<p>My friend has a big concern right now so I'm posting for her sake.
She is a very good friend, smart, and the most hardworking person I know – but recently she has been wrongly accused of academic dishonesty in her Spanish class. She has been accused of cheating on a test. Her parents and she tried to fight for her innocence, but the school did not listen to her. Thus, her A in Spanish became a B. It is the end of the year, and even if she aces her finals it is hard for her to even raise the grade up to a B+. She is currently a sophomore, took one AP class and has maintained straight As since her freshman year. The Spanish teacher in our school is rumored to be very weird&accusing, and the shock my friend received was too great that she even had to go through a period of depression.
It is time for her to decide her classes for next year, and she wants to continue with Spanish but if she does she needs to face the teacher who accused her for another year. She says her fear and hate for the teacher is slightly bigger than the desire to take Spanish again. However, she is worried that it would reduce her college chances if she changes her foreign language class now. She has taken Spanish for two years, and if she decides to move to French or Chinese she needs to take the course from the very beginning. By the end of her senior she would have taken something like "Spanish 1, 2 & French 1, 2". She would probably choose French because she always wanted to learn French. She actually chose French as her first choice in her freshman year, but there was not enough space so she was forced into taking Spanish instead.
This girl has great personality, great GPA (if you don't count that her Spanish grade is going to be a B this semester), and good extracurricular activities (varsity cheerleader, middle school cheer coach&vice pres of the ms cheer club, mun officer for 2011-2012). She is taking four AP courses next year just to make up for her loss in GPA this year. (She was originally in decile 1, but because of the B she has been lowered down to decile 2; I know it's crazy, but the sophomore grade is very academically competitive and has the highest standard for their deciles in the whole high school. If she does take 4 AP course and manages to get straight As, she would most likely make a come back to decile 1 though.)</p>
<p>She is currently thinking about Upenn, Brown, Tufts, Emory, etc. Would changing a foreign language course be a great deal in college admissions?</p>
<p>p.s. She is attending an international school.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think it’s a big deal changing the language.</p>
<p>And she shouldn’t worry so much about the B. I know because I went to a very competitive high school and saw a B as very very bad. It was pretty crushing to me when I got my first B in high school–and that wasn’t my last B–but I’m going to Stanford, so obviously they didn’t mind. There are lots of kids going to Penn, Brown, Tufts, Emory, etc. with Bs. It seems like a big deal now but I promise that one B won’t even matter.</p>
<p>I think she should definitely switch out of Spanish. This teacher sounds like somebody to be avoided at all costs, especially by your friend, who already seems to be on his bad side. If he has it in for her and groundlessly accuses her again, she could be in much worse trouble than she is now.</p>
<p>In general, it’s better to do 4 years of 1 language than 2 years of 2. That’s because many, many good liberal-arts colleges require you to know a foreign language up to the intermediate level, which equates to 4 high school or 2 college years of study. If your friend only takes a couple of years of hs French, she will probably have to take another year or year-and-a-half of French in college in order to fulfill the requirement. However, this isn’t the end of the world. What’s much more important is that your friend’s high school preparation look “rigorous,” which generally means 4 years of foreign language of some kind. </p>
<p>If it were possible for her to do some extra French–say at a community college in the summer, or in a study-abroad program–that would be even better, but not absolutely required.</p>
<p>Your friend shouldn’t worry about a single B. It’s just not going to matter in the grand scheme of things.</p>
<p>I agree with jingle. There is no reason for her to subject herself to another year of this teacher, especially since she wants to learn French anyway. Finding a summer program that would enable her to do some extra French would be a good idea, too.</p>
<p>Btw, those EC’s- cheer, cheer and cheer- are not strong for the schools you list. I hope there is more. </p>
<p>Where adding a language is a positive is when you have 3-4 years of the first one. You need to look at the specific colleges and see how they word the language requirement. Many say “through Spanish IV,” not “any language as long as it adds to four years.”</p>
<p>My kid had an issue with a teacher and took another class with him the next year and did fine. Sticking things out can say more than jumping.</p>
<p>I have to greatly disagree with lookingforward. no type of EC is better than another as long as one excels in it and enjoys it.
