<p>DS always wanted to take Latin for a foreign language, but the Latin teacher at the high school wasn't very good, so he took 2 years of Spanish instead. Then, the school got an amazing Latin teacher, so he switched and took Latin I in his junior year. He's taking Latin II senior year.<br>
I know most top colleges want 4 years of a language, and we're now realizing that they probably want 4 years of the same language. Did we mess up here?</p>
<p>schools will suggest 4 years of the same language, but most don't actually require it. </p>
<p>It might be good to have the GC mention the reason for the switch in languages in the GC recommendation.</p>
<p>I know that this ends up a problem at schools every year -- some schools simply do not have the students to make up a class of German III or they lose their Chinese teacher and have no replacement. Or a kid moves and the language they were taking isn't offered at the new school.</p>
<p>You child will certainly not be the only one with this issue -- but a good reason why will help tremendously if it is an issue for adcoms</p>
<p>Look carefully at admissions requirements for each school. You don't want your kid to get rejection letters in the spring b/c they do not meet the admission requirements. This can easily happen with lab sciences as well. Lots of kids take 3 or 4 sciences, but only 2 are lab sciences. Some schools require 3 for admission.</p>
<p>I have a friend with an atypical situation. They lived out of the country between the time their kid was 8-17. English was his second language. One admissions office did NOT get it, even though the kid is bilingual! He was denied admissions to a school where he was a legacy. Even after it was explained, the admissions office would not reverse their decision. The kid was highly insulted, and would not have attended if the decision had been reversed.</p>
<p>Definitely make sure the guidance counselor explains your son's language switch. Course curriculum "requirements" for admission are generally really only "guidelines" so if your son has a legitimate reason to switch, be sure to make that known. I imagine that it would also help if he is involved in Latin related activities outside of class, like JCL. This will show the adcomm that your son truly enjoys learning Latin.</p>