teach
• I don’t want to wreck my GPA