I am a Sophomore and I am currently taking Spanish-4(I did 2 years of Spanish in middle school, so I started in Spanish 3 in high school) and I am in Accelerated(between basic and honors). If I drop Spanish, I will be able to take AP Computer Science and AP Computer Science Principles. My GPA Freshman year wasn’t that great, and right now, I am looking towards a 3.9-ish unweighted. My weighted is also pretty bad(4.4-ish). I am looking to improve this so that I at least have a chance to get into a top college(like Cornell, MIT, Georgia Tech, Stanford, etc). What should I do?
You should complete Spanish 4. If you don’t want to continue with Spanish after this year, that’s fine.
You can google the common data set for every school you are interested in (common data set ) and look at section C5 to see how many years of foreign language (meaning what level is completed) are recommended/required.
However, a number of top colleges do want to see 4 years of foreign language so I suggest you stick out Spanish this year and complete level 4 as your final college application list may change from what you have today.
I’m concerned you think a 3.9 UW is pretty bad.
I’m unclear on the timeframe of your actions. It’s late February, which in most places is well into the 2nd half of the year. I don’t see how/why you would drop a class now and start another one. What exactly are you suggesting you could do?
Most of the upper-tier colleges that I’ve been investigating would like to see a commitment to learning a language through 4 years of coursework. They may say they require 3, or only recommend 4, but in the conversations I’ve had, I’ve concluded my D will also complete 4 years of language.
No, a 3.9 certainly isn’t bad. You’re likely in the top 10% of your class. But there is a reality that thousands and thousands of 4.0s will be applying to the elite schools, so it’s a matter of context. Than again, once you’re above a certain bar (3.95/1550/34), acceptance decisions turn to other factors.
Actually, I had a 3.4 last year. That’s not gonna do anything if I want to get into a really good school.
Thanks for the advice. I am taking Spanish 4 right now, and I am fully planning on completing it. I am just deciding whether I should take Spanish 5 next year or take two comp sci APs(which are really easy and are a big GPA booster)
Once you complete high school level 4 of Spanish you should fee free to take whatever class you prefer.
I would take AP Spanish and one of the AP Computer Science classes.
I would agree that 4 years of a language is plenty if your concern is how it looks to a college. If you enjoy it, by all means take AP Spanish. But any school will be fully comfortable with 4 years of language.
I’m not sure AP CSP will carry much weight, though if you think it will improve your GPA over AP Spanish, then it has that going for it. Most of our HS students take AP CSP in 9th/10th. If you think you can perform equally in all 3, and knowing nothing else, I’d say AP Spanish and AP Comp Sci A.
If you’re applying STEM, you do not need four years of language, two would actually be ok, but you have to assume that the competition for places like MIT or Cornell will have 3 or 4. Take it for granted a Stanford applicant will typically have four, including an AP, since they require three. Cornell does not list foreign language in its engineering admissions requirements, but does list computer science as recommended. MIT only has a two year requirement for foreign languages and Cal Tech doesn’t even list any f/l requirement. I’d drop Spanish if you’re not getting anything out of it, because it won’t hurt you at tech schools, and most engineering/CS programs.