<p>Agree w/PackMom - at state u’s our experience was a BS requires 2, a BA 3. The “recommended” or “required” on the college website may not tell the whole story. Look at the online catalogue for each College. I sympathize. Our son took his last HS year of foreign language P/F. A "C’ wasn’t going to help him and I worried about lower. Our high school would never have told me about the P/F option. I found the info from the school board directives - FL could be taken P/F cause it was considered an elective for one type of diploma, but not another. Not all colleges were going to like the P/F either, but I had a better idea of where he might be headed than HS guidance.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info. Despite my name I no longer live in NY. I live in a state that requires no foreign language for graduation fro high school. That is probably why Spanish is the only language offered. The counselor wants him to take a 3rd year of Spanish, because he is a high achiever, and has already taken 4 years of HS math through Calc AB and chemistry and Physics. He will be taking AP science, history ,math and english next year.She thinks it will be very obvious if he only takes 2 years of language.</p>
<p>Assuming that your current in-state public universities are possibilities, how much foreign language do they require for admission or graduation?</p>
<p>Our state universities require no foreign language, either for entry of for graduation. Probably the reason why our high school treats spanish as an elective… They are not very high quality, and we are more likely to look at schools within the Western exchange, which seem to require at least 2 and sometimes 3 years of language. Having grown up in NY we started language in 6th grade. Here it was not offered until 9th grade. It is really difficult to start learning a language at 14…</p>
<p>Note that the Western Undergraduate Exchange schools are mostly the less selective schools in the region (i.e. the ones that have space to allow regional residents to have the discounted tuition).</p>
<p>What might he major in? Engineering divisions are many universities are less likely to have foreign language graduation requirements than arts and sciences divisions.</p>
<p>Interests in business and science - Hmm - My son is in the Center for Manufacturing Excellence at Ole Miss - It is great. There doesn’t appear to be a language requirement. [CME</a> : UM Center for Manufacturing Excellence](<a href=“http://www.cme.ms/]CME”>http://www.cme.ms/) I don’t see how they’d fit it in with all of the engineering and business classes. If engineering and business are of interest, you might check it out. An unusual choice for those of families who are not from the south, but it is a very good program.</p>
<p>My brother earned an enginering degree @ U Colorado- colorado springs, and I do not think he had any language in college, & I know he didnt in high school.</p>
<p>Some schools will waive the requirement, like Mt Holyoke dd for a friend who was dyslexic.
Universities also generally accept ASL which can be more managable for people who struggle with learning another language.</p>
<p>My children have found that great reading and writing skills in languages may get them through high school, but in college they will not suffice. Speaking and listening are more important at that level. I sympathize. It can be very hard for an otherwise bright student who is not an auditory learner. For high school, could he take either ASL at a community college or online Latin? As far as colleges, these offer ASL degrees, so I would think that they would count ASL as fulfilling the foreign language requirement, although there are probably other colleges that would offer non-degree ASL as well: [Colleges</a> & Universities With ASL or Interpreter Programs](<a href=“http://adream4.tripod.com/asl/colleges.html]Colleges”>Colleges & Universities With ASL or Interpreter Programs)</p>
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<p>Many of the native Spanish-speaking students at our school have parents who can barely read Spanish. The ones who did not grow up with written Spanish in the home take Spanish so that they can learn to read and write in their own native language and help their parents. (Some have been interpreting for their parents since they were in elementary school.) Of my children, the ones who have taken Spanish have enjoyed having native Spanish-speaking students in their classes; that has helped their pronunciation.</p>
<p>I think your GC is correct in that his options will be better if he takes a third year of Spanish, besides which FL skill is increasingly valuable. If he has no problem with reading and writing, I would suggest having him attend an immersion program during the summer, if you can swing it. There’s nothing like it for learning to speak well. Concordia Language Villages are highly regarded and not wildly expensive.</p>
<p>Both of my kids took 4 years of Spanish in high school, and it was not a cake walk for either kid. They are both excellent students, but foreign language was not all that easy for them. D had to pass a mid-level language course to graduate from Vandy - she placed out of the beginning class, I think, so I believe only took one semester. S’s state U requires one semester of foreign language OR a linguistics class. He is currently taking linguistics and really likes it — much better for him than “foreign” language.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>I think if your son is a strong student and his goal is STEM, two years of foreign language will be sufficient.</p>
<p>My son took ASL for one year from me (we are homeschoolers) in his freshman year. During his junior year, he took a semester of Arabic 101 at the community college. It was rather a joke class but for some reason, the catalog said it was worth two years of high school. He took Arabic 102 at the CC, as well. That was the extent of his foreign language.</p>
<p>He got into several Ivies and excellent STEM schools.</p>