<p>The UCs & USC use the a-g requirements when calculating GPA and have a "3 year recommended" for foreign languages? My son is getting Cs for the past two years in Spanish and, it's hurting his GPA. How does only taking 2 years of a foreign language negatively impact his chances at getting into a UC/USC if his GPA, SAT, & ECs are in line with other admittted applicants?</p>
<p>Probably less favorable than if he completed a higher level (UCs effectively look at the highest level completed). It can also mean that if the campus or division requires a foreign language to graduate, he would likely have to take more foreign language courses in college due to lower placement than if he had completed a higher level in high school.</p>
<p>Which would be the better option if all other factors were equal: 1) having a gpa slightly less than the average admitted freshman and, having 3 yrs of a foreign language or, (2) having an admitted gpa slightly better than the average admitted freshman but, only 2 yrs of a foreign language?</p>
<p>A very similar question was asked at a college information session and the answer was a higher GPA with 3 years or preferably 4 years of language. Admissions for the UCs and USC is extremely competitive and they want a high GPA with a rigorous course load.</p>
<p>A higher GPA including level 3 or 4 of the foreign language would be optimal, of course.</p>
<p>But remember to take into consideration factors beyond admission, such as foreign language graduation requirements, or how useful knowing a foreign language may be to future plans. Too many high school students and parents seem to be overly focused on admission to college and neglect the longer view.</p>
<p>Note that if the student struggles in high school foreign language, s/he may have trouble in the faster paced college foreign language courses that s/he is more likely to have to take if s/he completes a lower level in high school.</p>
<p>I guess that settles it and, we’ll soldier on with our quest to find a great tutor. We’ve had stellar students, current high school Spanish teacher in another district (different book), and a college student that lived in South America for a couple of years. None of them proved to be effective. We’ve had some success with a recent UCLA grad at a tutoring company but, they refused to let us continue without signing up for another 50+ hrs @ $50/hr (we originally used them for SAT Prep and had a few sessions left). Any suggestions on where to find a great Spanish tutor would be appreciated! Thanks to everyone for their feedback.</p>
<p>I used to tutor Spanish in college, and my son is currently in an AP/IB class and tutors Spanish 1/2/3.</p>
<p>Spanish 3 really isn’t that difficult – it’s mostly just taking the material from 1 and 2 and learning some finer points and expanding vocabulary. Usually HS’s have the same textbook series for the first 3 years. It’s AP/IB where the level jumps quite a bit. How about asking the AP/IB Spanish teachers at your school for recommendations of any of their own students who tutor. The cost will be less (maybe ~ $20/hr) and you don’t have to commit to a certain package of hours.</p>
<p>Does the student have any friends / classmates in school who are native or heritage Spanish speakers with reasonable Spanish reading and writing ability?</p>
<p>Any possibility of an immersion experience this summer? People speak highly of Concordia Language Vilages, amongst others.</p>
<p>I’m not too worried about my son opting out after 2 years, since he is taking AP Comp Sci instead. He has lack luster grades in language as well. As long as he’s subbing a college prep class, I figure it’s fine. He could still take year-3 as a senior, if it becomes an issue. It’s not guaranteed he will have to take it in college either: The UC I went to hasn’t had language in their GE requirements for the last 25 years. Now, I work at a CSU where they couldn’t care less about the Modern Languages department. Is everybody else just doing the 3 years+?</p>
<p>There are almost as many different reasons for poor mastery of foreign languages as there are students struggling with those classes. After two years of consistently low performance (relative to other coursework) in this subject, it would be worth your time to try to get to the bottom of your child’s issues. On occasion there are specific learning disabilities (often along the processing/dyslexia line) that are revealed. It is more likely of course that you are dealing with the more common teenager issues of I-hate-the-teacher-itis or I-know-I-never-need-to-use-this-ixia, but until you investigate, you won’t know. Asking the teacher for his/her advice wouldn’t hurt either. Often they are savvy about this kind of thing and can help your family determine whether or not it is worth forcing your child to continue for another year or two.</p>
<p>Good luck with it all!</p>
<p>My sophomore son doesn’t like his Latin teacher and doesn’t want to take it next year. He got 5 on his AP Chinese. Will taking 2 years of Latin limit his college choices?</p>
<p>Some (not necessarily all) colleges accept a high score on a foreign language AP test in lieu of foreign language course work in high school. (Presumably the 5 came from being a heritage speaker or K-8 bilingual immersion school?)</p>
<p>He is half heritage but also took Chinese since the age of 5 on weekends in a local Chinese school. He volunteered in Beijing for over 200 hours last year. He is also looking to take the Tour Guide license exam in NYC to be a licensed tour guide this summer.<br>
He will have taken 2 years of Latin by end of sophomore year. We are thinking about skipping Latin in Junior year but pick it up in Senior year. This way he will still have 3 years of Latin by the end of high school. Will this arrangement plus his AP Chinese score limit his college choices?</p>
<p>You probably have to check each specific college for its policy on the subject of foreign language knowledge in the absence of high school course work.</p>
<p>The California public universities have fairly detailed listings of ways to fulfill foreign language admission and graduation requirements, since they probably see a lot of heritage speakers (some of whom have recently learned English as their second language) and others who learned a non-English language in ways other than in a US high school. But other universities may not have such detailed listings, so you may have to ask them individually.</p>