Is Latin a "Language"?

Applying to College
1

<p>My son will be entering high school next year and would like to stop taking Spanish. He wants to take Latin instead. However, he is unsure that Latin can be used to fulfill the langugage requirement at most colleges, since it is not really a spoken language. Does anyone know the answer to this? (We've tried looking at various college websites, but haven't been able to find our answer there.)</p>

<p>I know admission requirements vary, so please assume we are talking about Ivy Leagues or other colleges with very high admission standards.</p>

<p>Thanks for any input!</p>

<p>Sharon</p>

2

<p>i believe it counts</p>

3

<p>Yes, Latin is a language. It counts.</p>

4

<p>Well--given that I'm in my fifth year of it and have been accepted to two schools that require at least three--I'd say yes. (Did a double take at the title of the thread, btw XD)</p>

5

<p>I adore Latin. Anyway, it does not always "count." It is certainly considered a language and will be fine at many schools. However, a lot of colleges specify that they require or recommend (big difference!) a certain number of years of a modern language, which Latin is not. Even among the highest schools, this specification varies.</p>

6

<p>Corranged, although that may be the case at some colleges, I would guess that it is perfectly fine at most. It is a common route for kids at my school to study only Latin, and many continue onto Ivy Leagues and the like. In fact, I know the Latin AP will place you out of a foreign language requirement at more than one Ivy.</p>

7

<p>This is an old thread, but I recently ran across a survey of colleges as to how they viewed Latin that I thought would be of interest. </p>

<p>Only a very few places that require a foreign language don't accept Latin.</p>

<p>A significant number of places view more favorably those who study Latin, whether a foreign language is required or not.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.mla.org/adfl/bulletin/v24n3/243029.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mla.org/adfl/bulletin/v24n3/243029.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>It will definitely count for the high school language requirement. However, some schools that require you to take a language in college will not accept Latin to place out of this requirement, because they want you to demonstrate fluency in a modern spoken language. It's probably best to just call up the individual schools you're considering.</p>