<p>Hi! I'm a rising sophomore and hope to apply to MIT once the time comes. I was wondering how many years of foreign language MIT would be preferable. I'm going to be taking French I sophomore year (yeah I know, I made the mistake of not taking it Freshman year), which means the highest I could get to would be French III (unless I could find an online program that offers French for one of my years.) Would it be better to take the only 2 years that they say are required (and take more Math/Science classes), or would it be better to take all 4 years (with an online class). I'm really dedicated to Math and Science but I don't want my chances ruined because of a foreign language.</p>
<p>2 years of foreign languages + advanced math/sciences courses are recommended ([MIT</a> Admissions: Recommended High School Preparation](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/before/recommended_high_school_preparation/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/before/recommended_high_school_preparation/index.shtml)).</p>
<p>For MIT, it’s totally fine to take two or three years of a foreign language, but you should definitely check the requirements of other schools to which you plan to apply.</p>
<p>Your chances will not be ruined because of a foreign language. I would get in two (I had 2.5) but they probably wouldn’t penalize you for even only having one.</p>
<p>Hey!</p>
<p>I went to a 6 yr HS where modern languages, for the vast majority of students don’t start until sophomore year (on account of a Latin requirement for all students entering as 7th and 8th graders). Since my school was organized with this constraint in sight, we were allowed to do AP in the 3rd year, so it was somewhat different from your school, but not by much. Not only was that fine, as MITChris has already told you it will be, I’m able to do a internship in France this summer through MIT’s MISTI program.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: I did 2 years of French at my HS, one quarter at a community college, self study for the rest of my senior year, and then took the AP test.</p>