<p>My S dropped 4th year of a foreign language to add a desired AP Science course to his senior schedule. He previously completed 3 years of honors foreign language, and scheduling conflicts would not allow him to take both the 4th year language and the AP course he wanted. It now seems several colleges really want to see a 4th year of foreign language, even if it is not required and only recommended. I feel he may have made a bad choice adding AP Biology after having completed an Honors Biology class a couple years earlier. He could take advanced Spanish at the local CC before taking his college test to pass out of the undergrad foreign lang. requirement found at most schools. But that will not help his applications which have already been submitted. Moreover, he is likely to pass out of the language requirement anyway as he is pretty fluent already and may spend part of the summer in Spain. Bottom line, is he going to be hurt in the admission process as it seems 4 years of a foreign language is just as important as 4 years of English or 4 years of Math ?</p>
<p>could this be why he is getting a few deferrals from top schools that would otherwise be matches or only a slight reach?</p>
<p>No sense trying to change the past. Just be sure your son’s list includes a safety or two.</p>
<p>(PS: For a starring role onstage, my son quit Band in his senior year. I too wondered “If only…” when he got a deferral. No matter. He’s in college, happy, and doing well now.)</p>
<p>Was it you who mentioned UMich? I looked up their common data set, and they say 2 years of foreign language is required, but 4 are recommended. To me, that would sound like 3 years would be fine, providing your child doesn’t intend on majoring in languages or International Relations.</p>
<p>Why second-guess what is already done? There are many excellent schools who are fine with students having less than 4 years of foreign language. Neither of my kids had 4 years of foreign language and both got into Us they were very happy with and have done well at; many others have had similar experiences.</p>
<p>Of course, there ARE some schools which may have different requirements, but sounds like your S made choices that he felt were best for him and should serve him well in college. Spanish fluency is very useful and important in many areas of the US and may help with getting a job on or near campus for college.</p>
<p>Admission to some schools is so selective and it’s hard to know why one student is selected over another. I was concerned with this as well - S couldn’t take a foreign language his junior year due to scheduling problems; he is back taking the language his senior year but I wasn’t sure how this would impact his chances. He ended up being accepted ED at his first choice school.</p>
<p>Now, if he had been deferred or rejected, I don’t think we could automatically have said it was the 3 vs 4 years of a foreign language. There were plenty of other things on his application that could be valid reasons for a deferral or rejection.</p>
<p>It sounds like applications are already done and submitted, but if not, the Additional Information section might be a good place to mention the lack of a 4th year of a foreign language. Or, perhaps the guidance counselor/school can mention it.</p>
<p>yes family of 3 boys, did mention UMich, and he was deferred despite better stats all-around and ECs w/greater depth than his sister who was accepted previously. She, however, had 4 years of a foreign language, studied in France, is fluent and has also interned in France. Hard to believe that was the swing factor for him, but schools are looking for any basis on which to differentiate applicants. Ironic if it were the case as his Spanish is probably much better than many who have taken it for all 4 years. He basically wanted a harder, more challenging, advanced science course his senior year. 4th year Spanish would have been pretty much a coast for him.</p>
<p>I doubt it hurt. If he’s majoring in science (or anything not very related to a foreign language), then taking AP Biology would help him more than taking another year of Spanish, even if 4 years are recommended. It may be too late for this now, but ideally the guidance counselor would explain in the recommendation that because of scheduling conflicts, it had to be one or the other.</p>
<p>at the time didn’t even think it warranted an explanation by the GC as he was substituting a tougher AP science class for foreign language. We viewed it as an upgrade, something that would help his application prospects by adding a 7th AP class. In retrospect seeing several colleges “recommending” 4 years of a language, it may hurt him in a few cases. BTW, our GC did not even know that the UC campuses require one-year continuous study in fine arts (art, music, dance, theatre etc.) for which he did not qualify as he took electives in mechanical drawing, debate, woodshop. Not a big deal as he ultimately decided against the UC schools for other reasons. It does illustrate how much the student and parents themselves need to keep track of everything at every possible school of interest. Even more ironic his band (he is composer, lead singer and guitarist) just released their second EP accompanied by a small Northeast 3-day tour. So he would not qualify for UC consideration as opposed to someone who tried to play trumpet for a year, or who fiddled w/abstract drawings. He was the one instrumental (no pun intended) in pursuing college right away rather than taking a gap year to see how far he could drive a potential music career. Sorry to digress.</p>
<p>During our many college visits, several of the schools (small LACs as well as larger engineering schools) specifically told the students “Whatever you do, make sure you take 4 years of a foreign language.”</p>
<p>Pleaseadvise,</p>
<p>Since you said your S was deferred (not denied) it is not too late to do something. Have a discussion with his GC asap and have him/her send a note about his profiency in Spanish, even though he took only 3 years. Also, what about his former Spanish teacher? Could he/she write a recommendation? If none of the above are a possibility, have your S send an update himself, specifically discussing his dilemma over whether he should take Spanish 4 or AP Science class this year. Make sure he makes it clear to them that he didn’t stop the language because he wasn’t interested, but that it posed a scheduling conflict. I’d definately mention his trip and his interest in continuing with Spanish in college.</p>
<p>gsmomma, I wish our GC had emphasized this as well. but I think she saw how adamant my S was against taking a fourth year. As a parent, I figured it was no big deal, but have to take some responsibility for not knowing better myself.</p>
<p>f3B has a good suggestion. And don’t freak on this. D is now attending UVA (in state but still was not easy to get in). Their admissions office had similar advice - 4 years of language & “toughtest schedule available”. So (sounds like your son) she decided anyway to stop Honors Spanish after 3 years (+ middle school), take regular English instead of AP - said she wanted a breather as she was still taking B/C Calc, AP Bio & AP Stats. Wife & I and her GC recommended against but she did it anyway. It worked out, although she admits now the year off hurt her a little when she took her language placement test. May have helped she suggested an interest in Math in her applications. </p>
<p>Admissions offices take a lot of factors into consideration (or say they do) and anyway, they will never tell you when “recommended” really means “you’d better or else!” and when it doesn’t. Don’t beat yourself up over this - your son will get into a school he loves and will do well in, and if he is determined to get into one of his reaches, transfer after 1 or 2 years is an option (I know of enough children of friends who have done this from CC or their local 4yr to know it’s viable, and heard enough grief from my own 2 to know they will NOT admit it’s an option until they go and do it themselves).</p>
<p>Sometimes we need to look at things beyond college prep. Our children are children for a very short time. Yes, academics should be placed towards the top of their priority list.
