<p>@ucbalumnus thank you very much for those sites. I’ve decided on trying my best to fit French 4 into my schedule and attempting to get a 700+ on the French SAT subject test next year. And @MYOS1634, thanks for your advice. But I don’t think colleges will see that I had 3.5 study halls because they only see the courses I take and my grades in those. Therefore they’ll see that I took 5 periods of classes along with an online AP and 2 self studied APs. Please correct me if I’m wrong. Honestly, I can’t imagine junior year without those study halls-- it’d be worse than hell, haha. </p>
<p>They’ll see you had 5 periods and one online AP = 6 classes, not 7 or 8. The 2 self studied APs don’t count as classes although they do count overall. However since adcoms want to see 5 core classes (ie., English, Math, Science, History/Social Science, Foreign Language) every year unless you double up in one, if you have 5 core classes for your 5 classes, you’ll be fine. If you don’t have 5 core classes and only 5 class periods per day, you’ll be in trouble.
(The expectation at all selective colleges is 5 core classes and 1-2 “other” classes, including 2-4 AP, IB, or dual enrollment classes jr and sr year.)
Will the 2 self studied APs be recorded on your official transcript as delivered by your high school?
Go see your guidance counselor: will s/he check the “most demanding” or the “very demanding” box for you?
If you score 700+ in French you’ll be perfectly fine, too.</p>
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<p>Lots of colleges have breadth requirements structured this way, in that there are categories of breadth, but the student can choose any course(s) within each category. Such schools do not claim to be “open curriculum”. Even the University of Chicago structures its “core” general education requirements in this way, with the requirements by category (humanities and arts, science and math, social studies) but with student choice of many options within each category: <a href=“The Curriculum < University of Chicago Catalog”>http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/thecurriculum/</a> . Total courses here are 15 quarter courses, equivalent to 10 semester courses (of which 9 quarter courses, equivalent to 6 semester courses, are in humanities, arts, and social studies). Adding a third quarter (equivalent to second semester) foreign language requirement gives 12 quarter courses, equivalent to 8 semester courses, of humanities, arts, and social studies breadth requirements, about the same as what MIT requires.</p>
<p>It is HEAVILY overlooked in terms of the extent foreign language is needed for college prep. I overlooked it in high school and was truly regretting doing so within the first week of college. A legit college prep program will have to include a serious courseload in foreign language. If you do not plan to major or minor in it, you do NOT want to deal with it while in college.</p>
<p>So it is very important in that regard even if it turns out the colleges you are applying for don’t consider it of particular importance (and I imagine many do so anyway).</p>
<p>My D. is planning to skip HS FL altogether. She plans to take an exam that would demonstrate that she knows FL at the level comparable to 2-d year college proficiency. </p>
<p>Does it make sense? Should she take Spanish 1,2,3 and get A? Or better use this time for something else? </p>
<p>For UCs and CSUs, there are several possible ways to use other methods (SAT subject, AP, college placement test, transcript from school in country where the non-English language is used and used as the main language in the school) to satisfy the foreign language admission requirement. Note also that UCs and CSUs consider the level completed if high school or college courses are used (e.g. if a student only has level 4 or AP level successfully completed, then UCs and CSUs assume that s/he has level 1 through 3 proficiency as well).</p>
<p>Other colleges and universities may have different policies, so ask them directly.</p>
<p>“For UCs and CSUs, there are several possible ways to use other methods (SAT subject, AP, college placement test, transcript from school in country where the non-English language is used and used as the main language in the school) to satisfy the foreign language admission requirement.”</p>
<p>If 2 kids are applying, with the same grades, and one kid has a college placement test, and another took FL in HS, which one is likely to be admitted? </p>
<p>@californiaaaa If not both, then the latter, since you don’t take the placement take until after you’ve been admitted.</p>
<p>A high school student can take a placement test at a local college that is willing to give one (which may occur if the high school student wants to take foreign language courses at the college while still in high school).</p>
<p>In terms of the question about which student would be admitted, at CSUs which admit strictly by formula (which is almost all of them), two applicants to the same CSU campuses and majors with the same CSU-weighted GPA in otherwise the same course work, same test scores, and a-g requirements fulfilled should have exactly the same admissions results.</p>
<p>My son had a similar dilemma; he didn’t like his language teacher, and his grades in that class were lower than the rest of his GPA. He doesn’t mind the idea of studying in college, however; for you, that is another question. Some colleges require proficiency in a language to graduate, and thus you might be required to take a language course–and they are harder in college, no question. My son doubled up on science and also took the art class that he really wanted to take, and he’ll be taking AP Studio Art next year, which should show that he really likes the subject rather than simply wanting an easy A. I hope. In the end, I don’t think that one choice will change a decision for you: if your decision to drop language is part of a larger pattern, schools may well pick up on it. If it’s not, or if it can be explained otherwise, it probably won’t matter for admission.</p>
<p>Skieurope - I totally agree with you - but in this case, the OP didn’t take AP French, he only took 2 years of French, his freshman and sophomore years of high school. </p>
<p>Even if his second year of French was French 3, the colleges he is mentioning (the top 50) in my mind are not going to look favorably on stopping a foreign language in one’s sophomore year, I don’t care what other classes he is taking. </p>
<p>My son applied to strong computer science programs. His main criteria was not to have to take a language in college. Some strong CS programs are in the Arts and Sciences school so they require a language. He ruled out Duke, UNC, Boston U, and Villanova as a result. He took 2 years through Spanish 3 in HS.</p>
<p>^yes through FL3 would be considered a minimum even outside the most selective schools.</p>