I’m currently a junior studying in Canada. I have begun looking at universities in the US and plan to apply and study there.
Some universities have a required amount of credits for a high school subject (i.e. you need 3 years of foreign language for Columbia). The problem with me and what makes my situation unique is that I studied Chinese in a US high school in 9th grade and when I moved to Canada for 10th grade, I took beginners French.
Since the graduation requirement is 1 French credit and my school just offers 1 beginner French and no more beginner classes after, should I still apply to schools where I don’t meet the full high school requirements.
@DadTwoGirls understands the education system in Canada. He can probably help you.
In the US we suggest that students dual enroll at a local college. A one semester language class is equivalent to a year of high school language. Do you have anything like that available?
If you can self-study, some colleges might be ok with an SAT subject test or AP exam as a foreign language substitute (but I doubt this would fly at ivies like Columbia).
@austinmshauri I don’t think I would do dual enrollment or something like that. I think I will just not meet the requirement for foreign language. Will they still consider me/ make exceptions for me? Also, some universities have both history and social studies requirements. What is the difference and what would law be considered?
You will be evaluated in the context of the school that you are in and the norms of the country you are from. US HS requirements don’t apply to you.
Unfortunately I do not know the language requirements for US universities. Most of my family were past anything that they require so it never came up.
Are you a Canadian permanent resident or a Canadian citizen?
One thing that I wonder about is whether it would fulfill the language requirements for US schools if you were to take additional French courses over the summer. The ones that I am aware of are intensive programs in either the province of Quebec (Montreal and Quebec City), or in two of the maritime provinces (one in New Brunswick and one in Nova Scotia). I have heard that there are other courses in other provinces. There are programs for high school students and separate programs for older kids and adults. They have classes for students all the way from beginners who can barely say “merci” through students who are getting sort of close to fluent.
However, you would need to contact admissions at universities that you are considering in the US and see whether they would consider this as meeting their requirements.
Of course the community colleges near where you live might also offer French courses (this seems likely since you are in Canada).
Again, students who are attending schools outside the US are not expected to fulfill US HS requirements. As an example, students in the UK doing A-levels would never be able to meet the usual expectations, yet even tippy top US colleges happily accept them.
And, fwiw Columbia does not actually require 3 years of a foreign language, even for US-based students. I know, conventional wisdom says “highly recommend” is the same as “required” but it’s not. That’s where context comes in.
I am not sure if a Canadian applicant would be exused from the foreign language requirement given the availability of French language and immersion classes in virtually every Canadian high school.
@collegemom3717 is absolutely correct. A college’s recommendations for HS prep is meant to apply to most (but by no means all) applicants, and certainly not to all international applicants. As another example, no US college (except maybe UC) would require or recommend that a non US-based applicant have had courses in US history or government.
That said, some colleges, and Columbia is one, require foreign language for the college diploma; that’s not negotiable. But, for international applicants, not having sufficient HS foreign language experience would not necessarily mean an automatic reject. However, the Canadian HS system is not like the British system where one spends the last 2 years studying 3 subjects in depth. It is unlikely that the Canadian HS offered no French past beginner’s, so the OP made the decision not to pursue a subject which was available. There may have been extenuating circumstances, (one of which is not that the HS did not require), but it is unknown based on the OP if any such circumstances exist.