<p>Is there a foreign language requirement for top schools like MIT, Harvard, Stanford...
I only took 3 years of French (1 in middle school and 2 in high school) and I got all As except for 1 semester.</p>
<p>I dropped it after sophomore year inorder to take both AP chem and AP physics because I want to go into something science related.</p>
<p>Will by only taking 3 years total and only 2 in high school hurt my chances at college admissions? Because I would think thats highly unfair, but from what ive read, harvard apparently requires 4 years of foreign language...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They look at the last year taken, not how many years in HS, so they will count you as having taken 3 yrs of French.</p></li>
<li><p>Go back and read the websites, none of those 3 schools have any requirements, only recommendations; H, 4 yrs; S, 3 yrs, MIT, 2 yrs.</p></li>
<li><p>While they are only recommendations, since these are some of the most selective schools in the country, you will be competing with kids who have met and in many cases surpassed these recommendations.</p></li>
<li><p>Unfair? Just because you don't like something doesn't make it unfair.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Sorry I can't cite you one "source" for this "claim", this information comes from several years of experience, including from AOs here on CC. It is the level of understanding of a FL that the colleges care about not whether it came from MS, HS or some other source. For instance, read what H says:</p>
<p>ahh yea AP is the 4th year for us so even if I were to take it, i would still only have 3 high school years...</p>
<p>oh well screw it, its only a recommendation...im pretty sure they wont throw away your application just because you took 2 years in high school.</p>
<p>umm so anyone know specificlaly colleges (like stanford and harvard), do they count middle school (it shows up on transcript as French-I in middle school)</p>
<p>also i didnt take one this year (junior), should i just sign up for AP next year as senior (skipping a year), i dont think ill be missing anything</p>
<p>First, the link you gave is from About.com, hardly an authority on anything.</p>
<p>Second, here is exactly what it says: "In general, competitive colleges require at least two years of foreign language classes in high school. As you'll see below, Stanford would like to see three or more years, and Harvard urges applicants to take four years."</p>
<p>Please note the words: "In general", "would like to see" and "urges".</p>
<p>
[quote]
Which leads me to the question, then why even take a language starting in middle school?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Believe it or not, some people actually like learning languages.</p>
<p>I took French beginning in 7th grade and I am in IB Fr. 500 HL, take two (there's no 600 class, officially), and I know it gives me an edge over the other very-qualified IB seniors.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry if I were you, though, because you have taken an advanced language course. However, it'd be very wise to ask your counselor to explain the situation in their letter, just in case, and whatever schools you apply to, check their websites because I know of some schools that do have actual requirements.</p>
<p>Well, I only took two years of a Foreign language (spanish) in HS and still got into Duke (not the same as Stanford or Harvard, but "urged" 3 years of a language). The main thing is to make sure that your schedule was still challenging and rigorous, even though you didn't commit to a single language. </p>
<p>-however, I do speak other languages at home, so I mean spanish was my 4th language, so it was never a big deal for me.</p>