I’ve been looking at Middlebury’s website for 30 minutes and, for the life of me, I can’t figure out if they have a foreign language requirement for graduation. S19 will take AP French next year. If he gets a 4 or a 5, will he pass out of any foreign language requirement? Any Midd students or parents out there know the answer?
AP credits don’t fulfill distribution requirements, but foreign language is only one of the 8 areas, and you’re only required to hit seven of eight.
So he could either use the test for placement or he could decide not to take a language and then he’d have to take the seven other requirements. Is that correct @allyphoe?
Middlebury doesn’t accept the AP exam for French placement. So he could take the French placement exam and an appropriate French class, or take a non-French class meeting the foreign language distribution requirement, or take all seven of the other distribution requirements.
French placement info: http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/french/placement
Distribution requirement info: http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/resources/advising/soph/distributions
AP courses don’t meet distribution requirements: http://www.middlebury.edu/offices/academic/records/ap
('Cause without cites, all you’ve got is the word of a random liar on the internet.)
Thanks @allyphoe. I read the distribution requirements page but not carefully enough to see that he only needed to hit seven of the eight.
When we were at Midd, one of the students we spoke with said something like - if you’re at Middlebury, it’s worth it to take a language class to experience how Midd teaches it. They are so well known for language, that makes a lot of sense. Was actually surprised that you could get out of the requirement there
@wisteria100 Hm. So I guess, if you take the AP for a foreign language, then you just place up into higher class. The website said something about, if you get a 5 on the exam, then you can’t take an easier course than x course at Midd and have it count. (I cannot remember the course number.) That’s the only thing that would worry me. If he got a 5 and then ended up in a French class at Midd that’s too hard.
That’s why they have a placement exam. His AP score is meaningless for placement.
If he places into 209 or higher, and takes 209 or higher as his first French course at Middlebury, and gets a B- or better in that course, he’ll get 1 unit of credit for his AP score. “Only two AP credits may count towards the 36 credits required for graduation. Furthermore, AP credits count as non-standard grading courses, a total of only five of which may count towards the credits required for graduation.”
As at many schools, AP credit mostly helps when extenuating circumstances require a reduced course load for a term or two.
@allyphoe saw that too but I don’t understand. He has to place into that class and get the B- for his AP to count for credit. But, if he’s taking the class, then wouldn’t he just get credit for the class? Or he gets some sort of additional credit on top on the class for the AP? What does having one extra credit gain him?
He gets at most one additional credit, which may be used to fulfill the 36 credit graduation requirement.
If he’s already getting two credits based on other AP scores, he gets nothing.
At any top college, you shouldn’t expect the AP classes to “do” anything for a student except prepare them better for college in general. As one student tour guide (from a different top college) noted, if you test out of the first level class you’ll be at a disadvantage for the next level class, because college professors are going to teach the subject much differently than high school teachers.
@hviewer I believe that’s true for math and science, but a lot of kids don’t want to continue foreign language and at most top LACs a 5 on the AP French test either covers the graduation requirement for graduation or the school does not have a FL requirement.