My son is at level 3 language as a sophomore in high school and wants to potentially drop it. His counselor says it is years taken, not levels, that colleges look at for admission, meaning that he will only be counted as having 2 years even though he is at level 3 right now. Anyone have any insight on this? My son is not looking at top 20 but of course I don’t want him to close more doors than needed.
My daughter didn’t have 3 years (or level 3). She didn’t have an issue getting into a college, but did have to take more French to get OUT of college (college of A&S requirement). She’s now going to grad school and has to either take more or test out of it.
For almost all colleges, for foreign language, level completed = years in HS when at least 2 years are taken in HS. And while I say “almost all,” I am unaware of any exception to this rule.
Assuming none of his colleges ask for 4 years, he’s fine.
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Ha! I was hoping you’d respond as I have asked this before and you have consistently said this. What to make of the counselor who definitively says no, it’s years, regardless of level? She is new to the job but… she was pretty sure this was the case.
New counselors unfortunately do not know all the nuances.
My only caution, and this really depends on the colleges he is targeting, is that many have a foreign language requirement to graduate. So in theory, the more he takes in HS, the fewer courses he needs in college. But there are a lot of nuances which abound.
But for your basic question on college admissions, I stand by my answer.
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And at some schools you will still have to take more. At my D’s school, even getting a 5 on AP didn’t place completely of that language.
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What is the background in finishing level 3 in 2 years? Level usually equals years taken.
It is common for high school level 1 to be completed in middle school, so only levels 2 and higher end up on the student’s high school record.
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I’m no expert, but it is my understanding that it is the coursework that matters. My youngest (D22) took high school Spanish I & II in middle school (her school is a K-12 charter now) and then Spanish III in high school. Since they are all high school courses they show up on her high school record. If she took middle school Spanish 1a in 6th grade and middle school Spanish 1b in 7th grade that would not show up as 2 years of high school Spanish, possibly as 1 year of high school Spanish, not sure. I have seen it before where it shows up on the high school transcript and is factored into the GPA as well I believe.
I am looking in PowerSchool right now and I can see that when she took high school Spanish 1 in 6th grade that is counted as 1 credit toward high school graduation (no other credits in 6th grade). I am almost 100% sure that in North Carolina these high school courses taken as a middle schooler will show up on her high school transcript that is included with college apps.
This article may help: https://www.collegeconfidential.com/articles/does-middle-school-foreign-language-count-at-college-admission-time/
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Seems like my son’s experience with HS Spanish should make it clear that your counselor is wrong. My son took AP Spanish Language as a freshman and AP Spanish Literature as a sophomore. That’s only two years of a language on the HS level, but there weren’t any more classes for him to take. Would your counselor really argue that he needed to take a third year of Spanish for colleges to “count” it? I agree with skieurope (although I don’t know how to link to their name)! It’s about level completed, not years taken.
I think that is somewhat different because your son had reached the end of what is offered whereas mine is considering dropping at the end of ‘level’ 3. Oddly my son spoke with her today and she seemed much more equivocal to my son than she did to me and apparently called it a big ‘gray area’ soooooo not sure what to think!
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Both of our kids took honors Spanish 4 as 10th graders, and then never took FL again in high school. It was not an issue that some of their Spanish courses were not actually taken in high school. What mattered is they completed Spanish 4.
I posted a version of this question on the ‘college bound’ FB group and got wildly disparate responses, leaning towards levels NOT being decisive. I am going to call some schools directly.
Level completed is generally more important than years taken. Which high school foreign language course record do you think would be favored by a college admission reader (assuming same grades)?
- French 1 + German 1 + Spanish 1 + Latin 1 (4 years of level 1 courses).
- Spanish 2 + Spanish 3 + Spanish 4 (or AP) (3 years reaching level 4, implied Spanish 1 in middle school).
This is the typical path in our school system, 1 year of high school language in middle school and then 2 years in the high school. Counselors suggest that anyone going to a top school who wants to place out of language take the fourth year. It is not a requirement but it is recommended. Most schools require 2 or 3 years.