Foreign Language Requirement....

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>Im a bit nervous about the foreign language requirement. Princeton requires 4 years of foriegn language in high school, while I have taken only two (started the French curriculum in 8th grade)</p>

<p>My interviewer also asked me about this deficiency. I told him that "I exhausted my school's foreign language (french) curriculum and that I am unable to take Spanish b/c my school would not allow a student to take another language path"</p>

<p>Will this be a precursor for rejection if I fall short of the foreign lang. requirement by two years?</p>

2

<p>dont worry about it. they just get mad if you had the option to take it for four years and you didnt</p>

3

<p>^^</p>

<p>But how would they know that? (Besides telling my interviewer)</p>

4

<p>I would think your guidance counselor probably would have mentioned it.</p>

5

<p>if it isnt on your transcript and your academic profile says it is possible. thats my case, at least</p>

6

<p>Yes, I imagine it mentions it somewhere in your application that you were unable to take 4 yrs.</p>

<p>I took only 3 yrs (despite being able to that fourth year) just because I'm more of a Science/History person, and I managed to be admitted.</p>

<p>4 yrs of foreign language for applicants is a highly recommended course of study, but not the only one. They'll understand if you have a compelling reason not to take language for a fourth year.</p>

7

<p>i took only 2 yrs of foreign language becaUse i basically did an accelerated programme. instead of normal chinese i took higher chinese. thus when i went to grade 11-12 i didnt take chinese anymore.
point to note: those who didnt make the grade for higher chinese (offered only to a very small percentage of students in my country, its basically rather "exclusive") have to take a 3rd year of chinese.</p>

<p>question: will this increase THEIR chances because it appears as if they took 3 years and I only took 2.</p>

8

<p>i took only three of spanish, but have had 6 of instruction...</p>

<p>so basically, i've exhausted spanish.</p>

9

<p>I only took three years of Spanish and opted for AP Econ instead of Spanish V honors... is that ok? Should I take the SAT II Spanish to make up for that deficieny (I might only get a 650ish and thats a long shot and I dont think I have enough time to cram that much studying in)?</p>

10

<p>VPat, I think your situation is understandable, and you shouldn't feel obligated to take an optional test you might do poorly on. Just have your guidance counselor mention your dilemma.</p>

11

<p>I only took 1.5 or 2 years of beginning Japanese (depending on how you look at it), and was admitted ED. There just wasn't any room in my schedule for me to take any more foreign language classes unless I wanted to give up a core AP or honors class. </p>

<p>I imagine one would want to avoid having less than three years as much as possible, but no, it is NOT a guaranteed rejection. Princeton's policy says that they will give you full consideration if your situation really could not have been improved. As that's the case, I wouldn't worry too much about it.</p>