What’s better? To take French five honors for senior year or take AP Enviro?
Take the one that you like best. You will enjoy the class more, and are likely to get better grades.
This kid likes both so he just wants to pick one that impresses colleges more.
Then take the French 5 Honors.
Sticking with one foreign language is impressive.
Will it help with your potential major?
Usually French 5 would be AP.
French 4 is AP, 5 is honors. His potential major is business.
I.e. French 5 is a higher level course than AP level? If he is interested in continuing the study of French to a high level of fluency and literacy, French 5 will likely be the more valuable course (and will likely help him place into more advanced French courses in college, even in the absence of any additional AP credit).
Forget about impressing admissions. His getting into a school will not hinge on making this choice.
Four years of HS French is 4 semesters of college French and would meet the college graduation requirements for foreign language at many/most schools. I would not take it to be able to get retroactive credits in college (another semester would be required- so many other classes to take with the time).
Use the class time to explore something different. The AP Enviro sounds lie something he probably would not take in college. Many top HS students stop after the fourth year of a foreign language and use the time for something else.
Has he taken the AP exam? Did he score 3 or above?
Some colleges require a foreign language in order to graduate.
When my son went to college he had taken the AP exam in high school. He received a score of 3.
For His language at his college he received 12 credits towards graduation. If he had received a 4 or 5 he would have received additional credit. These credits were also considered fulfilling the colleges language requirement.
This ended up being very important for him as it allowed him to take other classes and was able to graduate with 2 different degrees.
He also needed the language credits in order to be considered for Phi Beta Kappa.
All in all, a huge win for classes and a test taken in high school.
Each college, each department varies in AP credit. You can find it in the college website. Just something to keep in mind.
So let him take what he wants but make sure he takes the AP exam in his language.
He should take whichever he prefers, whichever has the better teacher etc.
Agree with sax about checking whether he can opt out of the language requirements at college if he either takes the AP exam or gets above a certain score on the SATII in that language. Also, talk with him about study abroad - if he’s planning to spend time in a Francophone country, he’ll be glad he kept up his language skills. The closer he is to fluent, the more he’ll get out of his time abroad. Ditto if he plans to be involved in international business - that extra language could be the reason a company hires him if he’s sufficiently fluent.
On the other hand, if he’s had it with French and he wants exposure to something new, than AP Enviro is exposure to a whole new world.
College admissions won’t fault him or give him credit in either situation. It just doesn’t register on the admissions Richter Scale.
Are there any other options for classes?
I agree French 5 might be useful if he could get out of language requirements (assuming he doesn’t want to continue in college)…
Has he taken any AP science classes? If not, i would recommend any of those over AP env. Do you get any credit for AP env. in college? Usually not.
Are there any business classes he could take to see if he is interested in business? AP Econ?
AP Psychology is another course you could get credit for.
At UW (Madison) the requirements are met as long as the HS courses are passed. No testing needed. In order to get retroactive college credits for a foreign language a students needs to take a UW placement exam before the fall of admission, then take the course placed into and perhaps get a certain grade in it. The placement could be in a lower level than the years completed. Getting those credits by spending a 4 credit class time as a freshman instead of branching out into something new may not be worthwhile.
Both son and I did the 4 years of French through junior year and used senior year for other classes. Different generations. I added German in college for my chemistry major (times sure were different without internet translations et al) but didn’t need it to graduate.
Take a real education - French five honors
What makes French 5 'more real ’ educationally than AP Enviro? This is entirely a matter of personal preference and future goals and objectives.
I don’t have a strong opinion here, but generally at CC AP Enviro is considered one of the less demanding APs. It’s usually only good for one semester’s worth of credit, but takes up two semesters in high school.
I’d lean toward continuing French because I think achieving fluency in a foreign language is a useful skill that can have longterm ramifications. I wrote my thesis on low cost housing in Europe and was able to do original research in both France and Germany. When DH got a post-doc in Germany, I knew I had enough German that I’d be able to work there.
With foreign language, there is no wasting time or class credits by taking extra courses - it’s all about practice, and more practice.
That being said, my kid’s currently in AP Spanish, and hoping to test out of some credits in college, because she hopes to take a second foreign language. She is also considering a double major in Spanish and something else… She’ll take more Spanish classes in college, of course, but she’d like to test out, or get AP credit, for the intro courses and go right into more advanced…
Re: #13’s comment - How is Environmental Science not “real”?! It’s as valid as anything else - I’d say, it’s pretty relevant in today’s age. it’s just a question of which course OP values more… either for personal enjoyment, or for a good prereq for college plans, etc. Maybe AP Enviro would serve OP better, maybe French 5 would. It depends on OP’s future plans…
If you are thinking about it in terms of its effect on college admissions – and I agree 100% with the many posters who have said that it’s a mistake to make that the basis on which you make your decision – think about this: I would be surprised if more than a handful of students take French 5 at your school, far fewer than would be taking AP Environmental Science. Nationally, something like 150,000 students or more will be taking APES. How many will be taking a post-AP honors course in any foreign language? If it’s as much as 5% of that number, I would be surprised.
In other words, French 5 is a differentiator, something that will stand out from the crowd a bit. APES is standing in the middle of the crowd.
I agree, but could change my mind depending on kid’s major.career plans, if any. My kid was very interested in public health-epidemiology and chose her senior courses with that in mind. APES, AP Stats, Spanish 5 (also post-AP) plus Calc, English etc let her tie in that interest as those courses related to PH/epi.
“In other words, French 5 is a differentiator, something that will stand out from the crowd a bit. APES is standing in the middle of the crowd.” True and to learn a language continuity matters but French 5 is 4.5 course while AP EV is 5.0 so different impact on class rank.