For reference, I am currently a rising sophomore. If I were to take the AP Spanish exam, I would probably take it my senior year. The reason why I would want to consider this is because I am interested in being a doctor, and I know that as a medical professional, you usually want to be proficient in more than one language (in this case, that other language would probably be Spanish). I still have an interest in French, but now I am reconsidering my career goals and want to show admissions officers that I am making efforts to learn the Spanish language, while not having to take the AP Spanish course and still show my interest in French. Do you think this is a good idea? Or should I put off taking Spanish until undergrad or grad school? Does it matter when you take Spanish when you want to pursue pre-med, a BS/MD program, get into medical school, or practice medicine? Please share your advice!
The main purpose of the AP Spanish exam would be to place into a higher level of Spanish once you get to college. If that’s what you want to do and feel that you can do well, then take the test. Its good to have a goal to be proficient in a language such as Spanish. It doesn’t matter when you study it.
If you are doing the IB diploma, I would focus on doing that well. If you still have bandwidth, start studying Spanish on your own. It is unlikely, even if you do the AP exam, that you would want to stop your study at that point given your objective of fluency. Most colleges have placement tests for FL.
How strong is your Spanish?
The only person that I know who took the AP Spanish exam without first taking an AP Spanish course had studied abroad for a few months in a high school that taught everything in Spanish (except for their English class). Finding a testing center that would let them take the AP Spanish exam was a challenge.