I’ve heard that many colleges require or strongly encourage 4 years of foreign language in high school. D25 is a sophomore and is currently in Spanish 4. Her high school limits juniors to 4 AP classes, so she is considering taking Spanish 5 instead of AP Spanish. She really wants or needs to take the other 4 APs she had picked out for next year. Will completing Spanish 5 be “good enough” for admissions requirements or will she still need to take Spanish her senior year? Thanks.
Generally, it is the level taken in the Foreign Language which is important so if she takes Spanish 5 = 5 years.
However, there are some exceptions where some Colleges want to see a certain # of years taken in HS.
Disclaimer: I have seen some CC posters that have stated this exception unfortunately I cannot currently cite a source.
You would need to check each school of interest for detailed requirements.
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Look at the specific colleges of interest.
Any college that requires or recommends foreign language for frosh admission cares about the level completed. Level 4 or higher is generally enough to meet any level completed requirements or recommendations.
Some colleges may additionally care about the number of years taken in high school, but it is not always obvious from college web sites, so you may have to ask directly.
Yes. That will satisfy every single US university even if the HS offers Spanish VI, which is exceptionally rare
Not saying I know everything, but I’m aware of zero colleges that require more than 2 years in HS, and even those I can count on one hand. I’m happy to learn of exceptions
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But look carefully whether colleges of interest have a language requirement that you can be exempted from with a good AP exam score. It can be very irritating to have to spend a year studying a language during college if it’s irrelevant to your major. For example UCLA requires everyone in the college of Letters and Science to meet a foreign language requirement, but an AP score of 3 gives an exemption.
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Those same colleges generally have an internal exam for placement / exemption.
Whether AP Spanish is a better choice than one of the other 4 AP’s is a different (and unasked) question.
Whether her Spanish 5 class will prepare for the AP exam with some outside work is another different (and unasked) question.
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Thank you. I’ll be sure to look at that. S22 had to take a language in college because he “only” got a 4 on his AP French exam.
Should I be asking if AP Spanish is a better choice? lol she is planning on AP Language, AP Calculus BC, AP US History, and AP Environmental Science.
That’s her choice based upon personal interests and career aspirations. I wouldn’t swap out AP Language, AP Calculus BC, or AP US History. AP ES might be the right choice for her interests depending upon what other sciences she has taken and will take.
And at some schools AP Spanish may be overrun with heritage speakers leaving SSL (Spanish as a Second Language) learners in the dust.
TBH, AP vs Spanish 5 is in almost all cases 6 of one, one half dozen of the other. You, your kid, and her GC can figure out the best option
Thanks. She wants to take 5 AP classes but that seems extreme to me and not generally allowed at her school. She has taken biology and chemistry so far, and might want to major in ES.
Personally I felt APES was seen as an easy course, at our school it’s something to take senior year after you’ve got three core science courses already if you don’t want a harder biology or physics C AP. I’d consider physics in junior year instead, especially if you have 4+ APs senior year and need to write college applications, because APES will be less time consuming.
Our school doesn’t let the kids take AP foreign language until senior year, so they spend their Junior year in a combo French5/AP class. Then AP french the senior year. Depending on the student, 5 APs can be very manageable senior year. My kids had no problems. Aim to get the essays and Applications completed before starting in the fall.
i be very cautious about comparing AP workload between schools, at some 5 might be very reasonable at others would be a big overload.
If French 5 is a combined class with AP, it seems like a waste of time to take effectively the same course again the next year.
The assignments are different, and it helps prepare the kids for the AP exam. The class is small like 8-10. I have been happy with the set up, it has kept all of my kids from having to take any foreign language in college.