Since we are all airing our dirty laundry here 
D18 has used the Eco Egg since we sent her off to college and D21 will be doing the same. We even switched to using it at home and just reorder the pellets. I am a fan and it beats hauling detergent and storing one more thing that would have presented an obstacle to having clean clothes.
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UghâŠmy D has an issue and I feel she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. I want to intervene but I donât want to be the dreaded helicopter mom either. I would start a thread on it to ask for advice but I donât want to seem to be throwing shade at anyone in her chosen school (and even if I donât mention the school by name here it is easy enough for anyone to figure out). I think itâs safe enough buried here In this thread to describe the nature of the problemâŠanyone is free to tell me what you think she/I should do.
In the past I have complained here mightily about the poor/low-level teaching of Spanish at my Dâs high school. Really abysmal. The school is not super-competitive in anything (except band) but at least math, science, English and history are adequate or a little better than adequate. Spanish is not (I knowâŠI have had a good bit of Spanish and remember what we did in high school, and later spent a good amount of time in Spain and Latin America). Iâve been reviewing Spanish with D this summer and she has MAJOR holes in some very basic vocabulary and grammar, despite having taken through Spanish FIVE!!! Despite making high As and co-winning the Spanish award. How bad can it be, you ask? I donât have room here to detail just how bad. Spanish 4 and 5 were literal repeats of Spanish 3 âŠThe trickle of Spanish 4 and 5 students were so few they were incorporated again in the Spanish 3 classroom with almost no supplemental work (which was weak to begin with, and to my mind more like a Spanish 2 classroom , except we did a WHOLE lot more learning of verb conjugations and reinforcing vocabulary in my Spanish 2 class through writing of sentences and reading actual texts than she was asked to do in five years. Most work was fill-in-the blank and multiple choice handouts and occasional simple dialogs. One particularly terrible teacher (Spanish 3) had kids play a word Vocabulary board game (Spanish 1-type words) day after day while she sat at her desk claiming to the students she was grading. She had nothing to grade!
Anyway. I encouraged her to take Spanish 4 because of everything I read here on CC about having a rigorous HS record and because I value FL. It would have a different teacher and I was hopeful. I didnât know at the time sheâd be stuck back in a Spanish 3 classroom. Spanish 5 was taken ONLY because the class she signed up for (AP bio) was cut and there was no other senior class available for that time slot. I asked our local school board to let her take an accredited online Spanish class at my expense to add to her record but they wouldnât approve that. I kept encouraging her to let me work with her to take her Spanish to a higher level butâŠhey, sheâs a kid making high Aâs, had her hands full with Calc and other APs and didnât have the maturity to work harder than her teacher expected. I was frustrated but figured sheâd just place into the right class in college and learn properly.
She now agrees she needs Spanish. As a non-Stem student it will go hand in hand with humanities and social sciences. Spanish in particular could make her a bit more employable along with a non-STEM degree. However, her college is saying she has placed out of the first two years of college Spanish just by way of her high school record. She specifically asked the appropriate professor in that department about taking the placement test âŠbriefly described her weak high school preparation and was told that with five years of high school Spanish she wouldnât be tested but would automatically be placed in a higher-level class. I read the course description and thereâs no way my D could swing the level of that class. Itâs not a matter of her wanting an easy A or B⊠sheâd be lost completely, as if someone tried to take Calc after algebra 1 or a very poor algebra 2 foundation. If I or she explain this, Iâm afraid it could cast doubt on her entire high school preparation, her motivation or ability (and cast me as a terrible meddler. But I know sheâs capable (she had a 780 ERW) and always did her high school assignments In every subject as asked. The irony is that she can easily waive taking any foreign in college. But she wants to learn Spanish and may not have the opportunity (as a full-pay OOS student at that). She could begin all over with Italian, which could be fun, but itâs not as useful as Spanish for career purposes in the US (unless youâre a Renaissance or art history scholar). She has no desire to learn Mandarin, Arabic etc.
What to do? Weâre spending a lot of money for this school. I donât think I have this entitled idea that you buy an education but I did think sheâd have the OPPORTUNITY for said education. Oh, and just a few months ago the college website had a page on the Modern Languages and Literature Dept that definitely said that students with four or more years of FL could test and take as low as a second-year accelerated college class, as itâs recognized that students are coming from various levels of preparation from their high schools. Iâve been searching and searching and cannot find that passage anymoreâŠmaybe the policy changedâŠI should have made a screenshot at that time. Thanks for any advice!
I have also talked to my D about requesting to audit a lower-level Spanish class for no credit as a base. She really doesnât want to start college that way and is afraid sheâd already feel behind earning graduation credits. Argh!
