Hi everyone, my oldest daughter is headed to BS from public school as a junior.
After completing a language placement test, she noted that it was not easy even though she has been taking the language for 3 years. I am worried that she will have trouble at the language level while at BS or that she will be placed in a below level class. The public school language classes were pretty weak with minimal speaking practice (but some BS classes speak only in the language in class😬).
Is this something to be worried about? I know coming in as a junior makes this very different compared to a freshman.
She will be placed in the level that best suits her needs. Since FL at a BS often goes well beyond and at a faster pace than at a public school, if she finished level 3 at the public school, she should be prepared not to be placed in level 4. This is very common.
I think the placement tests are to ensure the children are placed at the right levels since they are all coming from different educational backgrounds. Obviously your child is qualified given the school ‘s acceptance. It would not help for your child to struggle in a FL class that they are not equipped for. Additionally a slightly easier level might help them catch up and make the transitional year a bit easier.
Generally, BS do a pretty good job on placement AND have a good way of addressing those situations where they didn’t get it right.
Don’t worry about the "number " on the class. If it looks like a repeat, there may be material she is familiar with but she’s also likely to encounter a lot she hasn’t been exposed to. Based on what you said, she could be more challenged in terms of speaking or writing. Because class sizes are smaller, teachers can assign essays, etc and have time to grade them. And as mentioned, the easier bits may be a nice reprieve.
Boarding school is rigorous and demanding – in pretty much all areas! So if my child was on the borderline between 2 classes, I preferred they go into the lower level one. There’s no prize (or help with college admissions!) for going into the higher level class.
Cinnamon1212 is correct. One of my kids was placed above the level he could handle and it created GPA problems; although oddly enough he did win NLE awards throughout. There is no benefit for college admissions for placing in level 1 or level 4.
Also remember that junior year grades are probably the most important in college admissions, so no point in creating additional stress on that front.
And if there’s a struggle in one class, it’ll take time away from something else, where you can excel or simply enjoy. Or from another challenge that needs time. Balancing the load is key.
I agree that I would not want to over-place, and would choose the lower course if on the bubble. But, I’ll have to dissent about the college application aspect. Colleges definitely consider the rigor on each individual transcript. Now, it’s debatable whether an A- in level 300 is better than a B+ in level 400 (and face it, the most rejective schools want to see the A in level 400), and a single course may not matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. But, a transcript littered with 500 and 600 level courses will be evaluated differently than one where the student is topping out at 300/400 levels. It just will be.
I agree with @DroidsLookingFor , BUT the trickier part is around the balance mentioned above. Yes, colleges want to see rigor. And they want to see good grades.
For most students, they need to figure out where to accelerate and where to stay the course. For the OP, a single course is unlikely to have an impact in college options. But if that higher level requires an extra hour a day just to get a B, it’s very likely that some other course will suffer some as well, in which case, it’sno longer about just one class… There are only 24 hours in each day!
This lesson, btw, derives from real life experience junior year. DS ended up a little over his head in 2 courses that did not play to his strengths, and the strengths suffered too.
Yes, but the kid is where the kid is. No school would let a student take all classes that were below their appropriate level. So, some kids can only manage the lower level classes – that’s ok! They will do fine with college placement. You can’t make a student something he is not.
As far as rigor goes, foreign language and math are not just about harder classes, they also need to be level appropriate and when you transfer mid-HS, you’re at the mercy of what was offered at your previous school. One can’t take Calc without Algebra II first and one can’t take a foreign language class they aren’t prepared for in terms of grammar, writing, vocabulary, etc.
If you’re hoping to apply to the most selective schools and worry about this, the answer may be a class or tutoring over the summer to ensure proper preparation for the higher level language class. But there’s not point in being in a class that is reading serious literature if you haven’t even learned all the relevant grammar.
And even then, you’re at a disadvantage if the version of the prereq. course you took lacks the depth and/or breadth of the same course at the school that you’re entering into.