Is it worth it to take Spanish 4?

Applying to College
1

So I’m a rising senior, and I’ve realized that many colleges I’m looking at applying to recommend that applicants take 3 or 4 years of a foreign language. I took Spanish 2 freshman year, and Spanish 3 sophomore year, but didn’t take a foreign language course this past year because of scheduling issues. I always thought this counted as 3 years of a foreign language, but I just learned that colleges look for actual years of language taken in school, not in terms of how advanced you are.

Senior year, I should be able to take Spanish 4 still if I wanted, but it’s definitely a hard class (especially because I’m sure I forgot a lot of my Spanish skills over the past year :P).

Also, I honestly dread the thought of taking Spanish 4 in my school. The teacher is rough, and people in the class have to do 15 minute skits each quarter and film them, something that takes many, many hours of work. I’m worried I wouldn’t do well, especially because I wouldn’t know anyone in the class (all my friends are either taking AP this year or decided to stop after Spanish 3).

Do you guys think it’s worth it to take Spanish 4? Or is there another way to avoid taking the class and self-study Spanish - in a way that I could write about it on my college apps? Any advice is very much appreciated, I’m completely lost on what to do here. Thanks in advance!

2

I think that you definitely should take a foreign language, whether that be Spanish or starting fresh with another language.

3

Most of the time, the highest level completed matters, though you should ask each college to be sure.

Some colleges will look at someone who completed level 4 more favorably than a similar student who completed level 3. Also, many colleges of foreign language graduation requirements; taking a higher level in high school can place you into a more advanced course in college and let you finish such a requirement in fewer courses.

4

Since it’s usually the highest level of completion that matter, it’s ‘recommended’ not required, and you ‘dread’ the 4th year, I’d say give it a miss. It’s the overall rigor of your academic schedule that matters, not what you did with Spanish 4. If you are keen, you can self-study Spanish - there are on-line classes or Spanish conversation groups - where you can keep up your skills. But the alternative is to take something of comparable rigor and greater relevance to your future course of study. You are unlikely to be penalized for giving the next year of Spanish a miss if you are a future engineer who decided to take AP stat instead, for example.