Is 3 Years of Foreign Lang Enough?

<p>OK. I've already posted this on two other forums, but I am extremely worried that my smallest mistake could become my biggest regret. This is my Spanish education in HS. I know that top schools like yale recommend 3 years.</p>

<p>8th : Spanish I (DOES THIS COUNT AS A YEAR?)</p>

<p>9th : Spanish II</p>

<p>9th Summer : Spanish III (at fully accredited summer school)</p>

<p>My Spanish III class did not adaquetely prepare me for AP, so I decided not to take it. What can I do now in order to try and fix this mistake?</p>

<p>BTW, I'm a senior.</p>

<p>well they strongly recommend four years of the same foreign language, and they're talking about highschool, so then yes, you might be in a bit of a fix, because your transcript will only show one year. What were you doing istead? Maybe if you were taking a challenging courseload with an extra class in the language place you could sneak by, but if you just had more free periods in its place, then I would say that it's a red flag. But I hope not, for your sake. ;)</p>

<p>Actually, my school will show my Spanish III on my transcript as a summer school class. Instead of Spanish III and AP Spanish, I was taking Computer Science Honors and AP (I got a 5).</p>

<p>You could sign up for spanish as a senior...</p>

<p>i could sign up for AP Spanish, but I would miserably fail that class. NO JOKE. It is considered the hardest class by far.</p>

<p>I posted in your thread earlier in the Harvard forum, and I would say that if you know you can't handle AP Spanish, you should retake the SAT II test. 630 is very low and only shows that you don't have as much proficiency in Spanish as you should. It may be easier on your part to get a 700+ (preferably 750+) in Spanish than to take the AP Spanish class.</p>

<p>I won't have my 630 Spanish as one of my SAT IIs, I got 760+ on three others.</p>

<p>theyll still see it and see that you are no proficient in a foreign language. prove to them that you are good at spanish; justify why you didnt take a spanish class since 9th grade.</p>

<p>dude. I was in the same position as you. But a year ahead. I didn't feel that my previous class adequately prepared me for AP either. But the gd thing was, it was also an IB Spanish class which is much easier. You should check it out the first week to see if you should go for it or not. that's what i did. I went for it, got an A both semesters, a 5 on the IB test, and it made me almost fluent in Spanish. It's a really good class as long as you work hard. But, my school may be different.</p>

<p>My school doesn't offer IB at all. Too Bad. The good thing is that I got enrolled into a class for Spanish IV, and it will count as full class credit, but summer school (wierd huh?).</p>

<p>No. No it is not. Not that three years isn't an accomplishment ... but everyone else will have <strong><em>at least</em></strong> four years. Many will have taken more by doubling up for a year or two. Not to mention... you language program really should span your whole high school career. If you stop after freshman year, that doesn't show that you're motivated to learn the language. It just looks like you're trying to check off the boxes on you application.</p>

<p>I agree, it's not enough. Nope not at all. Esp. with yale's new language distributional requirements... take the class, study your ass off.</p>

<p>I'm going to have 5 years by the time I graduate, man. You're in a bit of a bind.</p>

<p>Geez. I think I should write a few notes to the admissions counselor when I apply showing my original plan to take Spanish in the summer.</p>

<p>First of all, I am not interested at all in getting college credit for foreign lang. I have my heart set on taking Chinese at whatever school I go to. (Doesn't matter if it's 101).</p>

<p>Second, the Spanish department for 1-3 in my school is an absolute joke and it was worthless for me to spend my time in those classes. I hated the teachers and learned as far as "Hola, como estas?"</p>

<p>Third, after taking Spanish over the summer, I enrolled into Computer Science, which I took to the AP level and got a 5 on the test.</p>

<p>Fourth, I also now have 4 years of a foreign language.</p>

<p>Why don't you explain on your appl on why you did not take 4 years of lang,
and that you took AP CS in its place; and that you want to take Chinese etc.
(e.g. the info you already mentioned about your HS's Spanish dept,
but of course in more diplomatic lang ;)</p>

<p>i am in a similar problem. i took french 9th and 10th but couldnt stand it. i took band in its place since I didnt have band (been playing for 9 years).. i have been taking urdu and arabic outside of school for like 6 years. is this bad?</p>

<p>It's a bit unusual, but I think you should be fine if you can demonstrate proficiency in Urdu or Arabic.</p>

<p>yeah, that's the problem- i dont think there are any sat2s i can take.. maybe a rec from my teachers, but im not even sure that would demonstrate proficiency.. (p.s., sorry for invading the thread to the op)</p>

<p>No prob, I visited Stanford and UC Berkeley over the weekend, and admission officers said that with 8th grade and summer school, my foreign lang education was fine, considering my situation.</p>

<p>I too have studied only 2 years of Spanish in High school with one year in middle school. I did this to take AP Chem (in addition to physics which I was taking). I hope thta this is not a reason for a rejection.</p>