This is going to ruin it, isn't it?

Applying to College
1

<p>So, I scored 760 in the SAT Subject for Spanish (reading).
I've been having Spanish for two years, as an IB AB Initio student. </p>

<p>The thing is...I also have hispanic roots, so naturally I checked the box on the Common App for hispanic (from Spain). Now...I'm French. I do NOT have a Spanish passport or anything, and my parents are both French as well (my father is half German). </p>

<p>Are Admissions going to disregard my high Spanish score just because of my hispanic roots?</p>

<p>Also, for the language section, they only allow you to put 3 languages. I put English, French and German. Should I put Spanish instead of the German, or leave it as it is?</p>

2

<p>I don’t think they’re going to disregard it as long as you haven’t listed Spanish as a language spoken in your home. If you’re not in some sense a native Spanish speaker, then it still counts as a foreign language regardless of your ethnic origins.</p>

3

<p>^ But I don’t have space to list Spanish as a language! :(</p>

4

<p>Many Hispanic students take Spanish coursework and Subject and/or AP tests, either because Spanish is not their first language, or if they speak Spanish at home, they still need to learn grammar, etc.</p>

<p>If you are fully competent in Spanish as a native speaker, I usually recommend taking a different language and tests. </p>

<p>Admissions will look at your Hispanic background and your Spanish scores in the context of your entire application. Please see the Hispanic students forum for more information on Hispanic status, including post #2 in this thread:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/1229462-does-being-hispanic-have-any-impact-all.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/1229462-does-being-hispanic-have-any-impact-all.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As far as the language section, you should write down whatever is an accurate, truthful assessment of the languages that you speak; this question should not be influenced by the ethnicity you marked.</p>

5

<p>^ I agree with you entomom. Yet, I speak 4 languages (two fluently: French and English). I already put some information in the Additional Information, so I don’t know if I should add more to it…Should I just to include that I also speak Spanish?</p>

6

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<p>First, you can list anything you want in the Additional Information section.</p>

<p>Second, you are arguing both sides. You want to be considered for your Hispanic background, that’s fine. However, marking Spanish as a language that you know and at the same time not wanting to be penalized for taking Spanish courses/tests are at odds with each other. Just write down the truth and don’t overthink it.</p>

<p>x-posted w/cherrybomb</p>

7

<p>But if you don’t speak fluent Spanish, and you’ve learned Spanish in a foreign-language program, it’s not a problem that you’ve taken an SAT II for Spanish as a foreign language.</p>

8

<p>^ I know. I was just worried that they might think my Spanish background might have helped me somehow…</p>

9

<p>^Agree, my impression was that the OP was feeling like they should mark that they know Spanish as a native language in order to support their Hispanic heritage. What I’m trying to tell them is that whatever they mark for ethnicity should not be connected with what they put in other parts of their application, they need to state the truth, not what they think adcoms want to see.</p>

<p>x-posted w/cherrybomb again :)</p>

<p>How’s this, write Spanish in the Additional Info and state that you took coursework in HS because it was not spoken in the home, my kids wrote something similar.</p>

10

<p>^
I thought the OP was worried that Hispanic heritage would render the SAT II score useless and wanted to clarify that Hispanic heritage in this case didn’t impact that score.</p>

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</p>

<p>I agree with this. Somehow make it evident on your application that (if it’s the case, which it sounds like it is) you’re not a native speaker and did not speak Spanish in your home. That will put your SAT II on the same level as any other foreign-language test.</p>

11

<p>^ Yep RedSeven, you are correct. That’s what I was worried about. I’m going to take entomom’s suggestion :)</p>