Perhaps have her try to take the placement test anyway. They may not even check. If they wonât let her take the placement test, maybe they would let her sign up for the intermediate/second-year class without checking her record. Last ditch: sign up for the more advanced class, but then ask to switch down during drop/add week. I think most profs would like to see students properly placed.
What about having her take the class they want her to take and if it doesnât go well she can then opt to take it pass/fail? That way she goes in without a load of stress and can enjoy the class without worrying so much about the grade.
Thanks, @evergreenâŠI suggested the same things. She may have no choice but to try these. I think they would notice though, if she tried to get into a lower-level classâŠshe has already called attention to herself by sending the head of the department/head of placement an email asking about appropriate placement and told which course to take. The prof just advised her to email the professor of the class to advise her how best to get ready for the class (uh, itâs too late for her to take an intensive summer immersion course and Iâm confident thatâs what would be needed to even hope she could survive in this particular college class). The thing about signing up for, and dropping a class, is the risk that all sections will be filled or conflict with the rest of her schedule. Also complicating this is that she is away on a beach trip and wonât return until July 5th after getting up at 2 am for a flight. The last day to test isâŠJuly 5th! I advised her to test anyway while on vacation and she is feeling very anxious to do that.
Just my two cents:
What about not taking Spanish freshman year and then work on getting proper placement for sophomore year and above?
Does she have a regular advisor to consult about her schedule vs the Spanish prof?
Can she just sign up and take the placement test - she can always blame her âoverly worriedâ parent 
if the professor questions or even remembers?
Agree it is frustrating about the lack of flexibility and guessing this specific professor has been âburnedâ in the past by students taking the wrong (easier) level.
Good luck - and hopefully this didnât mess with her good time with friends too much. All these kids need some worry free time!
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@coffeeat3 That may be the only option but I think sheâd rather get started with Spanish now before she forgets what (little) she has learned. Sheâs kind of wanting to get to a solid level to have the option to use It for a summer/semester abroad, too, before too late in college. Iâm afraid she just might give up on foreign language altogether if she waits.
She wonât have an academic advisor assigned to her until her August orientation immediately before fall classes start. Incoming freshmen can only sign up for eight hours of their classes in summer before meeting the advisor. But she just found out that the language testing must be done by July 5th. sheâs already stressed without my doing anything (she has been texting me about it all dayâŠIâve been telling her not to worry unduly, that sheâll will figure it out in due time). The reason all of this is on her mind during a beach trip is that she has been working on a mandatory online course for incoming freshmen that has called attention to these things.
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This page (edited to remove page) seems to indicate that unless your daughter took the AP exam (or equivalent), she needs to take the placement test in Spanish. Could there have been a miscommunication with the Spanish Department and they thought she had taken AP Spanish? Whatever the case may be, sounds like she is supposed to sign up on Blackboard and follow the process which requires everyone who didnât take a AP or equivalent test to take the placement exam in the language of their choice.
I think this may well just a a tempest in a teapot. 
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I am sorry she is so stressed during her beach vacation. She can join the Spanish club to meet native Spanish speakers that will help her practice and study for the class.
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@beebee3, there are somewhat contradictory things said (depending on the context I guess) on different pages of the website for students who have completed the FL requirement through four years of high school FL but want to continue.
The thing is, D contacted the professor for clarification and requested to take a placement test (and described the deficits in her Spanish, which is tricky because she didnât want to either dis her school or come across as a lazy student who doesnât want a challenge) and she was simply told what class to sign up for. No wiggle room. D was afraid to contest this (looks whiny or defiant right off the bat). But she really wants a solid base and to learn Spanish. The quote from the website that you sent me by PM is worth itâs weight in gold, actually. It is what I read last winter (that kids with a lack of preparation in high school despite four + years can test into a second-year class if they want to continue in FL). I had given up looking for it despite trying to find it all day. I thought maybe the policy had changed since I saw it. Perhaps it wouldnât be too controversial for my D to email the prof a second time with that screenshot attached or quoted and request again to be considered for the testing and lower-level class. I appreciate you finding and sending it!!!
I have a small request, thoughâŠI had not wanted to call attention to the school or professor on this public thread (in case thereâs ANY chance this could get back to the wrong person). Also, we do love the school and donât want to cast negativity on itâŠitâs just that we havenât known how to resolve this situation gracefully. Can the attachment from the school be removed with the modâs help?
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done! 
