<p>I need opinions. I have a child just starting high school next year (I know, I'm early but this is the best place to ask). In middle school she has taken 2 years of French (which is considered a High School class and will be on her high school transcript). The problem is...she hates French! When she goes into high school, she can switch into another language (but that puts her back to the beginning and she may hate the new language too) or not take any language at all. So I guess my questions are </p>
<p>2 years of French enough?
2 years of French and 2 years of something else enough?</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>does she really need 4 years of a consistent Foreign Language?</p>
<p>We are not talking about a tippy top level kid here. She's is extremely bright, but has other things on her mind besides academics and it shows in her grades. She might improve in High School, but I am not counting on that now.</p>
<p>Most colleges require, if they have a foreign language requirement at all, 2 years of the same language, preferably taken junior and senior year in high school if those are the only 2 years you take the classes. Some schools require 3 years, some like to see 3 years. Having more than 3 years will put a check next to the extra box for the tippy top school entrances. </p>
<p>There is no reason she can’t start a new language in 9th grade and meet the entrance requirements for any college in the country.</p>
<p>You’ll have to check the schools, but many prefer to see at least the third level of a foreign language (even if the minimum requirement is only the second level), while completing the fourth or higher level of a foreign language is likely advantageous for the most selective schools.</p>
<p>Do check with schools your DD is interested in before she drops foreign language. We found two selective schools (but not ivy) during the search for one student that clearly stated they considered FL a core class and wanted it all four years of high school. You were still considered without it but I’m assuming not as competitive. Two out of the dozen or so schools our son looked at seems significant enough to mention (UVa and GA Tech, FWIW). Again, it didn’t matter how many years the student had in middle school, the point was it was a core class not to be dropped during Jr/Sr years. If I found two there have to be more. Certainly your DD may choose not to do this, but you should know beforehand by talking to the schools.</p>
<p>The more competitive the college, the more foreign language will be valued. I would encourage her to change languages and see how that goes. It seems as though her school will credit her with her two years from middle school, so she is set for what the school requires for graduation.</p>
<p>I would also add that I would ask around and try to get her with the best language teacher in her school. IMO, language teachers really influence what students learn, more so than some other subjects that kids can figure out with reading.</p>
She’s only in middle school. She has no idea what colleges she wants or would be feasible right now. However, any decision we make now affects her college choices in the future.</p>
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<p>This is true. She has not been lucky in her teachers these past few years, but I happen to know the teachers in the high school are wonderful (my oldest loved French!!!).</p>
<p>I understand she’s only in middle school, that’s why I said to check before she drops, meaning in the future when she has a better idea of her target schools.</p>
<p>Most schools like 3 years so your daughters middle school counts as one and she can take two more years and be done with it. Both my daughters hate foreign language and were so happy when Junior year came and they could stop the madness. Older daughter got into Yale with just 3 years, if lack of more language was a problem then it wasn’t the right school for her (Dartmouth is big on languages.) </p>
<p>I suggest your daughter continue with French unless your high school has some really different language; Chinese, Hebrew, not a romance language because chances are she won’t like Spanish or Italian any more than French and this way she’ll be done with the requirement one year earlier.</p>
<p>S1 took three years of Latin. S2 took only 2 years of Spanish… well, three years if you count the year he failed Spanish 2. He hated foreign language (had taken mini courses in mid. sch). At any rate both applied to several instate publics and were accepted to all.
Neither was planning to major in anything that required further foreign language in college.</p>
<p>I think (I’m not sure) that it counts as 2 years because they are saying she is slated to go into French 3 as it stands now.</p>
<p>I am really leaning to letting her try a different language next year and if she really hates it also, letting her drop all language in sophomore year.</p>
<p>She may like French in high school with a different teacher. For my oldest in particular, enjoyment of any subject has been quite dependent on the teacher. Last year, for instance, he had an engaging math teacher and enjoyed calculus so much that he couldn’t rule it out as a potential major. But after last semester (different teacher), he’s decided he never wants to take another math course in his life.</p>
<p>The colleges may or may not count middle school courses unless “topped off” with a high school (or college) course (e.g. French 3 in high school).</p>
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<p>If she takes (for example) Spanish 1 as a freshman, but then stops, she will have at most two years if they count the middle school French, or just one year if they only count high school courses.</p>
<p>If she wants to complete at least the third level in high school, the choices would be:</p>
<p>a. Continue with French, taking at least French 3.
b. Start a new language, taking at least three years of that language (e.g. Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and Spanish 3).</p>
<p>OK, so assuming colleges will count 2 years of middle school French as 2 years, we should be OK no matter what she decides. If they only count it as one year, she would have to take at least 2 years of a new language or another year of French to meet a 2 year language requirement. </p>
<p>I am going to discount the top colleges at this point, so I think most of the schools we will be looking at (in 4 years, who knows) will only have a 2 year requirement.</p>
<p>You may want to check the possible/likely colleges (at least the in-state public universities or other schools that are likely safety candidates) on this, rather than assuming.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, I looked at Bucknell’s admissions requirements and it basically says the years of language taken before 9th grade don’t count toward the admissions requirement.</p>
<p>^ I agree that most colleges won’t accept foreign language credits done in middle school even if they are on a high school transcript. Our middle school offers 2 years of foreign languages and to get away from families thinking they are good for college credits they only allow one year to show up on the high school transcript. The classes do allow the kids to move into Language II as freshman so they are able to graduate with 5 years of a language on their transcript if they take all 4 years in high school. Most schools we have visited won’t even count freshman/sophomore year foreign language if those are the only two years taken.</p>
<p>So if son started in Spanish 2 9th grade and is now in AP Spanish Language, does that count as 3 or 4 yrs of language? (He REALLY does not want to take AP Span Lit next year!!!)</p>
<p>If you’re daughter hates French, let her start another language in high school.</p>
<p>My son studied Spanish very casually for 6 years in elem./jr high but disliked it greatly. He took a year of ASL from me (we homeschool and I’m a former deaf ed. teacher) but I knew that isn’t counted by many schools. I told him he needed 3 semesters of foreign language at the community college and to find some language he liked.</p>
<p>He ended up taking Arabic 101 in the fall of his junior year. For some reason, the CC counted it as 2 years worth. He had to skip spring semester due to sports. This past fall, he took Arabic 102. He was going to take 103 this spring but the classes were all full.</p>
<p>So, he’s graduating with only 2 semesters of community college Arabic on his transcript. He was still accepted into an Ivy League school because his strengths lie elsewhere.</p>
<p>Since your dd is so young, I am sure she’ll have no problem getting 3 years of f. language equivalence somehow. Let her pick a language she likes.</p>