<p>My daughter is currently a junior and taking Spanish IV and German I. She is thinking about majoring in languages in college, but does not want to take Spanish next year because of problems with the teacher. Right now the school does not offer AP Spanish, but only Spanish IV (there is talk of upgrading to AP next year, but there is no guarantee that the teacher will get her syllabus approved in time). Today she came home in tears because this teacher publicly humiliated her in class - and even said in front of the class that her grade had gone from an A to a C (as a result of an oral presentation - long story). </p>
<p>How much would it hurt her to stop with Spanish IV, especially if Spanish V becomes AP next year? She is interested in oos schools - UCLA and U of Texas - Austin are her two top choices. She would continue with hs German and second year college Arabic. I don't want her to hurt her chances, but don't want her to have a miserable senior year either. D says that this teacher has destoyed her joy in learning the language. </p>
<p>I want to have a conference with the teacher, but D is afraid that if I do, the teacher will retaliate. I'm going to have the conference anyway, though. And do you think I should let the instructional leader and/or guidance counselor know about how this teacher discusses grades in front of the whole class? Any advice would be appreciated!</p>
<p>My son dropped Latin his senior year for a similar reason and got into his first choice, highly competitive schools. </p>
<p>So she is taking Spanish, German and Arabic right now? And next year she would “only” have German and Arabic? If it were my child, and if nothing reasonable could be worked out with the teacher, I’d allow her to drop Spanish. I agree about wanting to enjoy senior year, and I doubt that dropping Spanish will be a problem in terms of college admissions.</p>
<p>Thanks, ADad. It’s good to know your son got into his first choice. Congratulations. </p>
<p>Yes, she’s taking three languages now and the Arabic professor has already offered to write her a rec. Another potential problem she has is not taking math either (she has her four years after barely getting a C in pre-cal and chose to focus on languages). But if she drops Spanish she will take another AP class (she’s signed up for English and Comp Gov; unfortunately the only science AP her school has is Environmental, which she’s taking now).</p>
<p>I just bumped a thread that I started a few months back about my DD dropping French in the middle of her Junior year. Seems to me that much of the advice given there - as well as the outcome of my DD calling various colleges might be useful input to you and your daughter.</p>
<p>I do think that colleges expect a potential language major to exhaust the high school curriculum, if possible. I realize that there was no high school curriculum to exhaust in Arabic, and that your daughter has just begun studying German, but I still think failing to complete the sequence in Spanish – especially if AP Spanish is offered – could raise a red flag in admissions offices.</p>
<p>Why don’t you just have her self study the AP Spanish. That way she gets the best of both worlds. I am sure you can find an online course for her to use. </p>
<p>Not sure how your curricullum allows enough room to take 3 languages but good for her!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t allow her senior year, state of mind, and college prospects be held hostage to a teacher with whom there is a very bad relationship. What if that teacher fails her in AP Spanish?</p>
<p>If she wants to continue Spanish, more power to her–and I agree with 1down, if the relationship with that teacher cannot be salvaged, then find a way around that teacher.</p>
<p>Edit: not sure what the weird heading of this post is, I didn’t write it!</p>
<p>If I were going to be a language major, I would want to continue in my senior year with the language in which I was furthest along. I would not, however, want to take the class with a teacher I really didn’t like, so I understand the dilemma. Isn’t there some alternative? Could she take an online course? A course at the local community college? It seems a shame to give Spanish up for a year when she’s likely to continue it when she gets to college - it’s easy to lose what you’ve learned if you don’t keep up with it.</p>
<p>Try looking into community college or other local college equivalent courses. That way she can avoid the teacher and get the extra year of language.</p>
<p>There is a story of mythic proportion (and apparently true) how a valedictorian at a good local Northern Virginia high school got rejected at UVa for not taking a 4th year of language. </p>
<p>It makes sense to me because UVa could easily fill up a vast majority of its in-state admits with Northern Virginia types, yet cannot do so because of geographic concerns and minority concerns. </p>
<p>This kind of thing makes no sense overall - but it certainly scared any number of people into sticking it through with languages.</p>
<p>Your daughter already has four years of Spanish. I don’t think the myths apply to her. </p>
