Understand that not taking that second semester because of sports/other classes makes it a choice. I wouldn’t take Ap classes over the summer, I’d take the second half of that Spanish class, but you have to decide.
In any case, register for tests such as the subject tests or consular tests that will demonstrate your proficiency. Saying you are fluent doesn’t make you so in the eyes of colleges.
The quick and simple answer is YES, it is possible this will hurt you. Maybe not, you can explain it, rationalize it, make up for it, but the fact of the matter is that a lot of times when AOs are going through all of those applications in the heat of the Admissions season, despite all their talk of holistic careful examination of each candidate, they need to get through the process FAST. The most selective schools look for reason to reject because they have to reject almost everyone. That you didn’t follow the directions that are right out there makes it easy to flick you off.
Now if you have something the school really really wants, if you are a tagged candidate, this isn’t going to be an impediment. A much needed quarterback, a top development contributor ‘s kid, an Olympian etc …they won’t need to deal with a year of being short a language. At many schools, if you make the initial “want” list, it’s not going to matter at all, but at some of the large schools that do an auto check of whether you have what they require or the schools where there are hundreds of kids just like you, but the others have their 3 years of language, well, I think it’s obvious where that’s going to go
What about taking a summer Spanish class at a nearby college this summer? And then take the SAT2 in Spanish with listening, get a very high score, and you’ve got both the class time and the score to prove you are fluent in a foreign language.
@parentologist - see post #7. Great minds…
Look folks, we are talking about a student with Spanish completed through Spanish 3, and the first semester of Spanish 4. This student right now is ahead of where most seniors will be when they slap their applications into the ether this fall. They will barely have started the first semester of Spanish 4. With an otherwise full schedule, I think the OP can skip second semester of Spanish 4 untl second semester of senior year, and possibly forever depending on how any rolling admissions work out.
I don’t like dual enrollment and summer college classes for the simple reason that they generate college transcripts that follow the person for the rest of their life. That bad summer grade because you didn’t get the course dropped during the add-drop period? On your record forever.
It looks to me like the OP has plenty on their plate for this summer. Rather than piling on more classes, I would much prefer to see this student and their parents running the Net Price Calculators at the places currently on the possible application list, and tracking down at least one dead-on True Safety that is affordable without any aid other than federally dertermined need-based aid, that the OP would be more than happy to attend, and where the OP is a guaranteed auto-admit for their stats.
If you are in California, then it should not be a problem for the in-state public universities.
- UCs and CSUs have foreign language requirement by level completed, or equivalent shown by other means (e.g. AP or SAT subject tests, college courses, etc.).
- UCs and CSUs require high school level 2 for frosh admission; UCs recommend high school level 3.
Since you have completed level 3.5 (first half of Spanish 4), you are fine for frosh admission to UCs and CSUs.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/a-g-requirements/index.html
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/csu-uc-a-g-comparison-matrix.pdf
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/getting_into_the_csu/pages/admission-requirements.aspx
Note, however, that foreign language graduation requirements from universities may be higher than admission requirements. Some universities offer courses for heritage speakers who need to improve their reading and writing skills.
Is it California 1-2/3-4 where each number is a semester?
Or is it 1number = one full year of foreign language study?
Keyword that changes the right answer: Ivies. And “more elite.”
Sorry, but it’s very easy to X an app for willfully not meeting the expectation. The exception, as ski said, is when it conflicts with a higher level stem class- usually post AP math or science.
No one says, “Oh, but she speaks Portuguese.” Or some Spanish. Or traveled or did a program. Or lives in CA. Or took some outside proficiency test. (Unless the high school stopped her, based on some test and school policy.) This is less about “proficiency” than the class experience and nature of language learning, at higher levels, the exposure- which is more.
We also don’t know what those 7 classes are. For all we know, it’s electives, easy AP (stuffed in for the count,) or other issues. Nor whether OP qualified for tippy tops based on the rest of the story.
So I also vote for a summer class. You’re talking online, how much an issue is this, over summer?
And step back and learn what the colleges do look for, so you can properly self-assess your chances.
For UCs and CSUs, the requirement is high school year 2 or equivalent proficiency (high school year 3 recommended for UC).
Most California high schools number foreign language courses by year (e.g. Spanish 2 = second year high school Spanish). The OP’s high school appears to follow this convention, as indicated by the OP describing that s/he “took Spanish 2 my freshman year, Spanish 3 my sophomore year, and one semester of Spanish 4 honors my junior year”.
Hi, when I attended an info session for UW Seattle, the admissions officer stated that right off the bat, many applicants are DENIED because they did not meet the math or foreign language requirement (which is 3 years). I graduated from a French Immersion language school. My diploma stated I was bilingual (French), I am also fluent in Spanish. They still needed to check my transcripts to show that I had 3 years of Spanish. I think that having all these EC’s and AP’s may not be worth it if you do not meet the most MINIMUM requirements.
Agree that summer spanish would be better than summer AP macroecon and AP govt. These latter courses are electives.