I will (most likely) be an SFS student in the fall, and I plan on focusing in Spanish and Latin America in general. I’ll probably get a 5 on the Spanish AP, and I was just wondering if I would be able to fit in another language in addition to my major (and potentially a Spanish minor). I really want to learn Arabic and so taking Arabic classes would be fantastic. I’m just unsure if many students do this and how much work it would entail. Would an IPEC major and Spanish minor be feasible if I also want to take Arabic classes?
I’ll defer to the superior knowledge of any current SFS students, but it does appear that SFS allows students to minor in a language offered by the College.* Whether and to what extent you wish to take a second language in the College should, I believe, be a function of how you wish to allocate your electives.
Determining the number of your electives should, it seems, entail a simple equation, to wit: subtract the total number of courses you need to satisfy your SFS core requirements, projected major, and proposed language minor from the total number of courses you must or can take to graduate. The resulting sum should be the number of your electives.
Again, current students please correct me if I am wrong.
The thing about languages in the SFS (as a current SFS student) is that you have to pass a proficiency test. Getting aa 4 or 5 on the AP will only get you into the advanced Spanish classes and from there you will have to take at least 1-3 more Spanish classes before you’re eligible to even take the proficiency exam. Unlike most schools, there isn’t a set number of classes that make up the language requirement so it’s not like you can really use your AP score to get out of Spanish classes.
Tl;dr - A language minor is at least six classes + proficiency, so while it might be feasible to do an IPEC major with a Spanish minor and take some Arabic classes, it might be difficult.