<p>I've only taken 3 years of French (stopped foreign languages after 10th grade). Will this hurt my chances of getting into UVA--Arts & Sciences? I mean, I'm in a specialized math/science academy, will be a national merit semifinalist/finalist/winner, have lots of volunteer hours & extra-currics, will probably attend the governor's school for life sciences & medicine (accepts 30 out of state), have 9 AP classes (4's and 5's on all exams), blah blah blah. The point is, I'm a good student, but I know admissions officers, especially at UVA, are really picky about certain things. Someone I know who I thought was a definite in for UVA got rejected & ever since, I've been skeptical.
Since UVA STRONGLY recommends 5 years of one foreign language in high school, I'm kind of scared. Should I count on getting into UVA next year, or should I apply to some lower safety schools?</p>
<p>u may get into uva ~60% chance- depends on how they see it
but getting into princeton or any ivy league/ top 15 schools with 3 years would be very hard.(unless your three years has AP language)
remember that princeton rejects half of "perfect SAT 2400 people" and NMSQT semi/finalists. they want well rounded people
UVA- "Arts and science"- they want arts/humanities as well as science
princeton "college of arts and science''- like i said</p>
<p>in my opinion- uva shouldnt be a safety- it should be a reach.</p>
<p>i dropped german my sr year and here i am. i think if you explain why you stopped then it will be fine. alternatively, you could take a class at a local community college (i took spanish at a local cc for one semester to "make up" for dropping german, and then took calc 3 the next semester at a univ) if you're THAT worried. the reason they want you to have a lang is bc they require 2 yrs of it here. i took german halfway thru sr yr and only placed out of 101+102 (1 yr) so you will proly have to start over with a language (which is what a lot of people do anyways).</p>
<p>How would I explain it to them...just send in a note along with my application? The reason I stopped was because it was conflicting with another class I HAD to take in order to graduate. </p>
<p>And nurjahan--is taking 93892902 years of a foreign language the only indicator at all that you're a well-rounded student? I've taken AP History & English classes, along with art, historical research/technology, philosophy, bioethics and stuff. I don't think that your ability to speak fluently a foreign language that you'll never ever need to use is the single most important factor in evaluating how well-rounded a student is. I'm open to other fields besides math and science, (except maybe literature), but I really didn't care much for French--not that it mattered, seeing as how I didn't have a choice either way.</p>
<p>then it would be fine
but- historical technology- How ironic- is that even a class ???
most doctors/engineers need to speak fluently in another foreign (mainly european) language (not like swahili or ancient greek). for doctors: there are always multilingual patients and engineers would need to talk to other people outside of uS</p>
<p>"I'm open to other fields besides math and science, (except maybe literature), but I really didn't care much for French"
---that sounds ironic- if you were open then you would have cared for french
and knowing FL is a sign of well rounded students-</p>
<p>PS-obviously u have 3 years of FL so there is nothing to panic about. I am just saying 5 is better than 3. if u explain them, u would be fine.......dont panic</p>
<p>I've always wondered why people ask for help and then jump those that step up to the task of assisting. </p>
<p>nurjahn...thank you for your entries. You encompass a great deal of knowledge that so many here don't posess. Well Rounded Students! Excellent SAT's alone aren't what colleges want. They want persons well schooled in a vareity of areas, with outside interests. </p>
<p>Are you out of state, southern? If instate, it's not going to hurt you as much. Look into the option of a class at a community college, if in doubt. Several of my daughter's friends are taking classes in Art Appreciation, or physics, or whatever, to fulfill school's criteria.</p>
<p>Think of it this way: the number of OOS applicants far excedes the number of OOS spaces in our incoming class. You have to be realistic and realize that many, many applicants have beautiful transcripts, full of top level courses. Many will have managed to get AP/IB/DE languages along with the other "solids" (academic subjects).</p>
<p>Will not taking FL since 10th grade be a dealbreaker? No.
Will not taking FL since 10th grade stand out? Yes.</p>
<p>If you excell beyond the other AP/IB student in another area, there's a little wiggle room.</p>
<p>As for the comment about the value of speaking a foreign lanaguage, go read The</a> World is Flat and you might adjust your opinion.</p>
<p>I have a similar problem. Next year I am taking the hardest classes my school offers and I will probably run into a scheduling error. My Counselor told me that I might have to drop either French or AP Chem.</p>
<p>What year of French and what school are you applying, Irish? Daughter is so fortunate to be a resident of VA with legacy.</p>
<p>For what it is worth--
D is a second year OOS. She also stopped FL after 10th grade (total of 3 years, as she began in middle school). The spanish dept. at our high school is weak, and she felt that taking AP Spanish might not be a "learning" experience--just another AP opportunity.<br>
I am assuming (like Dean J says above), that other parts of her transcript were strong enough to be considered. She did sweat that issue-though I don't think she ever made reference to it on her app.</p>
<p>I plan on applying to UVA, as well as Villanova, Boston College, and UNC, but if you are asking about what school at UVA then I'm not sure.</p>
<p>Oh and I live in Pa.</p>
<p>Villanova is gorgeous (I'm from PA) but no where near as challenging as UVA, if you didn't know that already. I took classes there all through high school. They all transfered here properly but they were a joke compared to the classes that they transferred as here. (They were math classes and I was allowed to use my TI-89, even encouraged to do so, on all of the tests, which pretty much guarantees you an A if you know how to use it... It lets you check your answers - one prof even told us we should use it so we don't make stupid mistakes. Here, that would NEVER happen.).</p>
<p>Villanova and UVA are on the top of my prospecive colleges, with UVA being preferred. My Calc teacher is very strict with calculators so I never used one as a handicap.</p>
<p>Hazelorb, I am thinking about taking a class(es) at University of Pitt (if I don't get into Governor's school) this summer and am curious what classes would be good for college. I would like to take a math class that would help towards an economics/finance major. Any advice on what you took or thought was helpful/impressive towards admissions would help.</p>
<p>Im taking Calc 1 and 2 at my high school</p>
<p>Any stat class really. Look on UVa's webpage at the econ/finance major, and see what classes are required. Then take classes along the same line. Remember, you'll spend the first two years filling area requirements, so really just about any class would help you. I would just look at the requirements and go from there :)</p>
<p>im not sure whether i should keep taking french at UVA next year. im in IB French II as a senior, but i would like to learn chinese. i can already speak chinese, but i can't read or write. </p>
<p>any advice?</p>