<p>Good point thumper. Our HS makes me crazy when they have so many required courses that there is hardly room for any real electives until junior and senior year but they talk about how important it is to "explore".</p>
<p>My son was in the same position. He did not want to continue French after 10th grade (when he completed his fourth year of French); I asked him to study for and take the AP French exam (he got a 2). It doesn't seem to have affected his applications (he entered MIT after his junior year of high school). He is capable, however, of holding a simple conversation in French, which he says came in handy when he was talking to French astronomers at the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope.... </p>
<p>With four years of language, rather than three, most students can pass whatever placement exam a college requires (if they still require one) to get out of the foreign language requirement. This may eventually be worth it for your son.</p>