Hi! I’m an incoming junior and I was wondering how detrimental it would be for me to only take two years of foreign language.
I’m taking a full load of ap courses, have a perfect gpa, hold several leadership positions, and am in two varsity sports. Will only taking two years of foreign language affect my chances at going to a good college? My dream school is Columbia.
I took Chinese freshman and sophomore year but I really, really disliked the class. I’m not a native Chinese speaker and the Chinese program after Level 2 at my school is extremely difficult to ace. In replacement of Chinese, I am taking AP Computer Science. As much as I HATE Chinese class, I don’t want foreign language to limit me in my choice of colleges. Almost all students at my school take 3-4 years of foreign language. If not continuing Chinese is really detrimental, then I will put myself through another year of extreme suffering.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you so much!
Two years should be just fine, as long as you continue to do well in your AP courses and extracurricular activities. Computer science should serve you well. With two years under your belt, no need to continue taking a language you hate.
Look at each school you are considering and find out what is required/recommended for each one. As a general rule, two years of foreign language seems light.
Assume for the moment that you apply to Columbia, are accepted and you choose to attend. And you’ll learn that Columbia has a foreign language requirement for graduation.
This is not untypical for the Ivies. Penn has a similar requirement.
It’s quite likely for someone who has taken 2-years of language to not be in a position to satisfy Columbia’s requirement (“high score” in the language SAT II or AP score or Columbia’s placement test). So you may find yourself in a position to need to take introductory through intermediate language courses at Columbia. Will you start with a new language or will you continue with Chinese, which you dislike. My sense is that you’d prefer to do something else at college.
Your list of positives qualities are excellent, but consider that most competitive applicants will have a similar profile plus 4 years of language. You have not taken your SATs yet. Without knowing your scores, it would be a mistake to tarnish your competive edge by not continuing with Chinese.
“Almost all students at my school take 3-4 years of foreign language.”
If that is true than your GC might not check most rigorous especially since you said after Chinese 2 is extremely difficult.
Not everyone takes AP CS unless applying in STEM, but a lot of people take at least 3 years of a FL.
Thank you for the advice everyone! I realize how much only taking two years of foreign language will affect my chances of going to a top school. However, I strongly believe that if I were to take Chinese again this year, other aspects of my life (like sports, grades, extracurriculars, etc) would be affected. I’d rather do well in the things I love than have an extra year of foreign language on my transcript. I wouldn’t mind taking a couple years of foreign language in college.
Personally, I’d focus more on how to get in to college rather than planning on how to fulfill requirements to a college that hasn’t admitted you. Perhaps your strategy will work for you. Good luck.
Then you need a new list of school rather than insist on such competitive schools and have a defect in your core requirements. I don’t know your resources, but doing a summer immersion program could have cracked the nut. The top schools are interested in your fluency level. Plus you would have something to say about persevering at something that is a bit harder and you are not as good at than staying in your comfort zone and taking electives instead.
Columbia’s recommendations as listed in post 2 are for the same foreign language. This will be the case across the board for colleges that require/request a certain amountt of FL preparation.
Thanks @ucbalumnus I never knew what exactly that meant. My S started in 6th grade. They do 6 wks of each language offered. In 7th grade they begin. So he has had 5 full years of FL already. Is this not common? Most kids at his HS take it very early.
During the recent admissions season I was accepted to Yale (early action) and Columbia (via likely letter) along with a number of other competitive universities. I only took 2 years of French in high school.
I don’t wish to discredit the advice that many of the people are giving you. Taking 4 years of a language is great and can look great on your college application. However there are just so many other components to a persons college application that you shouldn’t get caught up in minor things like that.
Junior year I had to decide whether I would take 2 science courses or continue on to French 3. Since I saw that the level of French I could reach in hs was limited I chose the 2 sciences. Avoid getting caught up in all the chatter telling you to do what I think are unnecessary things to impress college admissions officers (like studying a language over the summer).
If you hate Chinese then don’t take it. Use your time to do things that you like. I think as a rule of thumb, try your best to avoid doing things exclusively to impress colleges.
That is what exactly what I [said](Doesn’t everyone take 3 years of language in middle school though?) on a similar thread, if you don’t have a hook, don’t take the risk.