Foreign language vs AP

<p>Im starting my sophomore year of high school after this summer, and I am currently signed up for Latin 2 and AP Psychology. In middle school, I took 3 years of Japanese and 2 of spanish. My freshman year, I took Latin 1. My counselor recommends I keep taking Latin until Latin 3, so I will have taken 3 years of 2 different languages. However, I am considering dropping Latin 2 and replacing it with another AP course. Should I stick with Latin until my junior year, or should I drop it for another AP class?</p>

<p>what might you want to major in?</p>

<p>Somewhere in the medical field, possibly dentistry</p>

<p>Dental school requires a 4-year bachelor’s degree with a major in anything and a set of required classes, as well as an entrance exam like the ones you’ll be taking soon (but much harder). If you’re good at languages, take more of them. The ability to talk with patients wou don’t speak English will be valuable and will help you to stand out, not just be another cookie-cutter applicant with nothing distinctive.</p>

<p>Listen to your counselor… He’s obviously looking out for you. To a large extent, so far as college applications are concerned, it doesn’t matter what you did in middle school.</p>

<p>I sincerely doubt that the student in question will be conversing with patients in Latin in his/her future career as a doctor. </p>

<p>No, but much of medical terminology is based on Latin so it would be very helpful.
<a href=“http://latinforyou.webs.com/medicalterminology.htm”>http://latinforyou.webs.com/medicalterminology.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Colleges typically expect to see multiple years of at least one foreign language (i.e. 2-3, often 4) taken in high school. Middle school courses are typically not as rigorous as high school courses, which in turn are not as rigorous as college courses – the first year of a language in college is about 2 or 3 years of a high school language course. Pick a language and stick with it. Given the demographics of the US, Spanish is never a bad pick. </p>

<p>How do you feel about Latin? If you hate it, odds are you’ll struggle with it, and that doesn’t do you any good. </p>

<p>On an unrelated note, if you’re interested in dentistry and/or medicine, I recommend taking AP Biology and AP Chemistry by graduation. Taking AP Physics as well wouldn’t hurt. Many colleges have absolutely brutal introductory level science courses, so it’s best to be as prepared as possible. </p>

<p>It is best to complete at least one foreign language to high school level 3 or higher. Middle school foreign language courses are often not considered equivalent, so you may want to complete the appropriate higher level foreign language course(s) in high school. Level 4 is preferred by many of the most selective colleges, and the higher the level you complete in high school, the fewer foreign language courses you need to take in college to complete the foreign language graduation requirement in college. In addition, proficiency in a foreign language commonly spoken by immigrants may be helpful in the practice of medicine or dentistry.</p>

<p>I want to go to Virginia Commonwealth University, and after doing some research, I haven’t seen any foreign language requirements for the dental hygiene bachelors degree, nor their Pre-dentistry degree. Would anyone happen to know if there are any?</p>

<p>do your middle school foreign language courses show up on your high school transcript? If so you can definitely drop latin. If not, I would definitely continue with latin.</p>

<p>for VCU: Admission requirements</p>

<p>Candidates for admission to VCU are reviewed based on their academic performance in an accredited high school or on GED scores and either SAT Reasoning Test or ACT scores. The college preparatory curriculum is highly preferred, and a minimum of 20 units is required for admission to all programs on the Monroe Park Campus.</p>

<p>Applicants should present a minimum of:</p>

<p>4 units of English
3 units of mathematics (including algebra I and either geometry or algebra II)
3 units of history, social studies or government
3 units of science (at least one laboratory)
3 units of one foreign language or 2 units of two foreign languages are strongly recommended</p>

<p>Even you did take several years of foreign language in middle school, it may or may not be counted as high school level world language courses. Typically, middle school would have up to the HS level 1 foreign language courses only. Check with your GC to see if they are indeed considered for HS credit. Otherwise, they would not be counted.</p>