Foreign language requirements

Parents Forum
1

While many selective schools recommend 4 years of foreign language courses, do you think it matters whether it’s 4 years in the same language or 3 years in one and 1 year in another? Is this a big no no? Thank you

2

Recommendations are always for the same foreign language. 3+1 will be treated as 3.

Whether only having 3 be the determining factor in acceptance vs rejection is a different question.

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3

Thanks for your response. May I ask how or why you think 3+1 is treated as 3? And you brought up an interesting question: for the selective colleges, will having 3+1 (or 3) be a determining factor in acceptance vs rejection as many schools clearly recommend having 4 years, although I am guessing this is perhaps a harder question to answer. But I am curious as to your thoughts. Thank you

4

Conversations with AO’s.

It will be viewed in context. Stopping after 3 because the student exhausted the offerings will not be viewed negatively. Stopping after 3 because their 3rd year was AP will satisfy every college.

Stopping after 3 because they are bored/ don’t like the teacher / (my personal favorite) teacher won’t speak in English is a different story.

And 1st of HS foreign language is not exactly a rugged class.

The other thing for student to keep in mind: almost every college that recommends 4 has a college FL graduation requirement. In theory, the more one takes in HS, the fewer courses one needs in college.

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5

I’ll try.

Because on your transcript…the highest level of any foreign language will be “Foreign Language 3”. You won’t have a level 4 on your transcript and colleges that want four years of HS language look for that level 4.

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6

If you’ve exhausted your high school’s offering in FL, there is nothing you can do about it and that won’t be held against you. A college will have your high school profile and will know if you took the highest level offered. If you don’t, and that college likes four years of FL, that is a ding against you.

Take the one year of FL if it’s interesting to you. It isn’t going to be an asset to your app though, generally speaking.

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7

Highest level completed is typically the most relevant part when looking at foreign language course work.

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8

Reasons I believe college admission officers look to the highest level of a foreign language taken (rather than 3+1 in the OPs example):

  1. Colleges look for students to attain a certain level of mastery of a foreign language.

  2. Colleges look for students who can progress and succeed at increasingly complex levels of study in the subject.

  3. Taking 3 (or 4) years of one language will be more challenging than taking an introductory course in three different foreign languages.

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