<p>Upcoming senior D2 considering dropping Spanish 4 next year. She's signed up to take AP Calc, AP Chem, AP physics, AP Lit. Plans to do science in college. Hates Spanish, even tho she's getting a A, she's not committed, claims she can read it but can't speak. This is a kid who also runs track and xcountry, plays in the youth symphony,& has demands of private lessons. She is taking us govt + Ak studies during summer school (graduation reqs) hating she's not having a summer, but feels it will buy her the time in chem and physics lab,hopefully with late arrival and early dismissal
Most college web sites I have looked at ask for 2-3yrs of the same foreign language.
Do I push her to keep Spanish? IF she decides to look at very selective schools, would 3 yrs instead of 4 be the deal breaker?</p>
<p>Same problem with my upcoming junior. Hates spanish, but if he takes spanish 4AP next year, he won't have to take 2 years of undergraduate foreign language at UC schools.... He has to decide soon..</p>
<p>uc's require u to take foreign language as a gen ed class?</p>
<p>Kblue:</p>
<p>Berkeley does not require more than 3 years of HS foreign language.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>fwiw: Span 4 in our HS is mostly speaking, to prepare kids for AP Span.</p>
<p>Son took spanish 2, and 3 in high school, total of 2 years of spanish in hs....(took spanish 1 in 8th grade.) Will he still fulfill UC foreign language requirements?</p>
<p>depends on the school. I beleive that UCLA has an undergrad foreign language requirement that exceeds HS Span 3.....others may have one as well.</p>
<p>With your daughter's heavy AP schedule and focus on sciences, I doubt it really will make that much of a difference. To the extent it does, it really is your daughter's issue, not yours -- I mean, with her focus on science and math plus the athletics and music, she will have plenty of choices. Go read the thread about high school stress... you'll have a different perspective.</p>
<p>Agree with Calmom, my son may take Spanish 4AP with option to drop it, if course load too much .....</p>
<p>The UC system requirement for a foreign language is TWO years of the same foreign language. However, the more selective UC's prefer to see kids go beyond the requirement. An extra year is a plus on their application, an extra two years is a bigger plus. (for full requirements for the UC system, <a href="http://www.ucop.edu/pathways%5B/url%5D">www.ucop.edu/pathways</a>)</p>
<p>The decision of whether to take a 4th year of language needs to be made in context of what the student is offering in other parts of the curriculum. If they have a solid curriculum in other areas (i.e., 4 years of math, science, social sciences/history), then three years is probably going to be OK. However, 4 years in ALL core classes, including f.l. always looks better to colleges, especially if the student is aiming at the most selective tier.</p>
<p>Another issue to consider: Most colleges these days have a language requirement for graduation. So, the student needs to ask: are they planning on taking the same foreign language in college or a new one? If the same one, then a year of no language might make it harder to get back into. If a new one is a possibility, then, of course, that 4th year doesn't matter.</p>
<p>There's another plus in taking the AP exam at the end of the senior year: If you do well on the AP exam you may be able to waive part of the language requirement which means being able to take other fun classes in college instead. Or, you may at least use the grade for placement purposes in college classes rather than having to fit in a placement exam at the start of freshman year. </p>
<p>My daughter is weak in sciences so she will be taking French 4, which is for honors credit at her school. She plans to take the AP exam as well, but I suspect she may change her mind on that as she also feels her ability to speak French is much weaker than her reading skills.</p>
<p>Your daughter has a soul-mate in New England. My son has signed up for the exact same courses as your daughter and we had the same discussion about Spanish. He does very well in it but doesn't like it. It appeared that most of the colleges he is looking at are okay with three years. He knows he will have to take a language in college, but he wants to take Japanese so he is happier with that alternative than a fourth year of Spanish.</p>
<p>My S who has always been a stellar student hates spanish. He took only 3 yrs in high school and those were the only B's he ever got in his HS career. He still got into almost every college he applied to though BUT he did have to take 2 semesters of Spanish at Pomona. He was able to combine SP 1 and 2 in one intensive class, did well and then took Sp 3 this semester pass/fail. Will probably be his one and only pass/fail class he takes but felt it was a good call. My D on the other hand loves Spanish is in AP and plans to continue with it throughout college and become bilingual through study abroad.</p>
<p>UCSB apparently has no language requirement (aside from the UC requirements in HS) for many majors. They do require a quarterly placement exam for those who will be taking language classes. But I do believe most of the Education Abroad choices require a certain level of language proficiency for admittance.</p>
<p>Thank you Carolyn for UC info, "courses in languages other than English taken in the seventh and eighth grades may be used to fulfill part of this requirement if your high school accepts them as equivalent to its own courses."..... Would like to share this info with board....Son also hates spanish, and has decided not to take fourth year of spanish...</p>
<p>OK, from my understanding, Cal Berkeley college of letters and science - foreign language requirement may be satisfied with 3 years high school language...Many undergraduate majors (science and math) at UCLA do not have an undergraduate foreign language requirement. But others, such as asian studies or italian obviously do.......</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Thank you Carolyn for UC info, "courses in languages other than English taken in the seventh and eighth grades may be used to fulfill part of this requirement if your high school accepts them as equivalent to its own courses."<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Further clarification: High school must list the middle school course and the grade you got on the high school transcript, according to UC application booklet.</p>
<p>Carolyn: Thank you so much for your information. Have encouraged D2 to research her probable college choices beyond the pretty viewbooks, to actually look at the graduation reqs. I did -and you are totally correct about core requirements esp at LAC's which is the direction she's headed AT THE MOMENT. I have also e-mailed hs Spanish instructor to get some numbers regarding success rate on the AP tests. Would really like to know how many students who took the course actually take the tests and how many of those get 4 or 5's.</p>