My son needs 1 year of a foreign language to graduate from his UC. He marches in June, but he needs to complete the requirement for a foreign language to get the A.B./B.A. degree in Political Science. Any experience or suggestions on how get this requirement done the best and quickest way without taking 15 credit hours at a local community college?
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/graduation-requirements/language/davis/index.html
All students working toward the A.B. degree are required to complete three sequenced quarters (15 units) of courses in one foreign language or demonstrate equivalent proficiency. A student may demonstrate proficiency in one of the following ways:
by passing the Foreign Language Placement Test;
by achieving a score of at least 550 on a College Board SAT Subject Test in a foreign language;
by earning a score of 3 or higher on a College Board Advanced Placement Language test in a foreign language, with the exception of Latin;
by earning a score of 5 or higher on the following International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examinations: French A1, A2 or B Examination, German A1, A2 or B Examination, Italian A1 Examination, the or the Latin A1 Examination, Portuguese A1, A2 or B Examination, or the Spanish A1 Examination;
by certification of IGETC; or
through certain study abroad programs offered by UC Davis through the Education Abroad Program and other accredited institutions.
He needs to be looking for a job in the summer, not looking forward to taking foreign language classes. He dropped the ball. What option seems most reasonable for my son who took French in HS, but remembers almost nothing? Get a tutor for the SAT Subject Test or placement test?
Thanks.
Has he tried an online course? I know BYU offers a number of them where students can work at their own pace.
Also, did he take a language in high school? If he has a language AP, that should give him credit for a language course at university.
Take the courses at the UC this spring and summer. Working will have to wait. It is a pretty significant requirement that needs attention.
he’s gotta take the class or he can’t graduate… it is that simple. Find a way to squeeze it in or hang out for an extra quarter.
He won’t graduate in May. He needs to take the classes - preferably in a language applicable to his area of specialty within polisci.
Not sure how it came to be - it’s typically a class taken during the first two years.
Beside taking three quarters of a foreign language class, he can register for an intensive online elementary french class, complete it over two months using what he remembers from high school, then register for an online intermediate class, study for three months, then take the subject test in June and hope he can score high enough to graduate this summer. This is much riskier than the alternative (taking the classes) because it typically takes two to three years of study to reach a 550.
He had his advising appointment this week and they said he can march, but I guess not graduate. He is looking at a Study Abroad class this summer that will satisfy the 15 qtr hours. I am waiting to hear back from him and his visit with the study abroad reps.
@NCalRent He would need 3 quarters! I wish it was just one extra. Ugh. He says they don’t offer 101 in Spring? I need to see.
@CheddarcheeseMN He has not tried an online class, but I suggested it. Thanks!
@MYOS1634 He is pretty good at avoidance and now it is coming back to bite him in the ass.
At least he’ll get to walk with his friends.
He should probably try and do a summer abroad program in a French-speaking area (Quebec?) since he’s had some French already. Starting from scratch might make things harder, but if push comes to shove Italian is probably the easiest language he can try and learn. And of course the linguistically hardest of all choices, picking a language related to his poli-sci concentration - unless he specializes in North America, Africa (Subsaharan and North), it’d mean a harder language from German to Russian to Chinese, Korean, or Japanese.
You might want to check if ASL is an option.