I am bilingual in Hindi and have a proficiency seal on my transcript but I only have 2 years of a foreign language while many colleges require 3. Do I still need another year even though I have the seal?
College admissions officers view foreign language as an academic course. Native proficiency is nice but I would still take a third year of foreign language in HS. if that is what your target schools are asking for.
Agreeing with above poster, some colleges require you to have 3 years of a foreign language, not just recommend. It’s along the same lines as, yes you could be amazing in math, but they still want you to take 4 years of it instead of maxing out classes and skipping it senior year.
Depends on the college.
Also, note that colleges that accept proficiency in lieu of high school foreign language courses may require specific indications of proficiency (e.g. SAT subject score or AP score) other than a seal on the transcript.
Are you suggesting that a student who has completed the highest level available in math and/or foreign language by 11th grade would be inadmissible to these colleges? Which colleges?
@ucbalumnus That’s not at all what I’m saying. I’m suggesting that just because a student is talented/proficient in something doesn’t mean that a college doesn’t want them to stop studying it because they are “done”. Personally, college admissions counselors have told me they’d rather see a student get straight B’s in 4 years of math/science/language/etc. than straight A’s in just 2 or 3 years.
As for certain colleges, I was just recommending to OP to check out the language requirements for certain colleges they might be interested in. Some have a “recommendation” of 3 years while others have a “required” 3 years.
Some students are “done” with math and/or foreign language at their high school because they completed the highest level available in their high school in 11th grade or earlier (and not everyone can easily take more advanced courses at a nearby college).
@ucbalumnus I’m quite aware, thank you. It was a hypothetical to address the situation of OP who appears to be able to take more foreign language classes. Why are you arguing over a hypothetical instead of offering advice?
You brought up “maxing out classes and skipping it senior year” in reply #2. “Maxing out” suggests that you mean completing the highest level available.
@ucbalumnus Again, it was an example, sorry if my wording wasn’t clear. Either way, arguing over it won’t help OP.
If your application is already weak (eg a weak GPA), not meeting the minimum expected/recommended foreign language requirements sets you further down the pile. Being bilingual is nice, but if its simply b/c its spoken in your home, its not all that unique and will not meet that requirement.
“I am bilingual in Hindi and have a proficiency seal on my transcript but I only have 2 years of a foreign language while many colleges require 3. Do I still need another year even though I have the seal?”
Where are you studying that you have been awarded this kind of “seal”? Are you at a school outside the US?
Very few places absolutely and specifically require X years of foreign language study. Read the wording carefully at their websites. If the wording is “recommended” rather than “required” and the rest of your application is solid, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t squeeze in another year of language.
@happymomof1 Yes, I’m in the US
Well, this was a very long time ago, since high school, but because I am bilingual, in my “home language” of Spanish, my HS counselors informed me that I was required to take a language other than my “home language” and I took French for four years.
You may get different advice, but I made sure that my children signed up for four years, of a foreign language, at their high school. At a UC, on the quarter system, a foreign language course can be really tough.
In California, the UC’s and CSU’s require that non language majors, be proficient in another language before they graduate from a UC/CSU.
So my daughter’s stem buddies, who hadn’t taken proficiency exams, were required to take a foreign language at the UC/CSU because they had only taken 2-3 years at the high school.
Being that the schools are so competitive now, four years are strongly suggested before you apply.
“Some students are “done” with math and/or foreign language at their high school because they completed the highest level available in their high school in 11th grade or earlier (and not everyone can easily take more advanced courses at a nearby college).”
But that’s not the case here, if the OP can take another year or two, he or she should. OP is an Indian so assume other people in the demographic he or she’s being compared to will have three if not four 4, including AP, regardless of major.
It will not look good, but the question is how important is foreign language in the whole scheme of things. I would recommend taking another year to get to three and evaluate heading into senior year.
Looks like this now varies on the campus and division.
Ok. Looks like Hindi is a home language (and the student has been certified somehow for that language fluency), Hindi is not taught at the high school so the student has completed two years of another foreign language in high school. Did I get that right @VishG28 ?
If that is your situation, then yes you need to take the third year of that other language if the places you are applying to are going to expect it. If you have had grave difficulties with the other language that make you suspect you won’t get at least a B grad in the third year, and/or you won’t be applying anywhere that expects a third year of foreign language then you can skip it.
Now if there are Hindi classes at a college or university near where you live, and you can arrange to take an advanced reading and writing course in that language for credit, that would be a worthwhile option. Speaking, reading, and writing even at the secondary school level in another language is not where you want to stop. You want to push for full Academic and Professional command of the language.
Which colleges have the most stringent requirements re: foreign language for admissions?
Kind of a tricky question. Usually, it is public universities that have requirements, but most of them do not have that high a level of foreign language required.
Highly selective private (and some public) universities are more likely to list recommendations that are higher in foreign language level, but may be flexible for some applicants (but unhooked applicants without very unusual circumstances from high opportunity high schools should treat “recommended” as “effectively required to be competitive for admission”).
Note that foreign language graduation requirements may be higher than admission requirements. Also, level completed always matters; taking four level 1 courses is unlikely to be seen as “4 years”.
Examples:
- Michigan: 2 years required, 4 years recommended for LSA. https://admissions.umich.edu/apply/freshmen-applicants/college-preparation
- California publics: level 2 or equivalent required, level 3 or equivalent recommended for UCs. https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/csu-uc-a-g-comparison-matrix.pdf
- North Carolina: 2 years required. https://oira.unc.edu/files/2020/03/CDS_2019-2020_20200302.pdf
- Virginia: 2 years required, 5 years recommended. https://ira.virginia.edu/cds-2019-20
- Harvard: 4 years recommended. https://college.harvard.edu/guides/preparing-college
- Princeton: 4 years recommended. https://admission.princeton.edu/how-apply/academic-preparation
- Stanford: 3 years recommended. https://admission.stanford.edu/apply/selection/prepare.html
- Williams: 4 years recommended. https://www.williams.edu/admission-aid/apply/
- Swarthmore: 4 years recommended. http://catalog.swarthmore.edu/content.php?catoid=7&navoid=167
- Middlebury: 3 years recommended. http://www.middlebury.edu/system/files/media/CDS%20for%20web%2012.16.19_8.pdf