How important is the Language recommendation?

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm a senior in High School at the moment. I have a 4.1 GPA (4.5 scale) so I get nearly all A's, and scored ~2000 on the SAT. I will likely apply to competitive schools.. not Ivy or anything, but possibly public ivys such as UC Berk, W&M, UVA, etc. I'm interested in pursuing a science major, as my schedule has proven.</p>

<p>As a Junior I was invited to partake in a science class (Biotech) that was a double period. I had to drop an elective, and so I chose to drop Spanish. I didn't have much of a choice -- I was never great at Spanish, it brought my GPA down, and I couldnt really drop anything else. I transferred schools, where I took Honors Chem (Freshman Science..) and Honors Anatomy.. Still no Spanish</p>

<p>Now its my senior year, I'm taking several AP courses along with H Physics (no AP offered) and H Biochem (again no AP offered), but I decided I would try out Spanish 4 (the class I shouldve taken Junior year). After a year off, and trying the class for 2 days I don't think this is the greatest decision. I can't handle honors so i'm in CP, I will likely not do well (I estimate that I'll get around a B-, C+). This would be a pretty big blemish on my application and do some serious wonders to my GPA.</p>

<p>My question is -- Is it worth sticking it through the class and obtaining 3 years of Spanish, or do I drop it for a "more difficult class" (ie AP Statistics or something) and likely obtain a better grade in that class?</p>

2

<p>So you took Spanish 1 in junior high? You may be able to apply that toward your three years, although I am not sure by any means. You should definitely discuss this with your guidance counselor, though.</p>

3

<p>yeah, i took spanish 1 in 8th grade.</p>

4

<p>If I understand correctly, you have completed level 3 of Spanish? Usually, it is not the number of years completed, but the highest level completed which counts (though check each university to be sure). Completing level 4 would look better than completing level 3, if you do reasonably well.</p>

<p>Note that foreign language graduation requirements may be higher than foreign language admission requirements.</p>

5

<p>I love the term “public ivys” x) There are only 8 of them, and the ones listed are not part of the Ivy Leauge. Top schools prefer 4 years of all core subjects, but the requirements are less for some subjects (such as foreign language). Copy your post, edit it, and send it to an admission officer’s email address from one of your target schools to see what they want to see.</p>