Foreign Language Requirements vs. Recommendations

<p>My highschool crams two years of foreign language into one so that your first semester for example is Spanish I and the second semester you take Spanish II. Because of this I am in Spanish 6. I have only taken two years of foreign language at highschool because of the way they cram the units in together and since I started in the eighth grade and the same cramming method was used there. My question is that since most competitive colleges r e c o m m e n d that you take 3 years if they just want you to get up to the 3rd level of whatever language you're taking or if they plain old want you to take 3 years of a foreign language. Thank you.</p>

<p>At many high schools, level 4 or 5 is usually designated as an AP course.</p>

<p>If your high school offers AP foreign languages, what level is the AP course?</p>

<p>Your high school may simply be numbering the courses by semester, rather than year. If that is the case, then divide the number by 2 to get the equivalent level at high schools that number by year.</p>

<p>Level completed is typically more important. For example, completing level 3 of one language is better than completing level 1 of three or four different languages. But check each college’s web site for its specific recommendations and requirements.</p>

<p>Note that the college’s foreign language graduation requirement may be greater than its admission requirement, so taking additional courses in high school may allow you to complete the graduation requirement with fewer courses in college (by letting you start at a more advanced course in college).</p>

<p>You should sit down with your high school guidance counselor and find out how your high school’s foreign languages convert to college admissions requirements. It is unusual for a high school to always cram 1 high school year into 1 semester, but if that’s really what is happening, you should have plenty of foreign language for most college requirements.</p>

<p>Also, while high schools may not give a grade for 8th grade Spanish, you should see a credit for that on your high school transcript, but again, only your high school guidance team can tell you how that works for college admission requirements.</p>

<p>The AP level in my highschool is technically Spanish 9/10</p>

<p>Ah, so it sounds like 8th grade was Spanish 1, so Senior year is Spanish 5, which is usually Spanish AP for the rest of the country. </p>

<p>Spanish 1/2 at your school is Spanish 1 at others.
Spanish 3/4 at your school is Spanish 2 at others.
Spanish 5/6 at your school is Spanish 3 at others.
Spanish 7/8 at your school is Spanish 4 at others.
Spanish 9/10 at your school is Spanish 5 or AP at others.</p>

<p>So if you are in Spanish 6 you are finishing up your 3rd year of Spanish, which at many colleges is the minimum requirement. If you plan do go to a liberal arts college, or major in something that is not engineering or math or science, you may find that your requirements could be one more year of Spanish.</p>

<p>Concur with post #5 that you need to divide the level of your high school’s Spanish courses by two to get the actual level as used by most high schools and colleges to count high school foreign language levels.</p>

<p>So after your high school’s Spanish 6, you will have completed what is ordinarily level 3. To complete what is ordinarily level 4, you need to take your high school’s Spanish 7 and 8. Many of the more competitive colleges prefer to see level 4 or higher (your high school’s Spanish 8 or higher).</p>