planning out my senior schedule, will be taking 3 ap classes next year as well as a calculus course. Unfortunately, I may not take a 2nd spanish course. I am taking spanish 1 currently my junior year because i took a year and a half of french at my old school and the school i transferred to doesn’t have it. I can get excused from taking a 2nd foreign language because I have more than 1 art credit, so graduating isnt the problem. But will it look bad to colleges if I get excused from taking a 2nd class of spanish? Will it still look good because ive taken 2 different languages?
Having your highest level be 1.5 (assuming that you took French 1 and half of French 2 at your old school) is not likely to look good to selective colleges. Some colleges have hard minimums of level 2 or higher to be eligible for admission.
Thank you for your answer. Would it be better to take 4 AP classes (AP euro history, AP calculus bc, AP chemistry and AP psychology) or only 3 AP classes and Spanish 2? Thanks again
Without knowing how many honors/AP courses you’ve taken prior to Senior year, I’m flying blind.But IMO, 3 vs. 4 AP courses will not make or break an application. However, depending on the college, the extremely weak foreign language preparation may hurt you. Take Spanish.
Sorry, but 1 year on one language and 1.5 years of a second will not look good to anybody.
Except that not continuing French wasn’t OP’s choice. I’d want to know the possible major and yes, the rest of the story. In general, AP psych is more expendable. Other options are take Span 2 in summer or online. Or do that for psych.
It’s a fact that they see screwy course loads , depending on the high school(s.) I wouldn’t drop BC to fit lang in, for stem, eg.
Thanks a lot @skieurope Ive determined I’m going to take AP calculus bc, AP chemistry, AP psychology and take Spanish 2 instead of AP European history. That way I’m taking challenging courses (I’ve been told AP calc bc and AP Chem are 2 of the top 5 hardest aps) and will get the 2 foreign language credits that most colleges require.
Also, I’ve taken 3 AP classes so far (2 APs this year and 1 AP sophomore year)
@lookingforward yea, sadly it wasn’t. I plan on having a busy summer doing volunteer work, working at my own job, and (hopefully) getting licensed as a nurse assistant (my main goal as of now is to become a nurse anesthetist or an anesthesiologist), so I don’t know if Spanish 2 is something I could do over the summer but I could find out. As for my major, I plan on applying to colleges undeclared as I’ve heard it helps and I don’t know if I’ll still have the same goals in a couple years. Thank you very much for your input
Undeclared doesn’t always help.
Be sure you’re looking at what your target colleges say they want to see.
Understood, but continuing or not continuing Spanish is. The fact that the OP switched schools and did not take 3/4 years of a single foreign language will be viewed in context if the colleges request that preparation. But not taking a language simply to jam in an AP course is probably not the best strategy. But yes, it all depends upon context.
Is taking the APs and Spanish not an option? Taking only 6/7 APs is not ideal for any more selective school, but I would try to get as many as possible.
In health professions, ability to communcate in common foreign languages is an asset. Both Spanish and French can be helpful, depending on where you practice.
@b4sicallyid0work It’s possible for me to take aps and Spanish, but only 3 aps would be possible if I take Spanish. I can’t take 4 aps if I take Spanish as it won’t fit in my schedule. Also, I’m trying to go to a “somewhat” selective school such as Michigan state, Wayne state, Oakland university, central Michigan and etc (I’m from Oakland county, mi). If I could get into Michigan that would be amazing but the chances of that aren’t super bright. Thank you very much for the input
@ucbalumnus thank you for letting me know. I plan on furthering my learning of Spanish and/or French or something else in college. Right now I just want to complete whatever is required for me to go to a 4 year university, which typically seems to be only 2 foreign language credits
See what those colleges recommend, how many years.
https://admissions.umich.edu/apply/freshmen-applicants/college-preparation indicates that University of Michigan’s college prep requirements include two years of foreign language.
For some reason, this information is hard to find for other Michigan publics, but common data sets (section C5) can help:
https://opb.msu.edu/functions/institution/documents/cds-2016_2017.pdf
https://oira.wayne.edu/institutional-data/cds
https://www.cmich.edu/office_provost/academic_administration/OIR/Reports/Documents/Common%20Data%20Set/CDS_2016-2017.pdf
It looks like all of the above require two years of foreign language. You may want to ask directly whether completion of level 1.5 of French and level 1 of Spanish fulfills the requirement. It is likely that the answer is “no”, since many colleges prefer to look at it in terms of what level you completed.
And this is the MINIMUM requirement. At UMichigan, most students will have more than 2 years if their high school offers more.
However for other Michigan public’s 2 years will not block the application.
Could you take either language online over the summer (through a public virtual school?)