Caltech... Do I HAVE to take that 4th year of foreign language to look competitive?

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
1

Hello,
Some stats about me: current junior, 4.0 unweighted gpa, 2100 SAT (I understand that I will have to increase this to at least a 2300 to look in the least way competitive for Cal, I feel fairly confident that I should be able to do that, because I got the 2100 early junior year and without studying. No need to remind me about the 2100 not being good enough, I told myself that the moment I got the score :wink: 7 extracurriculars & love science & math, a lot. Currently in AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1, and AP Lang along with honors precal, honors US history, and honors US history, high A’s in all classes (very rigorous high school). As senior I will be taking AP calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP Environmental Science, AP US Government, AP Microeconomics… and I kind of don’t want to take AP Latin with all that. You see, I’ve been studying Latin since I was a freshie and I understand that the general rule is to take foreign language all 4 years up to AP level, but is that still the expectation at cal? Since it’s a technical school, is it not as important to take that 4th year foreign L? I would replace latin with another AP science class… Would this move not be more beneficial to my application? AP Statistics, AP Computer Science… vs. AP Latin? I want to study geophysics anyway… Does Caltech really place that much of a weight on that 4th year? Will not taking AP Latin hurt me in any way? I do not want chunks taken off from my already microscopic chances at getting into this place. I just don’t want AP Latin to interfere/prevent my advancement of my science/math knowledge, after all that’s what I want to do with my life and I’m almost certain that’s what Caltech is all about. Caltech students, did you take foreign L all 4 years of his? Or will a 4.0, near perfect test scores, overall well-roundedness, and an absolute love for science & math cut it?

2

No.

3

Lol, its Caltech, ITs dont usually care about Foreign Language that much. I think MIT doesnt even put foreign languages as one of its recommended high school courses.

4

i was accepted early with only the minimum 3 years of french required by my school, dropping it to fit both ap chem and ap physics 1 in my schedule junior year. i would drop latin for compsci or stats in your case especially if you don’t particularly enjoy it

5

I took two years of foreign language and am currently at Caltech.