I’ve been taking spanish since 6th grade, and I’m in my sixth year of it now. I don’t really enjoy it that much, and I feel like I would rather replace it with other electives next year. To what extent would this hurt my college application? I know colleges like four years of a language, which I have exceeded, but I feel like it may not reflect well on me to stop in the last year of high school.
Dropping after completing AP Spanish will not hurt at all. And if you are not enjoying AP Spanish, you would loathe AP Spanish Lit.
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My three children stopped after AP Spanish because their schedules were full of AP classes.
The reading requirements noted in the syllabus were just too time-intensive along with their other courses, sports schedules and EC’s. (Yes, the chair of the department often sought me out, on campus, to try to get me to speak to my children about going into that program. I told her that they were already native speakers and needed to meet other academic requirements.)
It’s fine for you to go into something else.
Most students in my kids HS stopped Spanish after AP Spanish Language. 7 of the 10 students in their AP Lit class were native speakers. It’s pretty tough for non-native speakers.
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If you complete AP Spanish you would meet the requirement for even the most competitive colleges. Feel free to take an elective you prefer next year.
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If you have an AP spanish credit no reason to take the lit class.
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@skieurope , @Mwfan1921 , @ucbalumnus
I’m curious–how would you respond to this question if this student were a sophomore or a freshman? Would the answer change because s/he has only taken 1-2 years of Spanish in high school (but obviously began at a higher level)? I ask because there are immersion programs where I live and kids are starting high school at a much higher level–some take AP Span Lang freshman year.
ETA: these kids are not heritage speakers, per se–they don’t speak Spanish in the home–but have been taking it since kindergarten.
For a strong student who likes reading Spanish and has a wide vocabulary, it’s not too hard to get a 5 in the AP, both my kids did. They hadn’t done immersion, just did Spanish for two lessons a week in middle school. They started with Spanish 3 freshman year, then Spanish 4 sophomore, AP Lang junior year and AP Lit senior year.
For non-STEM kids it was a good way to demonstrate willingness to take hard courses, similar to the top STEM kids taking Calc 3 and AP Physics senior year, and I think that can help in applying to top colleges.
I am personally of the belief that everyone should take at least 2 years of a foreign language in HS regardless of starting level. If they take AP Spanish Language as a freshman, the options for sophomore year depend upon the high school’s offerings. If the only option is AP Spanish Lit, then I might opt for that. But again, the workload is high and may be a challenge for a sophomore. AP Spanish Lit is like AP English Lit, except on steroids, in Spanish, and with a less flexible AP exam. Some high schools (admittedly very few) offer post-AP thematic courses, e.g. Advanced Spanish through Film, which is a perfectly acceptable option. If a similar thematic option is available through dual enrollment, that is great, too.
For a sophomore taking AP Spanish Language, it’s student’s choice to continue junior year or drop IMO.
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You don’t need to take more Spanish classes if you’re passing AP Spanish Language.
In addition, there’s a huge step between AP Spanish Language and AP Spanish Lit. It’s really a course designed for future Spanish majors, kind of like AP Physics C is designed for future Engineering and Physics majors. Nothing prevents you from taking it but it’s not really expected or needed even for the most selective college admissions
If you feel it’d be to your advantage, you can see if a nearby university offers a “focused” Spanish class at the 4th/5th semester level, some offer Spanish for the medical sciences, Spanish for STEM, Spanish for business…
which may be more applicable to you than AP Spanish Lit.p
For a freshman in AP Spanish Language who doesn’t want to take AP Spanish Lit (and I’d say it wouldn’t be an appropriate choice for a sophomore since it’s kind of similar to AP English lit and assumes more sophisticated skills than what Sophomores demonstrate even in their native language) an intermediate solution may be dual enrollment in a (4th)/5th semester Spanish course during Sophomore/Junior year.
For a Humanities-focused student, another solution would be to take dual enrollment Spanish sophomore year AND another foreign language at levels 1, 2, 3 sophomore, junior, and senior years. (Combining level 1 in a romance language with Dual Enrollment Spanish should be easy for someone with upper intermediate fluency in one language.) Or to take Dual Enrollment Spanish courses through the Advanced level (it’d mean one semester course each of sophomore, junior, and senior year, or 2 courses sophomore year and 1 junior year.)
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Regarding continuing with college or dual enrollment Spanish courses after AP Spanish language, be sure to check the college’s Spanish placement recommendations. For example, on the AP Spanish language exam, a score of 5 is likely to give a higher placement in college than a score of 3.
I do agree that the sophistication needed to be successful in AP Spanish Lit is similar to that required for AP English Lit, which is usually a senior year course. So while I think AP Spanish Lit is a good choice for a strong non-STEM student who wants to demonstrate commitment to top colleges, taking it sophomore year is probably going to make it hard to do well on the AP exam.
This was a great topic to find! :). I enjoy Spanish (10th grade doing Spanish III Honors). Good to know I shouldn’t feel bad if I don’t make it to Spanish V (Lit in my school)