Chances with no foreign language?

Student Lounge International Students
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(posted this in the wrong forum before sorry …)

Okay so I’m a sophomore in high school who is currently building their college list. I have one safety, a reach, and two competitive schools that I’m really going for (Stanford and Columbia). One thing that worries me is both of those schools have a foreign language recommendation of 3-4 years. Currently, I’ve taken no foreign language course and it is pretty late in the game to secure a full 3 years. One reason why I did not take one this year was due to scheduling issues and it would have stopped me from taking an elective AP class that I was really excited to take. For my next two years of high school, my only wiggle-room to fit 2 years of language in are dropping other elective AP courses, or dropping debate. I’m not super keen and doing any of those options either. There’s no dual enrollment or summer courses that I’ve seen so far that I’ll be able to do, but I’m still waiting to hear from my counselor (my school doesn’t offer language in the summer or through online courses).

I grew up in a Somali household and Somali is my first language. I’ve also been self-teaching myself Arabic for quite some time as it’s a language I enjoy. Hopefully I’ll be speaking it fluently within the next 2-3 years. In cases like this, people typically take an AP test or SAT II for a language, but there are no Arabic versions of this test, much less Somali.

How closely would competitive colleges look at my lack of foreign language classes, and would it put me at a significant disadvantage? I’m planning on going into International Relations and Political Science. I’m aware that some of these schools require you to take foreign language if you’re enrolled, so how can I show my I’m willing to immerse myself into foreign languages with no high school credit to prove it?

If anyone has any affordable suggestions on how to gain credits through an open-enrollment online course I’d really appreciate it! Or just any alternative options in general :slight_smile:

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Repost of response in other forum:

What about online classes? They would need to be from an accredited program in order to count. It really doesn’t matter if you get credit at your own high school or not. When you apply to colleges you will simply have transcripts sent from two high schools, one of them an online one.

Is there a college close to your house, a community college perhaps, where you can enroll in a summer class or evening class?

Do a search for “foreign language certifications”. You will see many options. Before proceeding with any of them, email admissions at each college to see if that certification is acceptable. Answers may vary by college.

Not having 3-4 years of FL will very likely hurt your chances at highly selective colleges. You’re going up against thousands of candidates who will have met all the requirements. Failure to meet them just gives AOs an easy reason to reject you.

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Stanford and Columbia are reaches for anyone, especially so with no foreign language coursework. I shudder to ask what your reach is if you believe the lowest acceptance rate in the country is a “competitive” school

To your direct question - yes, having no foreign language will certainly negatively impact your application to a school that requires/recommends 3-4 years. being “willing” to take languages in college is also not a substitute.

First step would be to identify some actual match and safety schools - at least two that you are overqualified for.

I would certainly swap “elective” AP courses for foreign language classes. Outside of core AP - the 3 big sciences, 2 English, 2 Calcs, US, World, and Euro history, and a foreign language, other APs don’t carry as much weight - certainly not offsetting language requirements.

Do you have summer courses at school? Jr and Sr year, plus a summer course, would get you to three, which would be enough for most schools.

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@RichInPitt Oh I might have my terms mixed up…I mean Stanford and Columbia are the super competitive ones (this is called huge reach?) and I have another college with a fair shot, and one more that’s a match. One more thing, would you recommend I swapping HN Physics for a language? 3-4 years of sciences are required and I have 3 down already (HN Bio, AP Bio, HN Chem).

Thank you for the information! I really appreciate it.

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No, you really need the physics AND foreign language for any selective school. Without these, no need to even apply to super-reaches like Stanford and Columbia, even for a non-STEM major. Competitive U.S. colleges and universities do not want to see too much specialization or elective courses taking the place of core subjects in high school. They want to see all the core subjects (including the big three core sciences) regardless of your college major.

What were the AP electives you wanted to take? Can’t you take the foreign language classes instead of these?

