I will be a senior next year in high school and have already been taking a language for three years, which I plan to take next year as well. I am also wanting to start a new language next year in addition to this just because I find the subject matter interesting and challenging. However, I have been told that starting a new language your senior year of high school is seen as a “red flag” for college admissions offices, and was dissuaded from taking it. Do you think that this is a valid concern, or is taking this class something I shouldn’t be concerned about?
It’s not that it’s a red flag.It’s more like what do you do with one year of HS foreign language? If you plan to continue it in college, if you’re lucky, you’d get placed into second semester.But it is also possible that you would have to start from scratch.
If you’re not planning on continuing in college, or don’t care if you have to restart in college, it’s perfectly fine as an elective so long as it is not at the expense of another core subject.
I will also say, as a data point of one, that I started a new language as a senior, and it did not seem to harm my application. That said, it’s the one HS class I regretted taking, since I quickly realized that I would not achieve any sort of competency after a year, and I could not justify giving up a slot in my college schedule to continue.YMMV.
A number of selective colleges recommend/require that applicants take four years of foreign language – which means reaching level 4 of one language. If you are continuing with the foreign language you have been taking and add a second foreign language as an elective (it should not replace a core subject) then it should not be a “red flag.”. That said, what you should to consider if there is a more valuable (or more rigorous if you are aiming for a top tier college) class you might prefer to take in that elective slot.
Have you gotten to Lavel 4 of your language? Like did you take some spanish in middle school and were placed into Spanish 2 in freshman year? Then you would be in spanish 4 this year. You could either take AP Spanish or if you wanted, start another one.
@bopper OP said at the outset that s/he is continuing with the 4th year, and is only asking about adding a second foreign language to the mix.
4th year or 4th level?
If you want to add on this language, go ahead. It is really, truly, OK for you to do something just for fun.
I agree with @happymomof1. My daughter, who is a current senior, maxed out in Japanese after taking college Japaneses online through BYU. She started Arabic online her senior year. If you are interested in languages, why would you not take another language? Her senior schedule is AP Calc, Lit, US History and CompSci and Honors Physics. I guess the language would be considered an elective, but she considers it an academic class. Languages online are no joke and very difficult. Also, one of her teacher recommendations was from her Japanese teacher.
BTW - My daughter was accepted at some of the finest universities and LACs in the country.