Should I take a third year of foreign language?

Applying to College
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Most selective schools seem to recommend three years of foreign language, and I would like to get into one of these selective schools. I’m a sophomore right now, and I’m taking my second year of foreign languages in high school. I completed the first year of French in middle school, and advanced to French 2 my freshman year, meaning I’m now taking French 3. Would this count as three years? My school goes up to French 4 and then AP French, and I definitely cannot fit AP French into my schedule senior year.

I really don’t like French, and I have a very bad teacher who pretty much lets his students do whatever they want in the class while he lectures, and no one pays attention. When we have a test, he gives us the test, along with all the answers, ahead of time, and everyone just memorizes the answers to the tests and quickly writes them all down when he passes them out. I have not learned a bit of French since I started high school, and any French that I do know is what I learned in middle school from a different teacher. It is one of my highest grades though because its so easy. I currently have a 3.8, my second highest grade. I would just take French 4 because of the easy grade, but if I don’t, I can take a study hall my junior or senior year and get significantly higher grades in my other classes, which will be lots of APs in the next two years. These are the classes I plan to take in the text two years:

Junior Year:
AP Literature and Composition
AP US History
AP Calculus AB
Honors Chemistry
Honors Earth Science
Wind Ensemble
Either study hall, French 4, or AP Physics (I am taking AP Physics either my junior or senior year, depending on when it will fit)

Senior Year:
AP Language and Composition
AP Psychology
AP Biology (2 periods)
AP Calculus BC
Wind Ensemble
Depends on what I took last year, AP Physics if I haven’t yet taken it, or a study hall if I have. (I will not take French 4 my senior year if I can’t fit it into my junior year.)

My ultimate goal is to major in biology in college and go the pre-med track to become a doctor.

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You need to attain three years worth of a foreign language. The fact that you’re in French 3 now suffices. However, you should know that some selective schools require intermediate mastery of a foreign language in order to graduate. If you end up attending one of these, from what it seems, you’d be headed towards Beginning French and intermediate French at the college level (usually over two years). Not a knock on you but more a knock on how poorly you’re being prepared now.

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