My counselor suggested that I take IB German because colleges want to see if I challenged myself with my courses. However, I feel like IB German is not the right class for me, and I want to drop it. So far, I have taken and passed 3 years of German, 3 years of advanced English (I’m currently enrolled in English 12 Dual Enrollment, so this is my 4th English course), 3 years of math (I’m currently enrolled in Probably and Statistics), 4 years of science, 4 years of history/social studies, 4 years of advanced band, and 3 years of an elective. So altogether I should have,
4 years of Advanced English
2 years of history, 2 years of advanced history
4 years of math
1 year of advanced biology, 3 years of science
4 years of advanced band
3 years of German
3 years of an elective.
It really will depend on the schools that you are interested in. Identify the schools that interest you and look up what they recommend for admittance.
My S got into several great schools having only 3 years of high school French. However–and I don’t know if this made a difference–he explained on his application that he would have taken the 4th year but it wasn’t offered because there weren’t enough students who signed up for it. Instead he TA’d for the French teacher during senior year. But strictly speaking, having only 3 years of a foreign language didn’t seem to impede him at all regarding college.
My S got into an Ivy with 3 years of language. No explanation given by him (reason was a terrible merry-go-round of bad Latin teachers.) That was over 10 years ago, but the admission rate was pretty low then, too.
Lol, I would probably like that course! 
^I’m enrolled in maybe and good guesses, myself.
3 years of the same foreign language was the minimum requirement for my public school system(NYC) when I attended. No one I knew of was allowed to get a regular HS diploma…much less one from my public magnet if they took less.
This was an issue for several HS classmates who were interested in taking Japanese as the foreign language department only offered 2 years worth(Intro and Intermediate) when I was in HS in the early-mid-'90s. This meant that they had to take another foreign language to fulfill the system’s 3 year minimum requirement.
Thankfully, that’s no longer an issue as expanded interest in foreign languages outside of Western Europe/Latin America meant Japanese is now a full 3+ year sequence and they offer previously unavailable languages such as Mandarin Chinese and Arabic.
You should be fine but it’s easy enough to check the admission requirements for any schools that you are interested in just to be sure. 3 years of the same foreign language will meet the requirements for the large majority of colleges. Can you take another class that challenges you and shows rigor?
The only negative might surface if the college requires a foreign language and the German does not get you a waiver on the requirement because it is only 3 years. Whether or not this happens really depends on the school. S had 4 years of Spanish, but was required to take 2 semesters of a language in college anyways. D apparently satisfied the language requirements of her school with 3 years of Spanish.
Having 3 years of foreign language in high school doesn’t necessarily exempt one from a given college’s foreign language requirement. Some colleges will expect a student to take a year or two of a foreign language regardless…either by continuing with the language started in HS or starting a different one in undergrad.
Also, keep in mind that most high school foreign languages tend to proceed at half the pace or slower of those offered at most respectable/elite colleges.
In short, it’s very YMMV depending on the college concerned.
yes
My experience was many many moons ago, but I only took three years of a foreign language in high school (not taking it my senior year), and I got in to a “top” college.
BUT since I did not take the language my senior year I was pretty rusty and did not pass the placement test during freshman orientation and thus had to take a year of the language in college rather than meeting the college’s language requirement by testing out of it.
So consider not just what your prospective colleges’ admission requirements are for foreign language study in high school, but also what the colleges’ own requirements are for foreign language study and what the options are for meeting those requirements (if they require language study).
However, completing a higher level in high school may result in a higher placement in college, possibly allowing the student to complete the college’s foreign language graduation requirement in fewer courses.
Or the student’s college might allow a CLEP exam to replace any college foreign language requirement…if the score is high enough.
In our experience, completion of three years of HS FL was enough.
Many schools we are looking at require FL to be taken at the college or to be passed out of via AP tests. Most will waive the requirement if you get a 4 or 5 on the AP. So…that would mean continuing the FL in high school through senior year and taking the AP. The other way to pass out is to take the college’s FL exam. If you don’t get a high enough score, that exam will determine where you are placed. Wake Forest has the hardest requirement on our list - even if you get a 5 on the AP, you are still required to take one FL class in that language for graduation.
So, like the posters have said above, check on each school’s website!
Alternatively, it may just mean working harder.
At the college my daughter attended, for students in the College of Arts and Sciences, the requirement for people with three, four, or more than four years of previous study in a foreign language was one more course than you already have. There was a placement test before students were assigned to courses. Lots of people didn’t try particularly hard on that test, for obvious reasons.
What schools are on your list?
Again, depends on the college. Some allow this. Others will expect one to take 1-2 years regardless…whether by taking a higher level in the language taken in HS or starting a new foreign language.
D was faced with a similar question before senior year of high school—continue with French (she had completed the fourth year, but could have gone on to AP if she wanted) or double up on AP science? So she wrote to admissions reps at the two schools that were highest on her list at the time. She got completely contradictory advice. One said “definitely make sure you have a foreign language on each year of your high school transcript.” The other said, “you’ve completed the requirement, take the science class if that’s what you’re more interested in.” So, like people have been saying, “it depends.”
Nearly all the college websites I’ve seen describe foreign language requirements, and in some cases recommendations (may differ from required). I’d suggest looking at such websites for the schools that interest you.
That said, in general 3 years of the same foreign language meets minimum requirements. Speaking form personal experience, I attended a school system that started foreign language in middle school. Most accelerated foreign language kids completed Spanish 6 by senior year of HS. I was not in the accelerated group and stopped the sequence after Spanish 3 (or maybe Spanish 4, don’t recall). I instead took a Latin class that I enjoyed more much more. So I had less advanced foreign language classes than most students at my basic, public HS; and far less foreign language than typical top students. Nevertheless. I was admitted to Stanford, MIT, and Ivies based on far more impressive accomplishments in the fields that I was more passionate about and planned to pursue in college. You don’t need to take the most challenging classes possible in all fields to have a challenging schedule.