how is being on varsity, acting as a coach, and having leadership positions at school not good enough??</p>
<p>I agree with the first three posters. your friend is probably better off not taking spanish next year. I’ve never heard of a college requiring over 2 years of a language, although most recommend it.</p>
<p>This is bad situation, but not impossible to deal with. Colleges like to see 4 years of the same language. Since she’s currently a sophomore, and probably started Spanish in middle schools, she’s probably in Spanish 3 right now. That would mean that she needs one more year of Spanish. </p>
<p>This Spanish teacher needs to be avoided at all costs. I would continue to fight the false accusation, but I would not sign up for another Spanish class with this teacher. If she must sign up for a language, I’d sign up for French since it’s similar, but I’d also see if she can take Spanish at a local college at night or over the summer, even if it’s not in coordination with the school. This way she can take a standardized examination in Spanish, like the SAT II, and have a transcript showing 4 years of the same language (they usually count pre-highschool as 1 year). If she can avoid signing up for a foreign language and take something else while she’s continuing Spanish at a local college, that would probably be best from the point of view of College Admissions. </p>
<p>I pick French over Chinese on the assumption that it’s easier. If Chinese is easier, by all means do that.</p>
<p>It’s still a better situation than if the academic dishonesty charge showed up on her transcript. You have not indicated that was the case.</p>
<p>Note the level of the colleges listed in the OP. You need to see what these require, in order to be competitive. That matters more than what we think. At the school I work for, they want language through III or IV. </p>
<p>We do not count anything before 9th grade. When IV is missing, we look for a reason- good excuses include a STEM major who has a schedule conflict and opts for a seriously high level science class instead; having already passed through AP language; or taking the Sat II and doing quite well. Or, as CDad suggests, taking the next levels at comm college (maybe not an option if your international school is in a foreign country-?) Remember, the colleges shown are highly selective- plenty of kids to choose from, who followed the expectations.</p>
<p>I am not sure what is meant by the teacher “is rumored” to be wierd and accusing. She was an A student with the same teacher, up to the problem-? </p>
<p>And, absolutely, one activity can be more valid than another. Eg, babysitting in no way compares with leader of student govt. Track in freshman year doesn’t compare to running three or four years. Editor-in-chief of the yearbook or lit magazine can trump “member of the x club.” Walking in a once a year charity fundraiser isn’t par with volunteering many hours over the year or more.</p>
<p>See if she can find an on-line Spanish course to take and do it as independent study. My kid did that with math when it interfered with an internship in senior year. Your friend may not get credit at her high school for it, but she can say truthfully that she had the 3 years many schools like to see (and no, even the top schools don’t ‘require’ 3 years of a foreign language - they just prefer it and expect to see a rigorous academic program. This was asked repeatedly by prospective students during college visits at the top schools and the reply was consistent in every case.)</p>
<p>This is starting to look like: do what you want or do what the college says is required (or have a darned legit reason why you didn’t.) Sorry, but I don’t see a tough (or nutty) teacher as an excuse. Yeah, I’m sounding unsympathetic. but I read for admissions at an Ivy and see the senior adcoms’ comments- and write some of them myself. Top schools can have 25,000+ apps for a class of 2000. How do we think they pare down the list when so many applicants are so incredibly qualified? I’ve seen top 1% kids, highest scores, fabulous recs, challenging courseload, internships, leadership…and comments that he/she didn’t continue the language or get thru four years of math. Sure, some slip by. In the end, admissions is holistic and lots of factors can help. But, why play with chances when you’re starting with a 1/10 statistic? Try an online class, yes. See if your hs will let you skip to the next level, yes- if it’s a different teacher. I am not sure comm college is an option in foreign countries. My own kid had a nutcase teacher, was accused of something- and took another class with that person, due to limited options- so, I understand the seriousness of the choice. In any case, good luck. And, go look up what the colleges state.</p>
<p>ps. I don’t doubt college reps answer many questions in some broad manner. They are encouraging- or vague- to a fault. And then…</p>
<p>Hi, I’m the girl the writer was talking about. Thank you so much for the advices, they have really helped me a lot
I think I’m going to take a spanish course online, or if that doesn’t work out I’m planning to take either SATII Spanish or Dele (Diplomas of Spanish as Foreign Language). Do you think this would be enough?</p>
<p>Glad you are looking at your options. You can prep like crazy for the SAT II. But, doesn’t DELE test at many levels? I think you’d need to test at a level equivalent to Span 3 or 4. This is a great case where you can call the college admissions and ask. If you are in a forgeign country (are you?) then ask to speak with the international admissions rep. They are usually quite nice. Don’t say you have an issue with the teacher. At this stage, just inquire if DELE would satisfy the requirement and how high a level you need to test at. (You could claim you are interested in the opp to start French or Chinese, but want to meet the lang requirement.) Good Luck.</p>
There are lots of kids going to Penn, Brown, Tufts, Emory, etc. with Bs. It seems like a big deal now but I promise that one B won’t even matter.</p>