<p>how important is taking all 4 years of the same language if i want to get into an ivy league/top tier school? i'm in my 3rd year of french, taking the 2nd highest level already. next year would be AP if i decided to continue on, but i would rather not .. for several reasons.</p>
<p>i'm not fluent in french, and i don't plan on going any further with it in college. the only reason i would take it if it not taking it would hurt me when i applied. what do you guys think?</p>
<p>I think most top schools require 3 years but recommend 4. Conventional wisdom says that "recommend" and "require" are pretty much synonymous. </p>
<p>I just checked a few Ivies and saw that Harvard, Princeton, and Brown all REQUIRE 4 years.</p>
<p>You are better off staying with one language for 4 years than presenting 2 years each of 2 languages. So people who have contacted admissions offices have told me.</p>
<p>i don't plan on taking a different language, i just don't want to take another year of french (the language i'm taking now). i will if it's going to hurt me though. i don't hate french, but i still have a computer graduation requirement, and that means if i take french, i'm gonna have to drop band :X</p>
<p>Top Ivies may say they "require" four but in my experience you're fine with three and even two in some cases.</p>
<p>Well, if the colleges you're applying to don't require 4 years, then it's a judgement call on your part as to which matters more. My kid got into a top tier school that recommends 4 years of FL, although he only had 3. But it was probably other elements of his application that were persuasive, if you know what I mean. They'll look at your application as a whole thing, so if you have things that set you apart in some way that is desireable to the school, it's probably easier to not worry that single element of a 4th year of FL. Is music a very big part of you application? If so, maybe it makes more sense to stick with band. Or maybe there is a summer language intensive or something you can do that would substitute for that last high school year - ?</p>
<p>It's just something you need to weigh thoughtfully and make a decision.</p>