Should I take a foreign language if it impacts my class rank?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I am a high school junior in a state where a foreign language is not a graduation requirement. My school guidance counselors have never recommended taking a foreign language (In fact, they’ve recommended against it so that I can take more sciences because “that’s what colleges really look for anyway.”).

Currently, I am number one in my class. I have logged 138 hours of community service. I have an SAT score of 1580 (800 in math and 780 for ERW). I am also involved in several ECs including, summer marching band, winter marching band, concert band, all region/state band, all region/state computer science, beta club, FBLA, and I am the vice president of the math club. After this year, I will have taken 6 AP classes (and hopefully done well on the tests).

There are several competitive colleges that I would like to apply for, but I have noticed that almost all of them require/recommend 2-4 years of foreign language. After a meeting with the school principal, I have been given the option to take Spanish I/II over the summer at a local university for concurrent credit. The class would be attached to my transcript as two full years Spanish, and I would be allowed to take Honors Spanish III my senior year.

The problem with this solution is that class ranks are tight. Taking a foreign language next year would block me from taking an AP class, and the additional 4s that would be appended to my transcript would drop my class rank down to around number 5/6. I attend a relatively small school (graduating class of just under 400), and I am not sure how top colleges will feel about class rank.

Another option I have is to take Spanish I/II at the university this summer and not have it appended to my high school transcript. This would allow me to maintain my class rank.

Given my current situation, what decision would be wisest? Do top colleges respect one summer of foreign language at a university as much as two years while in high school? Do they consider foreign language to be more or less important than class rank?

Sorry for the long post, but I feel like I have a unique situation that has really been stressing me out. Thank you for any and all responses :).

~ Benji the Sailor

2

Not by a long shot.

For starters, being 5/6 in a class of 400 vs 1 will not be the reason you do not get into your choice college. Keep in mind that top colleges reject 4.0/36/1600 applicants every year while accepting students with lower stats

Almost every selective college will have recommendations that exceed HS graduation requirements; they will also expect that their recommendations will be met unless there is a valid reason for not doing so. And maintaining class rank or taking STEM classes to not count as valid reasons.

Too little information given. There are pluses and minuses for both. Not taking it over the summer may allow you more time to do something non-academic so you don’t come off as one-dimensional. On the flip side, if taking it during the year prevents you from taking a key AP class (meaning one that is related to your career goals and is not a second or third class from the same department and not simply because it is an AP class, then maybe taking Spanish over the summer is better. Give us more info on your schedule next year, and we might give you better advice. But bottom line, you’ll need the foreign language classes.

3

Talk to the principal about excluding your Spanish classes in the calculation for Val/Sal. Since they are “extra” and not required for graduation, this should be a possibility. If not, then take the classes during the summer.

4

My school has 7 class periods. I plan on taking Band, AP Language, AP US History, AP Calculus BC, Honors Physics, Health/PE, and Spanish. English, history, math, and health/PE are all graduation requirements that I will have to take during my senior year no matter what. Taking a foreign language would mean having to take regular English or a lower math than what I’ve already taken (Or not take band, which I really would not like to do…). I genuinely would like to take AP Lang; I’ve always enjoyed English classes. Also, I plan to attend college for computer science, and I have already taken every computer science course that is available at my school.

Currently, I do not have any foreign language at all. I had never been told that many out of state colleges require foreign languages, and counselors have guided me away from taking those classes. My principal has agreed to add Spanish to my transcript only if I take Spanish I/II over the summer, so I will be taking Spanish I/II this summer regardless, and I will be taking Spanish III my senior year at school.

The thing that I am concerned about is if I should have the class put on my high school transcript, or just submit a transcript from the university proving that I passed Spanish I/II. Would colleges that I apply for consider it adequate to have only one summer of Spanish plus Spanish III my senior year? Or would it look better to just have it on my high school transcript as a full year of Spanish I, Spanish II, and Spanish III?

It would definitely be nice if the principal would exclude counting Spanish when calculating class rank. I’ll be sure to talk to him about that.

Thank you so much for the responses!

5

If the college requests 3 years, then it’s fine.

It does not matter. Nor does it matter if it’s not on the HS transcript. But be aware, that many colleges would require the college transcript to be sent with the application as well, so check requirements.

You can ask, but that’s not gonna happen. If he does it for one (and this would also mean he would exclude all those extra CS courses you took), then he needs to do it for all 400.

6

Will they want it to be on my high school transcript though? Or would they be fine with a transcript from the university?

Thank you very much, and I’m impressed with the response time :).

7

As skieurope stated, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter how you take Spanish; the important thing is to take it!

Good luck, and congrats on your outstanding high school record!

8

Foreign Language is a core class, like Math or Science. I’m guessing your school doesn’t send students to many private or OOS 4-year colleges so it is not emphasized, but missing foreign language is on par with having taken no science. Not taking a foreign language if Spanish is offered at your high school will mean your application will be deemed incomplete (“my GC thinks foreign languages aren’t important” won’t be considered a valid reason).
That being said, you can take Spanish 1-2 over the summer at a college and not have it added to your transcript - you need to send anything your college transcript to all your prospective colleges anyway, so taking the class through dual enrollment would cover the needed level. Add Spanish 3 at the college in the Spring (in the Fall, you’ll be busy with college applications) and list it on your “course list” for senior year and you’d have the equivalent of 3-4 years of HS Spanish. BTW you don’t need to take Spanish if another language is offered over the summer and you like it better. Be ready for a very intense, difficult class - foreign language in college is MUCH faster paced than in high school, with 2 hours in college covering one week in HS, and the format over the summer is even more compressed, meaning you’d likely cover one week of HS Foreign Language each day. In short, plan to do very little else during the eight weeks this lasts.

9

They won’t care one way or the other. As @chercheur correctly sates, how you accomplish it does not matter; the fact that you accomplish it matters.

10

Just take Foreign Language 1-3 at the college and send that transcript without the courses appearing on your HS transcript at all. Hence, valedictorian problem, gone. :slight_smile:

11

@MYOS1634 Our high school also had no foreign language requirement, and we had plenty of students go out-of-state. Students at our school could take pre-engineering or computer classes, instead. Our school offered foreign language classes during the summer, however, so that’s the route my student took. Others elected to take foreign language classes during the summer at the local community college.

EDIT: Our high school did recalculate GPA for students who took additional summer class for fun or because they genuinely wanted to study something that they had no room for during the school year. These were kids in the running for Val/Sal, and the policy was to not discourage students from taking extra summer classes if they so desired.

12

Thank you all very much, I really appreciate it.

13

Are you in Texas, where class rank is the main criterion for the public universities?

However, even #6 out of 400 (top 2%) should be automatic admission for Texas residents to all Texas public universities, although some popular majors may be more competitive than baseline admission and therefore not assured.

14

If you don’t have a background in the language, trying to take 2 college semesters of it in one summer can be risky.

15

I agree with @Eeyore123, first see how Spanish I goes without committing to Spanish 2.

16

^understatement. I’d recommend preparing before taking the class.

17

Be careful about taking classes in community colleges in the summer. You might not be able to take classes because the classes are full, or because community colleges give higher priority for enrollment to adults. Or you might have unexpected events that prevent you from taking the classes.

18

^ and the OP’s plans assume that the family won’t be vacationing during these two classes during the summer.