<p>I have a HS sophomore who took French II as a Freshman and is currently taking French III. The way our high school works is that if you successfully completed 2 years of French in middle school, then that satisfies the requirement for French I.</p>
<p>I am aware that many of the competitive schools look for 3 years of High School foreign language. The question I have is, will the colleges view the completion of French III as satisfaction of the 3 year requirement (even though one year was taken in Middle school), or will they look for three full years of Language on the HS transcript (therefore requiring my son to take French IV). </p>
<p>My son took Japanese I and II in middle school, and Japanese III in his freshman year, and that's the last (and only) foreign language on his transcript. He has, technically, fulfilled the "through the third year" requirement, and has applied to a range of highly selective schools. He's been accepted EA at one, invited to candidates' weekend at another, and is waiting to hear on the rest.</p>
<p>It will probably vary by school and chosen field of study, but I believe in most cases they look for "completion through third year", not "three years on transcript". Most will probably accept completion of French III as sufficient.</p>
<p>At all colleges I am aware of, the three year requirement is satisfied by completing the third year of the foreign language course sequence regardless of whether other years were completed before high school. Many high schools will place on the transcript language and math classes taken in junior high to show that the earlier course that is often a high school course was done (see if yours does so?).</p>
<p>Depending on schools to which your son intends to apply, he should likely consider taking the fourth year of the course. Some higher ranked colleges expect 4. Also, many colleges have foreign language requirements in college which are often satisified by completing the fourth year in high school and thus you can avoid taking foreign language in those colleges.</p>
<p>Agree with the above, that's how our school works too. In fact, the first year language from middle school does appear on the HS transcript, as completed HS-level coursework, just as taking a summer course would.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that most colleges do not "require" particular levels of achievement, merely recommend. They may also consider different foreign languages differently, perhaps giving more credit for a less frequently taught language such as Japanese than a more commonly taught one such as Spanish or French. They may also weigh the importance of language differently depending on the students intended major. And there are some colleges, such as MIT, that do not "require" a foreign language.</p>
<p>Thanks All, your input is helpful. S is a math/science type of kid who is trying to free up his schedule in JR/SR year so he can take more AP classes in the math/sciences, without having to give up band/chorus. I think my best bet at this point is to pick a handful of schools which he may ultimately be interested in, (assuming some type of Science major, yet with a liberal arts core curriculum) and look at the specifics at each school regarding language.</p>
<p>My D did the same thing, but with science, not foreign language. She did not take science her senior year so she could take more AP classes in humanities without giving up art and band. She was concerned, too, because some of the LACs she was interested in recommend four years of science, but she had already taken bio, chem, and physics and wanted to take two AP Social Studies classes as a senior. She was accepted ED to the school of her choice with merit scholarship, so everything worked out fine. I'm sure if your son is taking a rigorous schedule in the subjects of interest to him, things will work out fine for him too.</p>
<p>Seniormom - Ask if the middle school french I will be shown on your child's high school transcript that is sent to colleges. Some school districts will show this and that should be fine to satisfy any language requirement.</p>
<p>Generally, foreign language and math courses taken in middle school that allow you to move to the next course when you go to high school "count" as part of your high school curriculum. It's often on the high school transcript. </p>
<p>And as Marite says, a foreign language is not actually "required" for any college, in the sense that they will automatically reject if you don't have it. The language "requirement" is really just part of an overall recommended high school program that the college considers appropriately challenging. Many high schools do not even offer a third year of every language a student might start with (esp the less common ones). Students who do not have exactly that program will still be admitted if their application is strong enough. In particular, if you exceed the recommendations in one area (like math), and are a little short in another (like foreign language), it balances out.</p>
<p>We had the same issue with DS and will again with DD. Our kids actually started foreign language in 5th grade. By the time they got to 9th they were taking Spanish 3 and 10th was honors Spanish 4. In my son's case, this was yet another thing that we asked the dreaded GC to include if they wrote a letter....that DS had completed Honors Spanish 4. For DS it really didn't matter that much (he's a music major), but for DD who will pursue some liberal arts program, it will. Another thing we did with DS was call the admissions office to ask about this. In all cases (7) they said they just needed a simple explanation. Otherwise the adcoms might look at the two HS Spanish courses and draw the wrong conclusions. SO we asked for a short note to be attached to the transcripts where the GC didn't write a letter. We wrote and copied the note (too much work for the guidance office...another thread).</p>
<p>I did the same thing and its all been fine. I took German I & II in MS and then Latin I & II in HS. Most of my schools had the three consecutive years of a SINGLE language but I haven't had any problems yet. I think, like others have said, that they are more recs. then requirements.</p>
<p>I really think this is something that needs to be looked in further at specific colleges. While many Middle Schools now include the first year of language, my understanding was that Colleges want three years of a high school foreign language. Some times what makes sense to us, is not what colleges are requiring. The guidance counselor at our High School told me that while my son's HS transcript will have German II, III and IV on it, it will just count in colleges eyes as three years of a language. This may be because German I was taken just three days a week throughout 6th, 7th and 8th grade and those 3 years counted as one. It's always a good idea to do the research yourself and not rely on "opinions" on a bulletin board as to what's true.</p>
<p>In our state many schools require two years of foreign language in high school to apply.( the only school I can find that doesn't require two years of same lang in high school is university of puget sound- oho- this must be why my daughters dyslexic friend went there- lang was difficult for him) This is difficult because the state does not require it to graduate high school and it can be practially impossible to get classes in some schools. This requirement has been around for years, but it is one of the reasons why I haven't attended a 4 yr college. I only took one year of language in junior high , and zero in high school. Taking a language as an adult is difficult, but is needed for me to transfer my community college credits to the university.</p>
<p>My older daughter took two years of Latin in middle school and a 1st year of Spanish followed by 4 years of Spanish in high school.