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@srparent, thatâs an idea, but I still think that class would be too much over her head âŠa long shot to enjoy it or even learn much pass/fail. The class she would automatically be placed on involves a lot of discussion in Spanish of a political, cultural and philosophical nature as well as literary analysis In Spanish and she is still grappling with the basic mechanics of the language. In five years she wasnât even presented all of the verb tenses, let alone an expectation of mastering any to a truly functional level. Big gaps in crucial vocabulary. Almost never any homework/readings in Spanish to do after classâŠa lot of busywork in class. Quizzes were jokes (maybe three quizzes of five or ten questions in a nine week grading period. That kind of thing. After Spanish three I expected Spanish to ramp upâŠ, thinking the teachers would consider that the kids who stuck with it could be challenged more. That didnât happen. Thank goodness her other classes were much better or Iâd be very afraid to send her off to college. Lol.
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Thank you!!! I appreciate your help.
I think most kids would not be ok in that class with just HS level Spanish, if they are not speaking Spanish regularly. I donât understand the school not doing an assessment to ensure they place kids in the correct class.
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My thinking exactly! Although I imagine there are some high schools that do a great job and prepare students to do well enough in a class like that (even if rough about the edges in terms of polish).
I remember so clearly ignoring my Spanish 1 and early Spanish 2 classesâŠbarely making it through with low Cs when test-time came. Then, somewhere in the early-middle of the second year I had a moment of truth: there was a huge test the next day featuring the present, future and preterite (simple past tense) Including all those many, many irregulars. The teacher had gone over dozens of irregulars/stem changing verbs as well as dozens of regular verbs. It was fair game that any could be asked, and any conjugation. This wasnât a matter of multiple-choice guessing, The test would be several pages long, much of which would require composing sentences. I realized I had to do some serious cramming or failâŠno middle ground. I stayed up almost all night, creating charts of color-coded verb conjugations and in desperation inventing visual mind tricks to memorize them. I studied like I had never studied in my life and aced the test. That was my big academic awakening. Never has my D had such a Spanish test in five years. Before quizzing students on a verb tense, her teacher would let the students know in advance four or five different verbs (Usually regular ones) that would be used as vehicles to show how to conjugate the tense. Thatâs the extent of challenge she got. In Spanish three my class read a novel: -Las Inquietudes de Shanti Andia- Every day I filled pages of note paper with the new vocabulary I didnât know from the book (lots of stuff about the ocean/Basque fishing way of life). This was just a regular public high school and no one seemed to think it was too much to expect. The summer after Spanish 3 before senior year I went on a total immersion homestay for six weeks in Segovia, Spain (I wouldnât see other American kids in my group for days at a time). It was hard but my three years of Spanish was adequate to prepare me to do this and hold actual conversations, as flawed as my grammar often was ( I thought my head would burst at the end of each day). My D is barely at any kind of functional level in comparison (and sheâs smarter than me by a longshot 
).
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That is pathetic.
I applaud you both for knowing what is best for your daughter and pursuing it. She wants to learn Spanish. That is not helicoptering. That is advocating for yourself, an important lesson all women should learn and not be ashamed of. I may be biased, but learning Spanish has brought so many fantastic opportunities into my sonâs life. I think asking to take the test and revisiting placement with the professor once the results are in is the best idea. Maybe writing the email in Spanish or conversing with him in Spanish would also give him an indication of her skill level.
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Back at the WL bar with a question - just saw David Graves at UGA post on his blog something about how the WL will go past July 1 because of âdelayed actions by deposited studentsâ. Several weeks ago he said something about "if you are deposited at two schools, this is the time you need to commit to one because there will be repercussions (financial penalties, no classes, etc.). Anyone have any speculation about this? UGA apparently has a full class as the last round of WL admits were spring admits only (they admit a few in the spring to take places when December kids graduate). Georgia Tech has said as of a few days ago that their waitlist is still definitely in play. They appear to be full too at the moment.
I donât know if there are UGA deposits out there who didnât select their dorm room during their window (all waitlist admits will be assigned July 6th)? Or what âdelayed actionsâ could mean?
With waitlists closing left and right, seems most schools are confident in their class and that deposited students will âstickâ. Does anyone think at this point there are enough double deposited students to make a difference? I canât wrap my head around the lack of waitlist movement for almost all top schools this year but not sure double deposits is the answer.
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The WL bar has been so quiet. In our house, 2 of 6 have closed, 4 still open as far as I can tell, but silence from them.
I too find it hard to believe that there are substantial numbers of double-deposited students out there at this point, just intuitively. And schools sound so full, Iâd guess theyâll be relieved when those small numbers of double-depositers finally decline, with no resulting WL movement.
I think youâre right for a lot of these schools. They were expecting low yield and overenrolled, so at this point if applicants flake out itâs actually helpful to them (rather than forcing them to pull from the waitlist).
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