Hello, I have a student who had an IEP language exemption in HS. Should she not bother applying to colleges who require 2+ years of language. She has lots of AP’s, and a 3.5 gpa, but was not required to take a language because of her recognized disability in language learning.
I would make sure that you look into any potential language requirements for the college degree and what it would take to waive it.
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This will be a school by school situation, which may require contacting admissions for a discussion. Some schools will allow exemptions, some won’t.
And the point above is also critical as many colleges require students to take FL, and HS disabilities don’t carry over to college…the student has to talk to the disability office and go from there to see if they can be exempted from the college’s FL requirement.
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Look and see if the FL requirement can be met with something other than a language. At some colleges, this is the case.
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Good point, some colleges allow ASL (American sign language) to count as FL for example.
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Some colleges allow cultural courses instead if FL to satisfy the COLLEGE FL requirement.
I did a Google search, and each one said…contact the disability office. So…to the OP, that’s what the family needs to do.
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In general, there are more hoops to jump through to get exemptions in college.
Bottom line, it is your child’s responsibility to determine what FL courses will be required from a college in order to graduate. That means knowing which colleges are going to be flexible and which aren’t, well before applying. Your child will need to send emails and make phone calls. Some colleges are much more flexible than others when it comes to learning disabilities and waiving course requirements. The onus is on your child and you to make sure your child applies to colleges that will help accommodate her.
I have similar first hand experience of this with my son. He started with an IEP in middle school, which was changed to a 504 in high school. Basically, his main accommodation was extra time and a spelling waiver. He did muddle through with FL in high school, but stopped as soon as he completed the minimum requirement. In the end, he wasn’t prepared to go through, again, all the testing that would be required to have accommodations in various colleges. He had tested in 8th grade, but that info was considered out of date for the colleges he was considering.
By that stage of his education, he felt he would be able to cope and wasn’t concerned if the best he could do in college FL was a C. In the end, he did this with his three required FL semesters: Started from scratch with his high school FL, which was basic stuff. So he got a helpful A. The remaining two semesters were taken during the winter and summer via community college. There was only pass/fail available, so he did that.
After dreading having to take FL, he ended up with an overall A in it. And he did consider taking ASL, but felt he could scrape by with Spanish.
He decided he could handle college without trying to get accommodations. He’s now a senior and has been proven right, but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. During the pandemic college year, he came close to failing a class and it took Herculean effort to pass, but he did. He needed those accommodations when he was younger but I think he’d agree that he was able to do well without them and that having to take Spanish again wasn’t the worst thing. He can at least order a cerveza now in Mexico.
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Thank you! She is worried about applications not the FL requirement when she is in college. Do you have any experience with colleges overlooking the lack of a FL on the HS transcript.
Thank you! She is worried about. Do you have any experience with colleges overlooking the lack of a FL on the HS transcript.
I don’t have any personal experience with this. I would suggest you talk to your IEP case manager and school counselor…your child has a transition plan if she has an IEP. Perhaps they can advise.
All colleges are probably going to have different policies on this. This is a question for the admissions office at a particular college and her guidance counselor. If she just submits her app to a college with minimum high school FL requirements and provides no explanation or documentation, no, she’s not going to get in. But her guidance counselor should be aware of this.
Most colleges are pretty clear on FL requirements. I expect that if she has proper documentation, she might not have an issue (especially if she has strong grades in other subjects), but she could well have an issue once she matriculates. This is why you need to research the various colleges’ requirements for earning a degree.
Getting in is only part of it. She has to be able to get the degree. So be sure to do your homework.
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