Hi all
I am a senior who is planning on applying early decision to Wesleyan. My application is strong in every aspect except for in that I have only taken three years of language. My school only offers AP Spanish as a fourth year, not normal Spanish. I am taking four other APs, all of which I am very interested in, while Spanish is not a field of study I’m planning on going into. However, Wesleyan says that 82% of their matriculating students have taken a fourth year of language. Should I take the class and maybe not do so hot, or rely on the strength of the rest of my application?
Also I need to decide by tomorrow
Drop one of your other classes to regular and take the Spanish. One fewer AP will not matter to colleges but only having 3 years of Lang probably will.
If I took it and dropped it after I got in somewhere early action or early decision, could they rescind my admission?
You’d have to notify the college that your courses had changed. Whether that would affect your admission would depend on the school.
Yes, dropping or changing courses after an admission decision may cause the college to review your application, since the admission was based on the expectation of completing the originally reported in-progress course work.
Consider whether any of your colleges has a foreign language graduation requirement, and whether completing a higher level in high school may allow you to complete the college graduation requirement in fewer courses in college by placing into a more advanced foreign language course at the start.
How do I know whether it would affect Wesleyan? Is it just a crapshoot?
Look, while Wesleyan does seem to prefer that students take four years of a language, it is not necessarily a kiss of death: 18% did not do so. If Wesleyan is your top choice, though, I think you may want to be in the 82% who take 4 years of language and not the 18% who don’t… unless you really struggle with languages due to a learning disability or something.
But there is a better reason to take Spanish. Fluency in another language is a wonderful thing. My one regret about my entire educational career was taking Latin in middle and high school instead of a spoken language like Spanish. I am learning Spanish now.
@sweatermonster my son tried to drop his 2nd science course last year after just applying to college and the school wouldn’t allow it. Check with you counselor- our school’s policy was once the transcript was sent they wouldn’t allow any changes.