Question
I’m a sophomore (graduating in 2024) and am wondering if I should take more than the minimum 2 world language credits (Spanish is the only language offered at my school.) I’m interested in taking another language in college, and don’t like taking Spanish that much. I’ve been told (from parents and some classmates) that most colleges want more than the minimum 2.
There’s another problem with taking another year of Spanish: if I use it as an elective, there is no chance for me to take AP Computer Science A, which is required to get into the higher level CS classes here, unless I take a different lab specialization block (Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Design instead of Forensics & AP Psychology)
Background
I go to the #1 high school in my state, Tesla STEM, and want to do a Computer Science major and Japanese/Asian Studies minor in college. I’m planning on moving back to Japan (where I lived as a kid) because I love the culture, language, and general feeling of the country (and I also want to work in the infosec industry there.) I have a ~3.5 GPA but almost all the classes I take at this school are honors or AP. The school only offers up to Spanish 3, but if enough people write it in on a course request form there is a possibility of Spanish 4/AP Spanish. I’ve also been told by teachers and counselors that Tesla STEM is well recognized by college recruiters.
Some colleges I would like to apply to:
- University of British Columbia’
- University of Washington
- Western Washington University
- MIT
My school’s course catalog (which I can’t post a link to but you can just google “tesla stem course catalog” and it comes up as the second result [the pdf file]) explains some stuff better than I can.