Is 3 years of HS Spanish 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 PTON 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, some told me that admissions will look down on this)</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>8th grade does not count as a year, unless your high school runs from 8-12 grades. Even then, I'm not sure if it counts.</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure that 8th grade does count. Colleges count the level of a foreign lang that you are in. If I took AP French as a freshy, I would have my 4 years right there.</p>

<p>i only took 2 years of french in high school and i was accepted............</p>

<p>Awesome, to what level did you get to mgwong?</p>

<p>3-4.......at my high school french was joke......however, i would recommend taking more than i did.......usually when something is encouraged you should do it, but if you can't change it i think they'll understand........</p>

<p>eh, that doesnt sound too good. take the placement test and see where it puts you. there's nothing wrong with starting with 101, you;ll probably do well. only bad thing is that it'll meet 5 days a week.</p>

<p>you can start with 101 and still finish the lang req in 2 semesters by taking spa 102-7 in the spring (a double credit course).</p>

<p>Three years is not going to keep you out. I know quite a few students admitted to HYP with 3 years, including an accelerated eighth grade course.</p>

<p>So effectively, you've only taken one year of spanish in high school?
Um, you can write on the app that you plan to take spanish AP this year. You can self study and you might even do well enough to get college credit.</p>

<p>No G8 SN, I'm in the same situation you are, accept I took Spanish I in 8th, II in 9th, III in tenth, and IV in 11th, but I'm nlt sure if that counts. Spanish is a joke at my school, and I've only taken 3 years of it in high school, but our spanish program has not prepared me for AP, so it would be a waste of $80, seeing as I have a lot of better things to do next year than spend all my time studying a language in which i will never contintue...</p>

<p>I don't see you guys as being in the same situation though. The OP only took a language freshman year, and didn't continue nor start another for tenth or eleventh grade...
I know in my school the language requirement was "three years or completion of level 4" so while jmarsh fulfills that, the OP doesn't.</p>

<p>Awesome, I worked out my schedule with my counselor and I signed up for a Spanish IV class at another institution this morning (with a scholarship there). Wierd, even though the class starts in August, it counts as summer school.</p>

<p>So now my transcript will look like this:</p>

<p>Spanish I (8)
Spanish II (9)
Spanish III (9th summer)
Spanish IV (11th summer)</p>

<p>Is there any problem now? Thanks for all the responses you guys. The Princeton board rox.</p>

<p>I think that makes your app a lot more secure. Good luck!</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>I don't think an explanation is really necessary since you now have another year of the language. I don't know if it's your place to bash your school's spanish department...perhaps a gc can do a better job of putting that in context...also, if you bash that, it might make your whole school seem like a joke, and thus downplay all your accomplishments in other departments.</p>

<p>This whole thread makes me feel nervous, because I only have 2 years. =P</p>

<p>Don't worry, frozen. Plenty of people get in with only 2 years of foreign language, myself included.</p>

<p>That's good to hear. :)</p>

<p>i know this thread is old but you may feel more relaxed knowing that i got in by taking spanish only in my freshman year. I had taken much Spanish before high school but Princeton did not know that so it did not count. BTW, I took Spanish 3 Freshman year although I was AP material, I was too intimidated to take AP. So it's possible to still get in but I advise you to take as much as you can and make sure that the rest of your coarseload is challenging. Don't settle for meager cooking and sewing classes, or taking a smaller coarseload in senior year. It's not going to cut it. Good luck to you!! :)</p>