<p>I'm taking Spanish 1 right now (Which I utterly hate) and was wondering if a foreign language is really necessary to get into an Ivy? I mean I know its recommended and I plan on doing premed but it's just so boring. I'd much rather be doing a math or science elective than four years of this crap. Btw I'm doing independent study...</p>
<p>P.S. I'm thinking about maybe finishing the semester with Spanish and then do something I actually enjoy...</p>
<p>Answers???</p>
<p>Most high schools have some foreign language requirement to graduate, so that's why most people have them anyway.</p>
<p>But I don't know if the adcoms care. And if you take a hard/interesting course in the place of the foreign language, then I doubt it will matter that much.</p>
<p>For Ivies, you should have at least 3 years, and 4 is preferable. Its okay to drop Spanish if you have a legitimate reason, like wanting to take more math/science classes.</p>
<p>Yes. You'll rarely find a school that doesn't require/recommend at least 2. Many recommend 3 and some (eg: Georgetown, I think) require four.</p>
<p>It varies from school to school, but the vast majority require foreign languages in HS and then as a part of their Gen Ed requirements, some amount of foreign language is needed then too.
At my college, they require foreign language up to the advanced level - I think that's four or five semesters worth.</p>
<p>unfortunately for you, the answer is yes.
i took four years of my language and might have to take more if i don't pass the placement test...my school requires proficiency in a foreign language. i'm not sure about the other ivies though.</p>
<p>yeah as a general rule of thumb it's required in most places</p>
<p>You should at least be familiar with a foreign language. Spanish is a really good second language to know if you want to be a doctor. </p>
<p>Besides, what if you ever want to travel? Never going to a foreign country is incredibly boring!</p>
<p>Most , if not all, selective colleges want at least two years of a language. Ivies will certainly want at least two, and four is a good idea. Spanish is quite good for doctors - a friend who is a physician can attest to that. That being said, you might try another language. However, also keep in mind that things get more interesting in the later years as you read more and memorize less.</p>
<p>For Ivies and most upper tier schools, I would highly recommend that you take at least 3 years of language, if not more.</p>
<p>Maybe Spanish just doesn't interest you enough. Perhaps you could switch to another one, like French, German, Italian, Russian...</p>
<p>obviously you need to take a language. i have heard that low level german is fairly easy. i also hated spanish (i started when i was 4, ended in 5th grade) but i love french. russian is a very nice language, but idk if its offered that many places, plus theres a totally different alphabet to deal with. maybe you should also take the language as a real class instead of doing it by yourself</p>
<p>
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Besides, what if you ever want to travel?
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</p>
<p>You could go to the UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and several other places.</p>
<p>^ Sorry, I meant to a place with a culture far different than our own. Not one that spawned off the same region.</p>
<p>So romani, UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand don't have cultures far different from our own?</p>
<p>okay. ;)</p>
<p>Not particularly. UK, Canada, Australia especially are not different than American lives in any significant way. </p>
<p>I've lived in Canada, UK, and America. They're all very similar.</p>
<p>What, just because we all speak the same language?</p>
<p>I've visited two of the three you listed above, and the cultures are definitely rather different. Friends and others I know speak the same experiences, who have lived there probably longer than you have.</p>
<p>I understand that it's more similar than say, U.S. and China, but from sports to racial acceptances and whatnot, I wouldn't call it "very similar." W/e...though.</p>
<p>Like many have said, yes, many years of the same language is recommended to get into the top schools. That's not too bad because at my school, language classes are easy A's and we learn a lot.</p>
<p>Find a language you're interested in learning. That might help.
I took Spanish as well absolutely and hated it and having a teacher who called me "Jessica Simpson" because he couldn't pronounce Juliette S---- didn't help. I then took Japanese and loved it and continued learning.</p>
<p>So the colleges are more interested in if I can order a taco in Mexico city from Jaun than if I can do higher level mathematics and science....oh ok that makes about as much sense as a frozen pickle.. But really I'll prolly do one year at the most and then drop it... thanks for the advice yall!</p>