I was told by my friend (whose older siblings were accepted by many top schools) that taking a foreign language all 4 years in high-school would help chances for admissions. Is there any truth in that? (Of course, her siblings’ applications were already very strong without the 4 year foreign language aspect, but they still said that that part helped them.)
And if that is true, is it worth continuing my foreign language in my senior year when I know I will not get an A? (The foreign language board changed the grading system this past year and made it a lot more difficult)
All colleges will say that more years of a subject looks stronger, but what is more important is taking classes that interest you. 3 years already looks pretty good, and if you know that you won’t get a good grade, it might not be worth a fourth year. It might be wise to take a different course that interests you and that would allow you to get a more desirable grade. If you take another reasonably challenging course instead, it will still look good.
If the language course doesn’t interest you, I wouldn’t continue for 4 years. Working your butt off for an A in a class you aren’t super into would be a waste of time compared to being thoroughly invovled in a passion of yours or a different class or extracurriculars.