Right now I am a freshmen heading into sophomore year. I am not planning to take Spanish 3 next year. I am not doing Spanish next year because this is my worst class. I try very hard and study for this class, but for the last 3 quarters I have been getting 82-86’s. This has really been killing my GPA. I want to go to a pretty good school. (Pitt, PennState, Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame) Yes, I know Notre Dame just doesn’t fit. Haha, it’s a dream school.
What’s better 3.7 GPA with Spanish 3 or a 3.9/4.0 without Spanish 3?
Most of the really good colleges and unis (such as the ones you’re interested in) have a language requirement. Are you thinking of switching to a different language?
Check each school – CMU for example only requires 2 years of a foreign language. That said, MOST of their applicants will likely to have more. Will it be a disadvantage? Depends how strong the rest of your application is. (BTW, have you considered getting a tutor in Spanish?)
Look at the list of recommended/required/preferred classes for any school you are considering applying to. You should meet all of them – especially for competitive schools such as ND there will likely be more qualified applicants who have taken all of the recommended classes then there is space and if you don’t take the recommended classes you should expect that you will be at a disadvantage in terms of admissions.
3.7 with Spanish will be considered stronger.
However, you don’t have to take it at your school, you could try to take it via an online public school such as FLVS, or take it at a local community college if your district offers dual enrollment.
You could also switch to an easier language (French, Italian = fewer conjugations) through your community college. 3 semesters at community college will fulfill most selective colleges’ admission requirements.
Note that there’s often also a college graduation requirement and a FL placement test before freshman year in college, so stopping at Spanish 2 now would also lead to issues in college (probably requiring you to take a few semesters in college).
The colleges you named will want to see 3 years and most successful applicants will have 4, except at CMU where it varies depending on track/college/major.
Penn State and Pitt factor number of years of foreign language (3, 4, or 5), math to precalculus or calculus, and having taken all three of bio/chem/physics, into their decision.
You might want to check the language requirements at each school for after you are admitted also. Pitt A&S has a language req that you get out of with three years of high school language with a b or better. If you don’t satisfy this you have to take two semesters of a language in college.