My younger daughter took 1st year Spanish in middle school- but with a subpar teacher( rotating subs) so she is retaking Spanish 1 in high school and planning to continue through AP Spanish ( unless she switches to Latin)
Her high school offers one year ASL, three years Chinese, Japanese, French, Latin and Spanish. Also AP Latin, Spanish and French.
Since the public schools don't offer many classes- 6 periods only and they are debating reducing that to 5, it is a tough decision what to take as an elective.
She is planning on a science major as well ( if she doesn't switch to "fashion") but yearns to travel and for that I think the more language the better.</p>
<p>Bearing in mind that colleges actually do not "require" x number of years of a foreign language, it is worth noting that middle school classes may not count. In our school, they do not appear on the high school transcript because they were not taken in high school (my S's AP-Physics class does not appear on his transcript, either, because he was only auditing it, being an 8th grader).
As well, many high schools consider the level of foreign language instruction in middle school to be far below that taught in high school. For example, in our S's k-8 school, all students took Spanish beginning in 7th grade (they now begin in 6th grade). At the end of 8th grade, some were recommended for Spanish 1, that is starting over againas if they'd never studied Spanish. The majority were recommended for Spanish 2, that is, two years of middle school Spanish equalled only one year of high school Spanish. Only a couple were recommended for Spanish 3, and of the two, only one decided to go for it; the other decided to go into Spanish 2.</p>
<p>I think it would ultimately be smoother to continue the lang in high school, if the interest is there to the highest level. My daughter who had 5 years of Spanish ( not AP her school didn't offer it) still does not feel fluent . Her school had 7 courses ea term though so she still had room for 2 elective credits after her english/history/math/science/lang. Her sister in public school has a lot more graduation requirements ( more PE and OCC ED) as well as only 6 periods in day.
We are playing it by ear though. SHe likes her Spanish teacher and I am encouraging her to continue, particulary as she is interested in going to Costa Rica to do field research in bio.( she is also interested in going to London as a fashion designer- but has she has had a lot more science than design experience I am encouraging her to keep her options open :) )</p>
<p>
[quote]
I really think this is something that needs to be looked in further at specific colleges.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Alway a good idea!! My son has no foreign language at all, so this is something we looked at carefully for a number of schools. The lack of a foreign language was not a deal breaker for any of the schools my son was interested in, but students need to check this out for themselves. Most schools have some heading like "Recommended High School Preparation", and then some language like "students who do not fulfill the following in every respect can still apply". I can imagine that there are some schools who place more emphaisis on foreign language than others (maybe LACs, we weren't looking at those).</p>
<p>Notice that the language "requirement" to get admitted to a college is a different issue entirely from the language requirement to graduate from college. Most colleges really do <em>require</em> some level of language proficiency before they will grant you a diploma. You may be able to fulfill that requirement with high school study.</p>
<p>My S's transcript shows that he took Latin I and Algebra in 8th grade, satisfying high school course requirements for those two courses. He managed to get through Latin III (soph) and then quit. He had switched schools and it was too hard to adjust to different ways of teaching the language. We are told this presents absolutely no problem, even though he hasn't touched a language since soph year. Yes, ideally he would have made it through Latin IV or picked up a speakable language, but he didn't.</p>
<p>A point I want to make is that while a High School has one set of requirements to graduate, a college has another set to enter. The GC at my son's school has told us that when colleges talk about a suggested HS program, they really mean, "if you want to go here, this is what you need..." I talked my son into taking German IV because I knew that some colleges will not make you take a language in college if you've completed four years and that other colleges wouldn't even count his MS German. My thinking was that it would be easier to do one more year of a high school language then to take one in college.</p>
<p>The reality is that level 4 of a foreign language is the level many high school SENIORS take (having completed all four years of fl in high school). Check with the colleges. I also personally think that what your kiddo does INSTEAD of the language might matter. If they drop the language for a second study hall, that is different than if they drop it for a significant elective course. For example, DS the musician had NO openings in his schedule until he dropped Spanish. He did that so he could take Music Theory in 11th grade, and an independents study in Music History in 12th grade. He did not use this for a study hall....and I believe the colleges took note of that.</p>