Foreign Lamguage question- please answer!

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello all, I'm currently a freshman taking Spanish 3 Honors in my school. However, the Spanish department at my school is notorious for the meager education it bestows upon students. For that reason, I'm quitting Spanish, at least IN school. However, I'm fluent in Hindi (can read and write and speak) and of course, English. Will quitting taking Spanish in school severely hurt my chances for being admitted into an ivy league school? </p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

2

<p>Oops, misspelled language, sorry! I’m on iPod touch so please excuse errors in spelling!</p>

3

<p>Please help</p>

4

<p>It won’t necessarily hurt your chances, but schools do generally like to see applicants taking a foreign language and potentially taking the AP test for it. A lot of schools have a foreign language requirement. Are there any other foreign languages at your school? French? German? Chinese? Maybe you should try one of those?</p>

5

<p>If you’re aiming Ivy, you should continue in your language (or another, if you’re willing to take summer or online classes) through the highest level offered by your school.</p>

6

<p>I mean, Harvard “recommends” 4 years. Is that a casual recommendation or more of a stipulation?</p>

7

<p>They’d like you to have 4 years if they are available at your HS, but if you can’t fit them into your schedule because of conflicts, oh well. Take a look at the other courses you like. Perhaps for some unfortunate reason they are all scheduled at the same time as Spanish 4.</p>

<p>If you like Spanish, but just hate the teacher at your HS, you could continue it at a community college or an immersion summer camp. There are lots of options.</p>

8

<p>And Harvard and other colleges that recommend more than one year will accept that?</p>

9

<p>I mean will they accept the fact that I chose to continue my studies elsewhere?</p>

10

<p>You might want to ask the universities that you are considering what their admission and graduation requirements are with respect to a foreign language, and if there is any way to fulfill them by proving your fluency in Hindi (unfortunately, the obvious way of using an AP test is not available for Hindi as it is with some other languages).</p>

11

<p>If you’re aiming for very selective colleges, the prudent course is to stick through with Spanish at your school through at least level 4 (4 years), and ideally (if your school offers it) through AP.</p>

<p>Anything else is a compromise that requires explaining. Best is not to need to explain when you’re applying to highly selective schools.</p>

<p>I often see on this forum opinions of students that berate language departments at their school. I wonder how it is that students new to a foreign language are in a position to do that.</p>

12

<p>I’m berating my department because:

  1. We have two teachers in the entire department and they must cover Spanish all the way from level 1-AP. Often they are somewhat flustered when we ask questions about specific lessons in the past, as they have so much on their plate, that they can’t recall that lesson.
  2. One teacher doesn’t teach; she tells us her life stories. Last week, we spent 3 days listening to her rant about rap music being a bad influence on children. She thinks of herself as a preacher, not a Spanish teacher.
  3. The other teacher knows only Spanish, so when we have questions and ask in English, he doesn’t understand what we mean. As a result, no questions get answered.</p>