<p>I was looking at what is recommended in terms of high school courses, and I saw that its advised to have 5 credits in Spanish and 5 credits in Math. How important is sticking to these b/c I don't know about you but I went to a middle school that didn't offer high school credit courses, so I started high school my freshman year... </p>
<p>And I doubt that I want to take Spanish a 4th year unless it makes or breaks my application...</p>
<p>I looked at my son's HS transcript, and for Math they just list it as 8th grade math, while his 8th grade Spanish was considered Spanish I. I'm guessing that most HS's just list 8th grade math and SPanish on the transcript (no other 8th grade courses are listed)</p>
<p>Is the Spanish class you are taking in 11th grade called Spanish 3 or Spanish 4??</p>
<p>As far as not taking Spanish in your senior year, all I have to say is that you should take a good look at the competition that's out there for all schools. It is very, very competitive. Also, without Spanish, how rigorous is your Senior schedule going to be? Are you taking AP English, AP Physics, Ap History and AP Calculus. What do you plan on filling the other three periods with?</p>
<p>I know plenty of people here that only took 4 years of a language (me included). Most take 5 years of math (5 of the following: Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II, PreCalc, Trig, Calc, Statistics, Linear Algebra). Some take 4, some take 6. I doubt they'll hold it against you, and your GC can easily send a letter saying you could only take 4 years of math and 4 years of a language. I would suggest taking the 4 years of both to make you the most competitive. I doubt it will "make or break" you, especially if Spanish isn't a strong suit for you (it's why I didn't take 5 years). But make sure your schedule is still strong to make up for it.</p>
<p>When I was looking at schools, everyone I spoke to in admissions said four years of a language was fine. My brother is now looking at schools and he has been told the same thing.</p>
<p>Do not take only 3 years of a language, however. Not good.</p>
<p>Don't read into requirements too much. Take the most rigorous classes that are available in your school and that should prepare you well.</p>
<p>yeah uva is a stickler with foreign language; don't drop it if you can help it. you have to have 4 semester equivalency - i consistently had the highest test scores in my hs german class and after 5 years it was equivalent to 2 semesters at uva. get as much done in hs as you can bc every day classes are annoying and you start resenting it unless you have a good teacher.</p>
<p>Well, I haven't found out my UVA decision yet, but I'll tell you that I only too two years of Spanish (A+s both years, but I really hated it) and I've already gotten into some pretty competitive schools (Macalester, NYU, and Dickinson). I'd recommend to keep going with it (I sure wish I had), but it won't completely destroy your college ambitions. :P</p>
<p>Well, I haven't found out my UVA decision yet, but I'll tell you that I only took two years of Spanish (A+s both years, but I really hated it) and I've already gotten into some pretty competitive schools (Macalester, NYU, and Dickinson). I'd recommend to keep going with it (I sure wish I had), but it won't completely destroy your college ambitions. :P</p>
<p>Well, I haven't found out my UVA decision yet, but I'll tell you that I only took two years of Spanish (A+s both years, but I really hated it) and I've already gotten into some pretty competitive schools (Macalester, NYU, and Dickinson). I'd recommend to keep going with it (I sure wish I had), but it won't completely destroy your college ambitions. :P</p>
<p>so is the concencus that you should take Spanish iv</p>
<p>I didn't like Spanish Iv, my teacher blowed. However, AP Spanish is the bomb, definitely worth going through SP4 for it.</p>
<p>When looking at languages, admissions generally like to see that you've stuck with it throughout high school. If you're on year 3 or 4, it won't look great if you give it up before you finish school. Although, if you're replacing it with an AP class, it won't be so bad.</p>
<p>Also, UVa specifically requires all College students to take 2 years of a language (which is roughly equal to 4 years of a language in high school).</p>
<p>Mind you, I only took 3 years of French during high school and gave it up my senior year, but I really do consider myself an exception in that respect.</p>
<p>When I started French, I loved it and planned on going through AP French.</p>
<p>And then I met Mr. A. (I won't divulge the rest of his name.)</p>
<p>My school is a brand new school and the senior class this year is the second graduating class. Mr. A is the only French teacher in our school. I had him for one year during French III and after that, I was thoroughly disgusted. There was no way in hell that I was going to take another French class. But when I went to sign up for classes during my junior year, my GC showed me the preferred courseload for my colleges and all of them wanted 4 years. So I went ahead and slaved out another year with Mr. A because I didn't want a college decision to come down to a year of foreign language. </p>
<p>I think that 4 years is enough and you'll be fine with that. However, 3 years isn't enough. Take the 4th year and live with it. If you get into your preferred college because of it, you'll be happy you did.</p>