<p>I am an incoming sophomore at a public high school in California. Although I am still young, and I know my concerns for college are a bit premature, I am very interested in Columbia. My GPA from freshman year was 4.5, and I am scheduled to enroll in two AP classes next year, as well as honors classes. On of those AP classes is AP Spanish. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how important taking four years of a language is to Columbia, and other schools of similar caliber.</p>
<p>Taking a language up to its maximum offered at your school (usually that’s just the AP level at public high schools) shows that you can stick to something, and its definitely a lot more impressive that taking a different language every year (esp. since the first year of any language is always relatively easy, colleges will think you’re slacking off). But then again a lot of applicants take a language for a full 4 years or more, so I don’t think it will make you stand out in any way, just not hurt your chances I guess. Btw, don’t start worrying about colleges until at least junior year haha, enjoy your high school years man</p>