However, each decision they make should not be determined by which college will accept them later on. In other words, if your son had no interest in taking that 4th year of foreign language, it’s not going to determine his path in life. It’s not a big deal. </p>
<p>If his interest lies in the sciences, he made the right choice for him by choosing an AP Science over a 4th year of Foreign Language. He gained knowledge in his something he enjoys. How can that be a bad thing?</p>
<p>It’s very difficult to figure out the specific reason why one student is deferred while another is accepted. It’s not worth rehashing the past and trying to place blame. </p>
<p>Life is full of twists and turns. Rather than trying to find a reason for the outcome, try to focus more on using this as a learning experience for your son. Sometimes in life, things don’t go as planned, but it doesn’t mean that a different path won’t get you to where you want to go in life.</p>
<p>Reminder: Your son is going to watch the way you handle these deferrals and he’s going to feed off of your emotions. If you can show him through your actions that it’s best not to be bitter or focus energies towards disappointments that come our way, but rather to adapt to the twists and turns in life and move forward to, you will teach him a very valuable lesson in life. </p>
<p>Good luck to your son. I’m sure he will have plenty of college choices coming his way.</p>
<p>I agree with familyof3boys to write a supplemental letter. Just a thought - is he skilled enough to impressively write it in Spanish and English?</p>
<p>pleaseadvise,
has your son taken the Spanish[ nonlistening] subject test? If not, maybe he should see if it is offered in Jan and take that to show his fluency in Spanish. It might not hurt. If that is not an option then I agree that a letter mentioning his class conflict AND his continuing interest in Spanish [ his upcoming trip to Spain] should be mentioned.
When we were researching colleges for DS, the advise from CC veterans was if the college “recommends” something, take that to mean “required”. Perhaps that tip will help other parents in the future.</p>
<p>pleaseadvise,
I envy you. If i told my son to work harder (like writing a supplement essay or taking a Spanish subject test as other parents suggested) to increase his admitted chance at this time, he would totally ignore me. Once my son submitted his last app, he doesn’t want to even talk about this “college application” thing.
Good Luck! I believe everything will work out in the end.</p>
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<p>In general, “4 years of foreign language” means “foreign language through level 4” not “four years of foreign language taken in high school.”</p>
<p>Therefore, a student who completes Spanish 1 in middle school and takes Spanish 2, 3, and 4 in high school has 4 years of foreign language.</p>
<p>Both of my kids took Spanish 1 and 2 in middle school. One of them took Spanish 3 as a high school freshman and then dropped Spanish. We were assured that this would count as “3 years of foreign language,” and it did. (He was accepted by a college that required 3 years of foreign language.) My other kid took Spanish 3, Spanish 4, and an AP/IB SL Spanish course (roughly equivalent to Spanish 5) in high school. We believe that this counted as five years of foreign language, even though only three of those years were in high school.</p>
<p>The OP’s son may have more years of foreign language than he realizes.</p>
<p>Marian, </p>
<p>You make a very good point! My son is now in Spanish 5, as a senior because he started in middle school. I wonder if this is the same for Pleaseadvise’s S?</p>
<p>pleaseadvise, my S2 dropped Latin after three years. He had made A’s and won the best Latin student award one year. He was just sick of it and the teacher.</p>
<p>He quit the NHS , Latin Honor Soc. and took several unweighted classes just for fun senior yr.( Team Sports, anyone???) He also took three AP’s senior yr. and worked 25 hrs/week at at a local gro. store.</p>
<p>So his senior schedule was not super stressful. He had a great year.
He still got into our big state u. and was awarded two merit scholarships and a NROTC scholarship. </p>
<p>So letting him do senior year his way did not hurt him in the least…although I will say he was not aiming for elite universities and guess that could make a diff.
I would let your S take the reins on this and make his own choice.</p>