Hi there,
I am confused about the UC A-G requirements. On the website it states, “Keep in mind that taking approved high school (A-G) courses isn’t the only way to satisfy these requirements. You also may meet them by completing college courses or earning certain scores on various acceptable exams.” One of the requirements is two years of a language other than English. On the section “Exams & coursework that satisfy ‘E’”, it says “Score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP Exam in Chinese Language and Culture, French Language and Culture, German Language and Culture, Italian Language and Culture, Japanese Language and Culture, Spanish Language, Spanish Language and Culture, Spanish Literature and Culture or Latin; score of 5, 6 or 7 on an IB Language A2 HL exam.”
If I do not take any foreign language class, but pass one of those AP exams, is the entire requirement met?
Yes.
However, that will likely not fulfill recommendations of non-UC colleges, which actually want to see coursework.
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The exam scores will meet the 2 year UC Foreign Language requirement, however the UC’s recommend 3 years to be competitive.
Also during the UC application review, the # of a-g courses exceeding the minimums is a consideration and again to be competitive for the UC’s, you need to exceed these minimums.
The UC website recommends students to take the actual HS courses for grades and as noted by @skieurope, other colleges will want to see the actual coursework and the UC’s are no exception although they do offer this option.
Yes, but if you are a native speaker of that language, they can require additional proof of a “foreign” language completion.
Way back in the last century, when I was in my California high school, the guidance counselors were aware that I was a native speaker of Spanish, given my cultural background.
They indicated that I probably would pass the AP Spanish test, but that the UC’s probably wouldn’t accept the test results, given my background. The high school wanted to make sure that I was accepted, so I was required to take a language other than English or Spanish. I took two years of French.
If you are a native speaker and plan to take an AP test, in your home language, you might be stuck. Ask your guidance counselor.
From the website:
“The “e” subject requirement for freshman admission requires two years of a language other than English. In some cases, this will satisfy a student’s language requirement for their UC program. In many cases, however, additional study is necessary at the college level.”
If you are a non-resident of California, remember that you will pay full fees of $67K per year.