<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 Yale. 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 Yale, and other schools of similar caliber.</p>
<p>The only benefit of taking four years is you might place in a higher level at Yale allowing you to only have to take one term of language as opposed to the two or three that is required depending on proficiency. See below:</p>
<p>If you have not studied a foreign language before arriving at Yale or do not qualify for placement into a second-year course, you must take three terms of a single foreign language.</p>
<p>If you can place into the third term of a language program, you must complete two more terms.</p>
<p>If you can place into the fourth term of a language, you need complete only one term of further study in that language.</p>
<p>If your ability exceeds the fourth term of language study, as shown by a score of 4 or 5 on an Advanced Placement test or by a requisite score on a placement test at Yale, you must either carry your study of the language one term further or take a different language through the level designated L2.</p>
<p>I read the OPs question as having more to do with admission than with placement. If that’s the case, check out the primary sources:</p>
<p>[Advice</a> on Selecting High School Courses | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/advice-selecting-high-school-courses]Advice”>Advice on Selecting High School Courses | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</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>[Princeton</a> University | Academic Preparation](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/preparation/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/preparation/)</p>
<p>etc.</p>
<p>I understood that and hence my point. It is not required and won’t affect your admission in any way. My post was to explain the only benefit of taking four years.</p>
<p>If your question is just whether 3 or 4 years would matter, then I would say that it is not critical. My son got into Yale and he took 3 years of a language. In his senior year, he had a conflict and chose to take an AP Physics class instead. Remember, many colleges what to see at least 2 years of a language but most like to see 3 or 4.</p>