Hello everyone!
I am a rising junior who has taken Spanish 1 (8th grade) Spanish 2 (9th), and Spanish 3 (10th). However, I was just informed that the class I was most interested in taking next year, AP US & Comp Gov, conflicts with Spanish 4 and thus, I have to choose one or the other. My two options are to take Spanish 4 this year and take AP US Gov next year, or vice versa. This year, I am only taking 2 other APs, Lang & US history, and would really not prefer to only take those 2 this year; the GPA boost is almost necessary to be at the top at my school. On the other hand, I have read that only taking a foreign language for 3 years out of your 4 high school years is extremely problematic. So, would the best decision be to take only 2 APs and Spanish 4 this year, with another random class thrown in to replace AP US Gov, then Spanish 5 senior year, and thus have 4 years of HS Spanish after senior year, or would it be fine to just take no foreign language junior year and take Spanish IV senior year. Essentially, is it worth the trade-off of 3 HS years of a foreign language versus 4 HS years in favor of taking an extra AP junior year and being able to get a rec letter from a teacher whom I am very close to and collaborate on service projects with.
If it makes a difference, I happen to self-study languages in my free time and am planning to take the Chinese SAT II senior year, which would be after around 18 months of self-study, to show proof of all the time I’ve spent on it.
By the way, thanks to the mods and to all the regulars on here. This place has been great for getting some information on classes and testing as someone who comes from a school without good College Counselling.
When colleges say four years of language, they refer to the level, so Spanish 4 is enough. However, I would advise against putting a gap in your language studies. Would be better to take the Spanish 4 junior year.
@soontobecolleger For elite schools, is 4 high school years more emphasized versus just 4 years total (1 MS, 3 HS), or are all colleges fine with an applicant who took 3 years of high school only?
And why would you advise against putting the gap in? I am already at a high level in Spanish (always get gold on National Spanish Exam), and Spanish 4 is supposed to be fairly easy. Do you mean that as in it would be harder to make a good grade after taking a gap year, or do you mean that it looks bad on a college app to take a gap year? My reasoning for not wanting to take it junior year is that I will only have 2 APs, and that will worsen my class rank a decent bit, as my school grade inflates, so really, the only difference in the top 15% is # of APs junior and senior year.
tbh I don’t know anything about the national Spanish exam, but I know a lot about foreign language learning, and you haven’t indicated that your Spanish is so good that a whole year off wouldn’t hurt. Do you plan to somehow keep up with it on your own?
As for colleges, I’m sure they would prefer to see you reach the highest level in Spanish offered (regardless of how many years in high school that is) but I don’t think they’d see Spanish 4 as any red flag. Gap might seem strange but idk if it would hurt or not for admissions.
Almost every college will consider completing level 4 of a foreign language to be equivalent to taking 4 years in HS.
A gap will raise no red flags.
Foreign language skills are a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. If you can keep up your Spanish during the gap, it’s not an issue. However, IME, most students who attempt this do not try to keep their skills up in the intervening year.
The GPA boost of one class on a 3.5 cumulative year GPA is akin to a pimple of an elephant’s butt. Not a valid reason, IMO.