I see that ND requires 2 years of a HS Foreign Language but recommends 3-4 years for admission.
Does that 3rd/4th year in a language make that much of a difference in their admissions decisions? Or is it more of a minor consideration?
Nobody can answer that but an admission officer. Suffice it to say that a school like ND will have plenty of well qualified applicants that have taken all of the recommended courseload.
I asked this question to my admissions councilor when I was in high school, which was 2-3 years ago. At that point I was going into my senior year. I wanted to take AP Chem instead of honors Chinese 4, but she wanted me to take Chinese. She argued that if it came down to it, a student that has fulfilled the recommended course load is at an advantage to a student without. If you’re hellbent on it, I would reach out to your regional admissions officer but I think they’ll give you a similar answer.
for reference, I applied as a chemical engineering major, and Notre Dame’s engineering department doesn’t have a language requirement.
The most competitive applicants have more than two years of a foreign language. However, it’s not carved in stone. If you took additional college-level coursework in other disciplines instead of continuing with a language, your application would be much stronger than if you used those slots for trendy electives. And it wouldn’t hurt to ask your guidance counselor to explain your decision in your recommendation letter (or explain it yourself in “Additional Information”). At many smaller schools, there are real scheduling challenges when students want to take the most rigorous courseloads, so if that is your situation, make sure that your application conveys that information. Don’t assume that the counselor will figure it out.
@happy1 @IliketoFence @emmamarie
Thanks so much for your input everyone. When our community college added an Associate in Engineering in Fall 2015, my HS Jr son pursued it to the expense of language. I wondered if the French 1+2 he completes this summer, plus the higher-level physics, math and engineering he completes for the Associates, would be enough for admission into ND Engineering. My wife thinks French 3 would be a waste of time to get accepted for engineering. My thinking was, if the ND admission requirements explicitly state that they prefer 3 years of language, then just schedule French 3 for Fall 2016 thru an online HS class, just to be on the safe side and make his application that much stronger…
It may make sense for your S to contact his admissions counselor and post the question to him/her.
Wien2NC, I echo happy1, contact the admissions counselor. Both my kids found that contacting the admission people was extremely helpful. Admissions at ND is responsive and approachable. Why guess, when you can find out for sure?
I will do that. Thank you!
Of course your S should consider the foreign language requirements/recommendations at other schools he plans to apply to as well.
If it’s Community College French 1+2, you’re in luck, it’ll be considered equivalent to HS levels 1, 2, and 3! He should be ready for a HUGE amount of work, to be done quickly. 1 day would be equivalent to 1 week if not 2 weeks of HS French because regular-semester college French covers 2 years of HS French in 4 months, and summer classes compress that further!
Keep in mind that even Engineering students at Notre Dame have to take a set of core requirements that go beyond what a technical school would expect, with Philosophy and Theology required in addition to the ABT-accredited usuals of Literature, Social Science, History.
really? it’s actually French 1+2 at University of Mississippi. he is going there next week for Summer College for High School Students. technically it’s FR 111, Intensive Elementary French, which covers FR 101+102. if they would consider that to be equivalent to HS French 1+2+3, that would be fantastic.
he is a pretty well-rounded kid who will enjoy the Liberal Arts, Humanities, and History offerings at ND, so those requirements sound fine. but Physics and Math are right in his wheelhouse.
Yes it would. You may want to register him for FR3 online just in case (and an easy A), but FR 101+102 at a flagship would indeed be considered equivalent to High School French 1, 2, and 3. FR 111+ 201 and he could take the AP test. 
@MYOS1634 – truly you are the bearer of good news. so he can take the AP French exam without taking French 4? i have been suggesting taking French 3 to be on the safe aside, and the prospect of taking the AP Exam might persuade him.
Well, for the AP, not just with 111. It’d take one more college semester to take the AP exam :).
High School French 3 would just be a repeat of 2/3 of the 102 content so it’d be an easy A, but alas, you either need 1 more semester of college French, or 2 years of HS French,before he could take the exam.
I don’t think Engineers have a language requirement for college graduation, but the credit would likely count - check with the School of Engineering.
I definitely think if you’re doing duel enrollment you’re better off reaching out to admissions directly, because that’s a more unusual situation. You’ll also want to check which of his duel enrollment credits will transfer.
I absolutely agree with you in having him take the 3rd year of a language. The likelihood of those engineering courses even transferring is probably not great anyhow.
D got into ND with 2 years of a foreign language but she had a 36 ACT and she did not get into several other colleges where her stats would have led us to believe her chances were strong - Vassar for example. When a college says “recommended” they really mean unless you have compelling reasons that would make it very difficult