I am a Native Spanish Speaker and I took 2 Years of Spanish in Highschool, I just took the AP Exam for Spanish Lang without taking the class and got a 4. Should I do another year of Spanish? I am very troubled right now because most universities require 3-4 years but I’d like to replace it with another science next year. Any Thoughts?
What level of Spanish were your high school courses? Many colleges look at the highest level completed. Some, but not necessarily all, colleges may accept a high enough AP score as well. Check the web sites of colleges of interest for more information; if not specified, ask the colleges directly.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1802227-faq-foreign-language.html
What science courses have you taken, and what science courses would you like to take next year?
Hi, for the past two years I’ve been taking Heritage Spanish Classes: during these courses students are exposed to many Hispanic cultures and Spanish grammar while also speaking Spanish in class as well. I’ve taken Honors Bio freshman year and Honors Chemistry sophomore year. I want to pursue a science when I go to college, specifically Biochemistry has interested me. I’m interested in taking AP Biology and AP Chemistry next year.
What level equivalent are the Spanish-for-heritage-speakers courses? Presumably, they are higher level than the regular first and second year Spanish courses for non-heritage-speaker students, but you should ask your school to be sure (i.e. after those two Spanish-for-heritage-speakers courses, are you considered to have finished the equivalent of regular Spanish 2, Spanish 3, or Spanish 4?). If you are in California, you can also look up your high school on the UC Doorways site to see what level those Spanish courses are considered as for UC and CSU purposes.
Biology and chemistry majors in college need to take physics in college. You should really consider including physics in high school because physics in college will be harder if you have not had physics in high school. Also, many colleges prefer, for admission purposes, that applicants have all three of biology, chemistry, and physics.
Yes thank you! The 1st level Spanish course is equivalent to a level 3 non-native-course and the 2nd level Spanish course is equivalent to a level 4 non-native-course. I plan to take AP Physics my senior year, I am only a rising junior right now. If I were to double up my sciences would AP Chemistry and AP Physics or AP Chemistry and AP Biology be a good combination ? (For my junior year and to take the other AP course my senior year. Also pertaining to this situation if I were not to take a second science I would be taking a Honors Spanish Readings course.
When I was in high school, as a native Spanish speaker, I was required by my high school to take another language other than my home language. So, I took French for 4 years. I don’t know if your colleges will look favorably at your Spanish courses unless you contact potential colleges and ask.
I really did not get to chose a language I wanted to take French but I was put into Spanish my freshman year so I continued based on that but thank you!
If you are a California student aiming for UCs and CSUs, you are fine, since either the AP Spanish score of 4 or the Spanish-for-heritage-speakers course that is equivalent to regular Spanish 4 (assuming that is what the UC Doorways site says) is fine.
For other colleges, if you are not sure, you may want to ask the colleges directly. For example, ask them: “I am a heritage speaker of Spanish and took Spanish-for-heritage-speakers 1 and 2 at my high school, which are considered equivalent to regular Spanish 3 and 4, and scored a 4 on the AP Spanish test. Does this fulfill your requirement or recommendation of [3 or 4] years of a foreign language?”.