<p>I posted on this thread because many of you have gone through the college application process already, so I thought you may have some good advice. </p>
<p>My son is a rising junior, and we are choosing classes for next year. He took Japanese 3 his Freshman year, and Japanese 4 his Sophomore year. He can take Japanese 5 next year, but he is pretty sick of it, and would like the opportunity to take another elective, as his schedule is very rigorous at this point.</p>
<p>He has very high-level LAC's and small universities as reaches on a general list we have going (i.e., Pomona, Whitman, WUSTL). Would it hurt his application to only take 2 years of foreign language, even though he reached Level 4? He would be willing to take Jap. 5 if he has to. Thanks for any advice.</p>
<p>Colleges want students to have reached a certain level of proficiency (intermediate), not to stick things out for a certain amount of time. 2 years of hs-level study generally = 1 year of college study, and most elite LACs and universities want their kids to have proficiency equivalent to 4 high school years, or 2 college years. If your son is already in Japanese 4, then he’s done if he wants to be. The only possible bad consequence might be that when he gets to college he won’t ace the placement test, and will have to take another semester of so of Japanese to finish his language requirement.</p>
<p>At my kids’ hs, everybody aiming for a good college takes 4 years of French, Spanish, German, or Latin, generally beginning in 8th grade. But only the really dedicated foreign-language learners go on to level 5, which is AP here.</p>
<p>To follow the above post, ask your HS GC how the 1 and 2 courses – presumably taken in 7th and 8th grades – are viewed. Often, the first two intro years when taken in middle school = 1 HS credit year. So your son might have a total of 3 years in a FL, not 4.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies.
jingle, he will be happy if this is true.
TXArtemis, his situation is a little different in that he attended a public language immersion school from 1-8, then tested into Jap. 4 when entering his high school, but decided to take Jap. 3 in order to have an easier class. No one in middle school takes Jap. 1 and 2 here, just high school. I will ask the guidance counselor about this, as it has had to have happened often, as we also have iimmersion Spanish and French schools.</p>
<p>My D finished third year level of her first foreign language as a sophomore, and we had the same concern about her switching languages. She decided to do it, and enjoyed 2 years of a new language. She’s now at Pomona, and has returned to the first language as a possible minor, enjoying it lots more than she did in high school. Apparently, it wasn’t required that a student pursue 4 high school years in the same language.</p>
<p>It’s very important to check with your GC to see what previous successful candidates have done, how the courses will be listed on a transcript, as well as check with prospective schools. My son found that his target schools considered FL to be a core subject. If you dropped it during hs you had better replace it with a value added course (AP Comp Sci for a prospective Engr for example). As always YMMV.</p>
<p>Another way to think about it: what kind of respect do you have for a school that would be concerned more with counting how many high school years only that one has taken a language, to tick off a box, over an interest in a students’ formally acquired proficiency in a second language? Which school would you want you kid to attend?</p>
<p>It pains me to see the power differential of this stupid admissions nonsense… and how so many feel they need to jump through arbitrary hoops to appease schools rather than follow whats best for their kid and step back and question the standards and philosophy of each school(and seek those that they respect and that matches their kid).</p>
<p>^^^^
Yes, I see where you are coming from philosophically, but I am being very much a realist, as we need quite a bit of financial and/or merit aid. I hope to assist my son in finding schools that are a good match for him for reaches, matches, etc., and I find that many colleges, especially selective colleges, would like to see quite a bit of foreign language. It would be a shame to have to lose out on a chance to go to a school because of one year of foreign language. Many students don’t like a certain area, maybe math, language arts, science, etc., but will jump through the hoop for four years to go to their idea of a desirable college, and hopefully to learn a little something, also. It is a shame that college admissions has gotten so crazy, but it has, so we do have to get a little crazy along with it. I am just so thankful that I have found CC early enough in the process to realize this in order to guide my son and try to keep some of the craziness away from him as he should enjoy high school while also working hard.</p>
<p>I just believe that any selective school, or any school worth attending, is not just ticking boxes. They really are using holistic admission processes and the question you ask will not make a difference.</p>
<p>Interesting question. My son has had difficulties getting foreign language. He studied Spanish through 8th grade but was turned off by it. He did ASL in 9th grade and nothing in 10th. I told him he needed foreign language (we homeschool in Ca. so we have to design our own program), preferably 3 years, so he chose Arabic. He took a semester at the college in the fall which, for some reason, is the equivalence of 2 years of high school (says so in the course description). Arabic 102 conflicted with baseball this spring so he couldn’t take it. I talked with a former admissions officer who said to explain the situation in my counselor letter and that he thought it was perfectly fine that he chose baseball over Arabic (he is a math/physics kid). He is planning on taking 2 more semesters of Arabic at the college. If it’s not enough and he gets “dinged” by admissions, oh well. At least he actually enjoys learning Arabic and says he wants to become fluent so I guess that’s what matters. It will be too late for anymore of it to be on his transcript before he applies in the fall but that’s the way it goes I guess.</p>
<p>Any reasonable university that wants to see foreign language would be more concerned about the level of course attained, or some other indication of the desired level of proficiency, than the number of years studied.</p>
<p>Of course, that does not necessarily mean that all universities are reasonable in this respect.</p>