<p>My son reads and speaks Spanish beautifully -- he's spoken Spanish at home all his life -- but his spelling is another matter. Also writing essays is not his strong suit. I would like to propose an exam for him to demonstrate his Spanish, since he tested out of languages in middle and high school. I think this would make him look more attractive when he's applying to colleges. Which would be better for this, the AP or the SAT II?</p>
<p>I read that taking CLEPs before starting college can affect financial aid, so I think he should take a Spanish CLEP to get some easy college credits, but not until after he's been accepted and the financial aid package has been put together.</p>
<p>By this reasoning, it would be better to take the AP or the SAT II for impression admissions officers.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>I’m not sure that this will necessarily have the impact you desire. When testing in a language in which you are a native speaker it is generally assumed that you will do well. Of course this is not always true, as when you learn a language at home, the written and grammar side can be lacking.</p>
<p>That said, AP exams are more difficult/cover more material than Subject tests. </p>
<p>If two Subject tests are required by a school, I would recommend that your S take at least two non-Spanish Subject tests.</p>
<p>Thanks for responding, entomom!</p>
<p>Sorry for the typos. I should have said, “I suppose it would be better to take the AP or the SAT II for impressing admissions officers.”</p>
<p>For SAT IIs, he’s taken chemistry and will take math and physics.</p>
<p>I’m a bit worried about the essay part of the AP. He didn’t do well in the writing part of the regular SAT. And his disastrous spelling will not help matters. But he’s taken some practice multiple choice Spanish exams and they went fine.</p>
<p>For complicated family reasons, he doesn’t identify as latino (hispanic). I don’t know whether that would affect anything.</p>
<p>My original idea was save some money and have him take just one exam; to kill two birds with one stone, I thought it could be the CLEP, but after reading about the possible effect on financial aid, now I’m not so sure.</p>
<p>I’m afraid I don’t know anything about CLEP, so I can’t comment on the pros or cons of taking it. The other tests should help with placement in college, but it varies by school, so how much it helps will depends on where he ends up.</p>
<p>Interesting that he’s a native Spanish speaker but doesn’t identify as Hispanic. But I understand as we have a unique situation in our family as well. My kids are the opposite, they do identify as Hispanic, but due to family circumstances, mostly learned Spanish in middle and HS rather than at home. That was something they both explained in their applications as they didn’t want schools to think that they were native speakers but took the classes for easy As.</p>
<p>I assume your HS GC will discuss in the SSR that your S tested out of FL so that colleges understand why he didn’t take any FL classes. Since he is in the unique situation of not identifying as Hispanic but learning Spanish at home and therefore not taking HS courses, your idea of him taking the AP or Subject test is a good one as it gives colleges an objective measure of his abilities. In that sense, I think either test would serve this purpose.</p>