Should I take two foreign languages in high school?

Hello,
I’m currently a sophomore in high school. I’m taking Honors Spanish 2, and plan to continue taking Spanish throughout my high school career. I would like to go to an Ivy League school someday. Will there be a slightly higher chance of acceptance if I also take French during my junior and senior year? Spanish has been extremely easy for me to pick up, so I don’t think it will be confusing.
Thanks in advance! :slight_smile:

I don’t think it will make a difference unless it relates to some ECs or your essay or something. Since spanish is easy, I recommend taking AP Spanish lang and AP Spanish lit sometime in high school if you want something to look good. Also, try to use it in your community or in some club. Something enriching.

Nevertheless, if you are genuinely interested in French, take it because you want to, and don’t worry about how it looks on a transcript. Do it for you.

Agree with rafalala

Just on a personal level, if languages come easy to you I would pursue them. Knowing languages fluently just help you in life, especially Spanish.

No. I agree with the others. If you want to take French, take French. But do it because you want to, not to impress some hypothetical admissions officer who will not be impressed.

There are many ways to impress AO with course selections. Adding a second world language with level 2 does not worth much the effort you put in. There many many second generation Americans taking AP of their mother tongue as their second foreign language and that does not weight much either.

It won’t make a difference really. If you want to take French, that’s fine but don’t add unnecessary burden because you think it will impress the adcoms. Do it for yourself if you want to do it. Otherwise, focus on Spanish.

I think it depends a bit on whether you might major in something like international relations or apply to schools with highly ranked IR and language studies programs (like Middlebury, for example). If taking a second language is both a genuine interest of yours and a possible asset to the kind of major you are considering, then it will benefit both you as an individual and the coherent picture you present of your interests, strengths, and goals in your application. But if you are doing it solely to impress an admissions committee, don’t bother. Take something that you are passionate about and truly reflects your interests.