How important are foreign languages?

<p>So, I took Spanish II freshman year, and this year (soph) I didn't take a language. I'm planning on a pretty full schedule next year, and I'm wondering if it's worth it to drop a class I love (either Art History AP or Drama 3) just because a lot of colleges want 3 to 4 years of a foreign language. Has anyone applied somewhere and had a lack of language credits deter them? (I've seen some things about a minimum number of credits need just to APPLY, let alone get in) Also, I could do some self-studying (I self-studied Spanish 1, and Spanish 2 was a breeze) and by the end of my junior year take the AP Spanish exam if that would help. </p>

<p>What do you all think?</p>

<p>I stopped taking a foreign language after Spanish 3 in my freshman year because it didn't interest me. Then I saw that the Ivies and other top schools wanted four years or more, and I began to wonder if I really should have quit Spanish.</p>

<p>I'm also considering self-studying for the AP Spanish exam; I don't think it would be hard to independently learn. But if you have trouble pronouncing things (with a spanish accent), then you may want to see if you could take spanish courses at a nearby community college.</p>

<p>I also quit after Spanish III in my sophomore year.</p>

<p>I'm a senior applying to colleges this year.</p>

<p>Yeah, you need three years of a language...but if you take the AP test and do really well (which is questionable with only 2 years of experience), then I'd imagine it would still look okay.</p>

<p>I got accepted to Cornell despite only two years of French. Then again, I got a 800 on my Chinese SATII, so that probably broke my fall.</p>

<p>That being said, I doubt that Ivys would care that much, considering 3 years is enough. If you're worried, just add a note saying that you took a few years of a foreign language, but wanted more interesting classes and had passions for other fields so didn't continue. I doubt the Ivies would penalize you a lot for that.</p>

<p>this might have not to do with anything but i can speak 6 languages</p>

<p>Hmm-I'd suggest self-studying and doing well on the SAT II, and include a sort of note like, "AP art studio and drama would have been hard to do on my own, and so I opted to take Spanish III on my own". Those classes are probably the best top opt over (for example, taking an extra math or science would be worse than the next year of spanish)</p>