<p>If she’s ever asked, your daughter has the perfect reason for not taking Spanish V. Her school is attempting to transform its Spanish V course into an AP course but may not be successful. Because foreign languages are important to your daughter, she doesn’t want to take a Spanish course of uncertain quality. She would prefer to take the next level of Spanish in college, where she can be more secure about the quality of the instruction, and devote her time during senior year to exploring other languages.</p>
<p>There is no need to mention the fact that she doesn’t like the teacher.</p>
<p>I don’t know, Marian. I agree that there are no absolute, immutable requirement for admission, but this situation still makes me uneasy. Yes, it’s unfair when advanced coursework provides a poor learning experience. But a student who is considering foreign languages as a major needs to think long and hard about foregoing the Spanish AP or not completing the Spanish sequence, IMO. </p>
<p>I also am not certain how she would explain her decision to skip the class. Of course she can’t say the teacher is bad. But I also don’t think she can say the Level V/AP Spanish class is of uncertain quality. I just don’t think that excuse coming from a student would be well-received around the admissions table. And it’s certain that no guidance counselor will go there, either.</p>
<p>This sounds very familiar so forgive me if I’ve already given you this information before. UT Austin requires 2 years of foreign language and recommends 3. Above is a link to the high school classes they require. I have never heard of anyone being denied because of only three years of a language.</p>
<p>I missed the names of the schools the student is interested in. Part of the answer to the question will depend on the selectivity of the schools on her list.</p>
<p>wjb, I don’t think the OP’s daughter will ever be asked to justify her decision.</p>
<p>My daughter didn’t take either foreign language or math her senior year (she took English, a science, three social studies courses, and a music course – five of these were AP or IB). Nobody ever asked her to justify her schedule, even though she was planning a math-related major (economics) and even though more advanced math and language courses were available at her high school. She got into her first choice college, which was probably comparable in selectivity to UCLA from out of state.</p>
<p>I think a student who drops math or foreign language without having taken an adequate amount of it is more likely to have a problem. But pre-cal and Spanish IV constitute adequate amounts of math and foreign language.</p>
<p>Another option would be for the OP’s daughter to waffle a bit and not specifically declare a language major. At most colleges, liberal arts applicants are not required to declare a major when they apply. If she says that she has many interests, including foreign languages and [one or two other things] and would like to explore them before picking a major, her lack of Spanish V would look even less important.</p>
<p>I don’t think your daughter should take another year with this Spanish teacher. I think if you could find a way for her to study Spanish outside the high school that would be ideal. However given that she’s taking a college level Arabic course AND German I can’t imagine any admissions officer dinging her. She’s even had four years of Spanish!</p>
<p>BTW I’m letting my son drop Latin. He’s taking Latin 4 now, but no way is he ready for AP Latin next year. I don’t plan to worry about it at all.</p>
<p>I am not sure if I’d want to talk to GC or the instructional leader about this. It won’t change anything regarding this teacher. They are professional peers. If the teacher is tenured, even the superintendent can’t do much of anything. Don’t set fire on any bridge if you don’t have to, considering that her recommendation letters will probably come from some of the jr. teachers. Not this teacher, but you don’t want to make the situation worse.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who replied. I really like the idea of taking AP Spanish online. (I checked the local college schedule, and unfortunately nothing in the fall fits D’s schedule). Either her school won’t have AP Spanish, in which case she would be in a combined 4/5 class again (there are so few students at this level that the school combined them) or if it does, it will be a new class of uncertain quality. </p>
<p>Even if the school doesn’t accept an online course for transfer credit, the colleges will see the transcript. I’ll look for an accredited online AP class. I don’t think an explanation will be required - from reading cc, I’ve learned that a lot of students take online classes because of scheduling conflicts. </p>
<p>I’m going to talk to the teacher, but not contact anyone else - after I emailed her requesting a conference, I found out that she hates parental involvement. She told the class that “parents only care about grades” and complained to the kids about how a parent went to the principal and made her give a student she failed another chance at a project (and my D fears that she will retaliate in grading). </p>
<p>Anyway, to continue Spanish without this teacher will be the best of both worlds.</p>