I am targeting for the STEM major. UM required 2 years and recommended 4 years of 2nd language. But in my senior year, I probably need to take 2 social studies and wants to drop the 2nd language. Will it hurt my application?
Why do you need to take 2 social studies senior year?
Youāre supposed to take 1 each of English, Math, Science, Social Science, and Foreign Language every year +1 other class that reflects your interests.
If at the end of junior year you reached Level 3 AND you plan on doubling up, you could double up in STEM, itād make more sense.
What level will you have reached at the end of Jr year? What classes would you be taking senior year?
No it wonāt. You will have 3 years. My son dropped 4th year Mandarin for an Econ class he really wanted. If 2 is the minimum and you have 3 that is one more then the minimum. Your good.
I will reach at Spanish 4 at the end of Jr year. If I donāt drop it, I will take AP Spanish. In Senior, I will take 5 core courses + computer science + Econ. But I donāt know whether I can fit in the schedule. If I cannot, I am thinking about drop ap spanish to get AP Econ. I donāt know it makes sense or not.
Thank you! Just not sure the ā4 years recommendedā means if you take 4 yearsā, you get more changes for application, especially for the stem major.
If you reach Level 4 at the end of Jr year, it counts as ā4 yearsā (1level=1 year, if you took level 1 in MS it counts, judt like Biology taken in MS ācountsā in your HS science credits).
Therefore, you can stop at Level 4 at the end of Jr year and still have what UMich and other top universities want. 
&therefore you can take AP Econ senior year without worry.
The college counselor we used said this is not true. She was an AO At an Ivy and a director of admissions at another competitive college. Middle school doesnāt count. They want to see four years IN HIGH SCHOOL.
If the student maxes out the language curriculum junior year and has no other options beyond, then thatās fine. But a lot of schools offer a language beyond 4. If they donāt, then the student needs to replace foreign language with another core.
For highly selective schools, you are wise to realize that meaning the minimum is often not enough.
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Letās say requirements, including foreign language requirements, for highly selective schools, arenāt something Iām unfamiliar with.
Choosing between AP Econ and AP Spanish necessarily is a trade off, but for a future STEM major other course choices will matter much more and I canāt think of a situation where reaching Level 4 would derail an application. OP will need to weigh pros and cons but in his/her situation Iād get an A in Spanish 4 and take AP Econ senior year.
Talk with your school advisor about this so your not confused. We donāt know you school but for Michigan you donāt need 4 years of a language. My son also wanted to take AP Econ and enjoyed it instead of a 4th year language. I would count the high school courses only BTW.
According to the CDS, one (1) year is both required and also recommended for social studies. The CDS also spells out for foreign language, 2 years required (for LSA) and 4 years are recommended.
Iād ālistenā to the CDS and take four (4) years of foreign language. I know the UCās here in CA find 4 years of a foreign language ādesirable.ā My advice is the same advice that Iād gave my kids, take the 4th year of foreign language, if available.
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ok, thank you! I also think language is a continuous learning process.
You could simply email Admissions, stating this:
Hello,
My name is ā¦ ā¦ and Iām a Junior from ā¦ HS (MI). I will have completed Spanish 4 at the end of this year. Do I need to take one more Foreign Language class to meet the ā4 unitsā recommendation or is Spanish 4 considered the same as ā4 unitsā?
Thank you.
Sincerely,
ā¦ ā¦
(City, MI)
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That would be at odds with what pretty much every source and every AO Iāve ever talked to has said.
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Here is one who disagrees. She was an AO at Penn and director of admissions at Franklin & Marshall.
I am not disagreeing that kids get in without four full years, but I am disagreeing that itās preferable:
(Paragraph 3)
Here is one who disagrees. She was an AO at Penn and director of admissions at Franklin & Marshall.
I am not disagreeing that kids get in without four full years, but I am disagreeing that itās preferable:
(Paragraph 3)
Sheās a consultant and author peddling her product. Not that thereās anything wrong with that. Her AO experience ended 11 years ago which, in the context of admissions, is the Ice Age.
My more recent experience in dealing with AOās, including Penn, is MS FL ācounts.ā But I would add that at Penn, like many of its peers, there is a FL requirement to graduate CAS and Wharton. So students should also keep that in mind as the more FL taken in HS, the fewer FL classes (potentially) one needs in college.
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Iād say it depends.
A couple notable exceptions that Iāve encountered is:
a) the Cal Poly SLO (CSU) application, where if you took, for example, Spanish 1 in 8th grade and then took Spanish 2 as a freshman in HS, not repeating Spanish 1, then the Spanish 1 in middle school is entered into the app and counts in terms of accumulating MCA (admission) points, and
b) the local elementary school district has a Spanish immersion program beginning in kindergarten. So, in the case of my Dās best friend in HS, she took AP Spanish as a HS freshman and then AP Spanish Lit as a sophomore. And thatās all that was offered in HS.
But I think otherwise, if beginning a foreign language in HS, I believe the top schools would find 4 years desirable.