If language classes within your school schedule aren’t possible, I’m wondering if there is some other kind of exam you could take to prove competency in Arabic…something along the lies of a U.S. Department of State exam (though I’m not sure that a non-U.S. citizen could take that?) Could you contact admissions officers of the schools you want to apply to to find out if there is such an exam that would satisfy their requirements, and if your self-study or online courses in Arabic would count toward foreign language credits?

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@inthegarden For reference, my junior year schedule is going to be

AP USH
HN Math (general 11th grade math since my district does it that way)
HN English
AP Gov
Debate
AP Lit
HN Physics
AP Art History

Art history is one class I’m excited for, but taking what you said into consideration, I’ll gladly replace it with a foreign language.

Trying to get a test to prove and certify my proficiency in Arabic would be really nice. I’ll contact admissions officers and for sure see what they have to offer on that. If it seems unlikely that I’ll be able to, then I will try and find a summer course for Spanish 1, then take Spanish 2 and 3 over the next two years.

I didn’t really think about these typical “core” classes having so much effect, I wasn’t planning on taking physics or any foreign language until doing some research today, so thank you so much for this insight!!

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I would actually keep art history and swap out either gov or ush since you don’t need two ss in one year. Then take the other senior year.

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It’s great that you want to take elective courses that excite you, however, these can’t be at the expense of core courses.

The elites aren’t the only schools that look for foreign language coursework. Most of the other universities expect foreign language experience in the classroom. My state’s public universities require two full years, but recommend 3-4. If FL isn’t on the transcript, it’s an easy rejection to our public universities.

Sacrificing the foreign language requirement with debate has placed you at a disadvantage. Debate, in our state schools, is usually a club or team EC, done outside of the school day. Every school is different, but the core requirements, for US schools, are posted all over the universities’ websites. Please do yourself a favor and start reading what these schools require for admission.

As an international student, you are already at a disadvantage with a less than 5% chance. Not having the foreign language requirement puts you at a 0% chance at most US schools. It would be a waste of your time and fees to even apply.

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OP, how are you defining a match school? You have to understand what they look for, not just stats and what you want. You need to be able to “match” yourself to their expectations.

And it’s not too late to fix this, but you need to be the sort willing to find the legit options. Yes, especially for IR and PS, they will look for the foreign langauges. The idea is to “show, not just tell.” So showing language courses tops “claiming” an interest and willingness.

Especially when you chose elective APs in place of college recommendations. They’re almost never a boost over the core subects Not even when they seem related.

Bear in mind that, for tippy tops, the quality of your thinking and understanding matter very much. And they can judge this via the choices you do make. So you need to overcome the impression you weren’t fully informed. AND, very possibly, that there’s something amiss with this hs whose counselor didnt play her full part in advising. (Is this a US hs? It’s not clear to me whether you live here or abroad.) I’m surprised you seem limited to what you decribe as “general 11 grade math,” doesn’t sound rigorous, when most US hs are opening up AP in 11th. When do you get the deeper rigor?

You have time to resolve this. You’ve got to actively put yourself on the right track.

Don’t count on some proficiency test replacing the study. From an academic perspective, it’s not fluency, but the process of learning, over time, which includes exposure to lit, culture, current events and much more. The cases where testing works are limited.

As @Groundwork2022 noted, why not a reputable online class? Depending on your state, there may be state online programs, (it’s not dependent on the hs offering these.) You can take them outside school hours-- and if you are an applicant of tippy top quality, you should be able to manage this. in your own schedule Ask the GC if ANY credit or record can go on your transcript. Some have no cost or a minimum enrollment fee, depending. As others suggest, drop the AP “electives.” Don’t drop AP Art History until you are certain it isn’t a hs grad requirement or, eg, needed to apply to the California public colleges. That may work in one poster’s hs, but not for your specifics. You jumped before, now be savvy.

In general, debate is fine to keep. But you will need the right rounding and some rigor in more ECs. And you must make sure any targets are affordable.

Read and re-read everything you can, from the colleges you may target, to gain better understanding.