My freshman year I tried some things out, but it wasn’t until sophomore year that I found the academic subjects/activities that interest me and that I stuck with. Because of this I have only three years of a foreign language, because I switched from French to German my freshman year.
I know a lot of schools recommend four; will this hurt my chances of getting in anywhere?
Not really .
I also only have three years of a science, but was thinking of taking one at our local college. Should I do this, or is three years of science ok for top schools if I don;t plan on majoring in a science field?
I have taken Biology, Chem, and AP Chem. Would it look better to take another year at the college?
If you are applying to schools that recommend 4 years of language with only 3, you should definitely take another another science. Its not just about what you will major in, colleges want to see that you challenged and stretched yourself in high school.
For me, I only have three years of language, but senior year I will be taking 5 APs, so its a trade off that won’t make me seem like I’m slacking.
Finally, you can go to collegeboard.com and take a look at specific schools you are thinking about. When I did, I realized that many of my top schools only recommended 2 or 3 years of language anyways.
My senior year schedule right now is
ap calc bc
ap Lang
ap euro history
h German 3
journalism
ap gov/ h Econ
That’s a pretty solid schedule, I think. Schools should also see that you focused on German once you found it. My theory is that schools don’t want to see is something like : Spanish 1, French 1, German 1, Latin 1 - in other words, a dabbling around in languages, without really getting anywhere in one.
As for science - some schools will want ‘the holy trinity’ of bio/chem/physics. Your BC calc will help there - it shows rigor in the math/science side of things, but you might want to look at the specific requirements for any schools you are interested in now.
I don’t think the language will hurt you, but top schools do want to see 4 years of science, even if you don’t want to be a science major. My daughter asked UNC, UVA and Penn,and they all recommended taking an AP science senior year. I would recommend replacing one of your AP social studies classes or journalism with physics.
I can’t drop journalism because I’m editor in chief.
Will taking a college science class either online or at our local college in addition to my current schedule help, or is ap physics a safer bet?
Would I be ok with only 2 years of a language? I got to Spanish 3 in my sophomore year, but after that no one recommended that I take more and I really didn’t like the language (the teacher had a LOT to do with that). I have more than challenged myself with other classes in junior/senior year though and my senior year schedule is:
AP Biology
AP Physics C
Linear Algebra
AP Statistics
English
World Religions