Do I need to take four years of foreign language in high school?

Applying to College
1

<p>At least one of my top-choice colleges recommends that prospective students take four years of foreign language. While I have completed six years of Latin, I am not planning to study a foreign language my senior year. Would this be enough to satisfy "four years of foreign language"? (Pre-9th grade courses will appear on my transcript.)</p>

<p>If not, would a course in linguistics be similar enough to replace a senior year of foreign language? While I'm not planning to take linguistics next year, it would be preferable to another year of Latin.</p>

<p>EDIT: Actually, linguistics looks really interesting, so I might decide to take that next year anyway. Hm...</p>

2

<p>If your last course was Latin IV+ or AP Latin, you’re fine.</p>

3

<p>Linguistics would be a nice continuation of your foreign language studies and it sounds like a unique class. If you wamt to take it, go for it!
But 6 years of high school Latin is good enough for college admissions. </p>

4

<p>Two years for California state universities. Four years university of California or private.</p>

5

<p>What level did you complete? That is often more important (particularly if you complete the highest level and there are no more offerings at your high school), though you can ask each college if you are unsure.</p>

<p>All California public universities require only 2nd year level of high school language other than English, or equivalent college course, or proficiency shown in SAT subject or AP tests, or some other proof of proficiency. UCs do recommend 3rd year level. Private schools do vary in what they want to see.</p>

6

<p>@ucbalumnus: Latin I-VI. I’m homeschooled, though, so there is always a theoretical “next level.”</p>

7

<p>Have you benchmarked your Latin knowledge against any external measures like AP tests or SAT subject tests, or even informally with released old tests or practice problems from the test vendor? Level 6 is more than most will achieve in high school foreign language, but colleges may question what level 6 in a home school context means.</p>

8

<p>@ucbalumnus: Informally, yes. I have also gotten gold medals/perfect papers on a few NLE exams, if that counts for anything.</p>

9

<p>If you completed a language through “Language - 4” or higher, they won’t care when you took the courses, only that you got that far.</p>

10

<p>For home schoolers, you may need to take the SAT2 subject test for that language to verify your proficiency. Some schools may ask for that.</p>