<p>I read somewhere that Harvard considers 4 years of a foreign language ideal. I'm not too interested in the ones currently offered by my school. I was wondering if only taking 2 years opposed to 4 years would hurt my chances significantly?</p>
<p>I don’t know how to speak about people who grow up speaking another language at home. I imagine that might be fine, but I really don’t have the knowledge to make an informed guess, even. For native English-only speakers, however, three is about the minimum to be competitive. This is because you just haven’t learned anything after two high school years of language. (The first 3 years of my foreign language in high school would compress to 2-3 semesters of it at most colleges.) Doing three is acceptable only if you fill the spot with other, equally or more challenging courses, of course! (That’s true for any requirement you opt out of; if you have less math than usual, you should fill that with something good, not intro shop.) Now, I’ve seen people with only 2 years of language in high school get into really selective schools, if they started in eighth grade or earlier, so “two years” really meant three. If you’re really only taking two years of a language before graduation, however, unless you’re at a high school that only offers two years of foreign language instruction, the little you’ve learned will do real damage to your application at Harvard and the great majority of selective schools.</p>
<p>I think that unless you’re already quite proficient in a language other than English, having only two years of foreign language in high school when four are available would render your application to Harvard dead on arrival.</p>
<p>Here’s what Harvard says about foreign language in preparation for college:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Preparing for College](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/preparing/index.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/preparing/index.html)</p>
<p>If you can do that in two years of high-school foreign language class, my hat’s off to you. Especially since both of my kids essentially learned only three verbs in French I.</p>
<p>i dont think it will put u in the rejection pile automatically, but it will put u at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>In that case, damn it. I’ll see what I can do about getting my schedule changed.</p>
<p>Looking at things over the years, it is pretty clear that, at least in the past, Harvard has not “enforced” its preference for four years of foreign language study. Lots of people get accepted with three, or even two years of foreign language. I don’t think you can say that an application is “DOA” without at least three years of foreign language.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Harvard University and its admissions office are clearly trying to tell its applicants that Harvard considers real competency in a foreign language important and valuable, even if they don’t. I think applicants are at the very least expected to honor that moral/educational judgment one way or another, either by showing that they have substantially complied with it, or by explaining why they have not been able to do so. Your high school not offering four years of a foreign language is an OK excuse; “I wanted to take AP Macro” isn’t.</p>
<p>I want to echo the post made by JHS. For what it’s worth, I am a native English speaker who only took two years of German, and I was accepted to the Harvard Class of 2017 – so no, an application is not completely dead on arrival if you have not taken four years of a foreign language. HOWEVER, it should be noted that my school also cut the German language department after my sophomore year, so I could not attain four years of a single foreign language through my public high school if I even wanted to and I clearly had special circumstances. </p>
<p>If you want to only take two years of a foreign language and do not have any special circumstances, do so at your own risk. Absolutely nobody except a Harvard admissions officer can tell you how much that could hurt your chances of acceptance. If I were in your situation, I would simply play it safe and take four years of a foreign language; however, only you can decide for yourself what course of action is the best.</p>
<p>I got accepted into the Class of 2017 and only took three years of spanish.</p>
<p>Hmm. I stand corrected. Thanks, all.</p>