Stanford says that 4 years of a foreign language are highly recommended/ good for a competitive applicant. Since the webpage says “a foreign language”, I assume they mean the same language? I have taken only three years of Spanish, and I skipped one level so I already finished AP Spanish my junior year. So there’s no way I can take a fourth year of Spanish, because I finished the highest level. Is this all that they are looking for, or would it be advantageous for me to take the beginning course of another language, like French 1 my senior year? The only class I would switch out of my schedule would be AP Physics C. So given what Stanford says on their webpage, should I take French 1 instead of AP Physics C, even though I already finished AP Spanish?
Did you take Spanish 1 in middle school? I know a lot of people that took Spanish 2 their freshman year because they were already ahead. They also decided to skip a level and take AP Spanish. I personally think it should help you more than it hurts you seeing as you decided to go to the most advanced level. French 1 wouldn’t add anything to your record seeing as they want four years of a single language. What did you get on the AP test?
If you compare yourself to someone who graduated with only Spanish 3 under their belt, you’re comparably a lot better in terms of academic rigor.
4 years of foreign language means reaching the highest level (in your case AP Spanish) at your school. It doesn’t necessarily mean 4 years of actually physically sitting in a class.
I didn’t take Spanish 1 in middle school, I just speak Spanish at home so I was allowed to skip it. I don’t have my AP scores back yet, but I probably got a 5.
Okay, that’s what I was unclear about ben69420.
There are two issues here:
‘4 years’ means level reached, IE., level 4 or AP.
However, if you speak Spanish at home, they may not consider you learned a foreign language. In my experience, their evaluation will include whether you read and write in Spanish or’only’ had a spoken knowledge of the language, whether your parents are college graduates or not, etc.
So, you meet the letter of the admission requirement but your personal circumstances would impact whether you meet the spirit of it.
No matter what, it’s pointless to take only one year of French, unless you plan to go into Humanities /art. And if you’re qualified for Physics C and plan to major in stem, then it’s clearly the better choice.
Sorry, I guess I should clarify that I don’t really speak spanish at home, I speak mostly English but my parents speak Spanish so I’ve grown up with it. I’m not sure how they would consider that. I know that French would be absolutely useless for my overall educational growth, I just don’t know if having four solid years of being in a language class would be looked on more advantageously than having three years and physics C.
Way back when, I came from a Spanish speaking home, and I met with my counselor and she asked about colleges… At that time, my counselor asked if I would be applying to any privates. I told her that I might. She told me, you need a learn a language that is “foreign” to your environment. I took French for 4 years and took the AP Spanish test for “fun”.
So if you speak English, and your parents speak Spanish, how do you communicate? I can’t believe that in all of that time, at home, you never learned to speak your home language.
It’s not much of a stretch to assume that if your last name has a Spanish surname, they will assume you didn’t go out of your comfort level.
You already reached AP level, so you’ll be considered as having reached “Level 4” ( it doesn’t matter how many actual high school years you sat in class to reach it.) Take Physics C.
On the commonapp you’ll be asked about native languages, you’d write English and Spanish, but English spoken, read, understood, and Spanish spoken/understood if you didn’t commonly read and write in Spanish until you took Spanish classes.
Actually, you’d list that you speak/read/write/speak at home (if valid) both languages. The CA does not ask what was your language experience at the start of HS, it asks about your experience now.
Regardless, I’d spend zero time at this point second-guessing; you can’t do anything about it now. IMO, reaching AP-level checks off the 4-year box. Whether it’s less impressive that it’s in a heritage language is another debate, but I really doubt that identical applications (except for reaching level 4 in a heritage vs. non-heritage language) would get different admissions results.
Does this recommendation mean that we should have taken 4 years of spanish by our junior year? In my case I will be taking my fourth year of Spanish my senior year(AP Spanish 4) does this satisfy that requirement.
OP is likely fine. Spanish thru AP takes any heritage skills to a higher level, includes writing challenges, exposure to literature and some current events. Many kids don’t get that at home, in casual conversations.
Hilarious, four years is four years.
No. All recommendations, regardless of subject, include coursework in progress Senior year.