<p>My high school is a joint middle school and high school and an IB school. I am a junior. So we started a foreign language in 7th grade. I concluded spanish 4 in 10th grade. If I take a different language instead of venturing on to AP Spanish (a 2-year course at my school), will that hurt my chances of getting into the really elite schools? I know Princeton allows it but what about Harvard and others? It's because I want to take the opportunity to learn another language since I know I want to take Spanish classes in college and would rather not have like 10 years of a language. I am a non native which means I have to work about 5 times harder than the natives and even then, I don't know if I can get an A in AP Spanish. Plus, my schedule for senior year is already going to be my hardest ever and adding AP Spanish Lit to that makes me concerned if I can handle it since I do not want to sacrifice my science grades for a foreign language. I want to be a biology major.
My argument is that I've already taken the same foreign language for 4 years, so shouldn't I be free to take another language I want for the remaining two years? Considering my school is an IB school (if that matters to colleges), will they see that reasoning the same way? Or will they disregard the first two years since it was in middle school?</p>
<p>I'm already taking 5 APs and 6 with AP Spanish. Would the top colleges rather see a B in an AP Spanish class than an A in a regular foreign language, considering I do well in all my other APs. I just wanna know if this is a misconception that any B at all has a bad connotation with the courseload I just mentioned? I hope that makes sense.</p>
<p>This is probably the most FAQ regarding high school course selection for college admissions.</p>
<p>Many colleges do not clearly state on their web pages whether “four years of [the same] foreign language” means “completion of level 4 or higher”, or “four years of courses in [the same] foreign language in high school, if available”. However, it is likely that “completion of level 4 or higher” is more important for most colleges, although some colleges likely still have a preference for you to continue the same language to higher level courses if offered at your high school. But ask each college specifically if you really want to know.</p>
<p>Hey, if you’re an awesome student with some extras, top schools might even let you get away with, gasp, less than four years of foreign language. My son had two semesters of college Arabic-that’s it-and he got into Princeton and Penn.</p>
<p>Best thing to do is contact the schools you’re interested in and ask.</p>
<p>However, note that college foreign language courses are typically more intensive than high school foreign language courses, so second semester of college foreign language may be seen as equivalent to third year (or even higher) of high school foreign language.</p>
<p>If you are applying to top schools why talk in terms of AP and not IB? Then you just take SL spanish, they used to do this fully in junior year at my kids school, but now they do spread it over 2. So the kids that started in 7th go right through to 12 even at SL, even on completion of spanish 4 at the end of 10th grade. </p>
<p>From what I see and based on D’s experience with Spanish (she actually has various froficiencies in 3 foreign languages), the best is to stick to Spanish, the most useful of them all (if living in the USA). I do not remember what level of Spanish D. had in HS. It was irrelevant in her case. Her public in-state UG required taking foreign language test before one could register for first sememster of freshman year. As non-native, D. had very easy time with any languge though, we do not know why. maybe exposure to several from the early childhood (but no Spanish) and her music education outside of school has something to do with it. Anyway, her college placement test resulted in a score higher than the highest listed which placed her into 3rd year college Spanish. This class ended up being one of her best UG classes. She tool only required one sememster of Spanish and was able to speak after that. Later this class enabled her to place into intermediate Medical Spanish while at Medical School (not required class, purused it on her own initiative). Her Spanish opened up additional opportunities at Medical School, the ones that makes her residency application to stand out and she is listing Spanish on this application also along with her other foreign language which is not as profficient.
I say, stick to Spanish, do not spread yourself thinly, unless you are hoping to gain some profficiency in anohter language. In D’s case, her college experience was ONLY one sememster of Spanish and it was one of the most efficient classes with the most positive outcome for her future. </p>
<p>Harvard allows it, but they also believe in achieving fluency in a language. (And I can tell you as an architect who works a lot with Spanish immigrants I wish it were Spanish I could speak well instead of French and German.) Here’s the language which used to be on the Harvard website, I think it’s good advice, not for getting into Harvard in particular, but for how to think about why we learn foreign languages at all (I’m surprised they got rid of it.):</p>
<p>Now they just say four years. If you took a course labeled “Spanish 4” you can consider yourself to have taken 4 years. I’d still recommend taking the AP, but if your school is stretching it out over two years, I understand your reluctance, is there any way you could take a community college course so that you don’t forget what you’ve learned?</p>
<p>IN this case, considering you’re in IB, I think it would be okay ONLY if you take two years of ab initio language, especially one that’s less commonly taught (such as Arabic) but any other is okay as long as you get an A AND since you reached Spanish 4 push yourself to take the AP Spanish language test this Spring. This way, you’re covered for “advanced” (with the AP) AND you demonstrate curiosity and personal interest with the ab initio language.</p>
<p>My son got his first acceptance this past week and his award was not calculated correctly. He has studied French since preschool (13 years total) so he obviously started at a higher level in high school and only has 2 years of French ending in French 4. The guideline at this specific university does state 4 years or level 4, however, whoever reviewed his application obviously didn’t look closely at it. He contacted the university and they have made the correction but just be aware that it will often require some follow up. </p>
<p>I do not know how it is determined at Harvard and what credits one may get at Harvard.<br>
As I mentioned, it was no escape at D’s state public. She had to take a placement test, she would not be able to register for the first sememster of freshman year. And depite her having socre that was much higher than the highest listed, she was required to take one sememster of Spanish, which was a 3rd year college Spanish and she has absolutely no regrets for it. She was complemented several times by hersuperiors for her ability and she ripped benenfits of more opportunities. So, why even struggle with such a clear cut choice, Take college Spanish, you will be rewarded. BTW, D. took National test and placed Nationally, (whatever that was), during her HS. College class was still very challenging. All this calculations in regard to years are irrelevant, she had another language since she was 3 y o several hours every single day all thru 8 grade, with dissmal results. </p>
<p>At Harvard in the past you could get out of the language requirement with a 5 on the AP or above a certain score on the SAT (which is why even if you don’t want to submit a language score it might be worthwhile sitting for the subject tests spring senior year if you are taking a language.) The requirements change constantly and are different at every school so it behooves one to check the individual university website is one wants to be excused from a language requirement. Many universities also give language tests at Freshman orientation. </p>
At Harvard a 5 on the AP or a 700+ on the SAT subject test exempts one from the language requirement. There is an online placement test given over the summer for new students in French, Spanish, Italian, and German with verification exams held during New Student Week. On-campus placement tests are offered in other languages during New Student Week.</p>
<p>That said, I’d suggest continuing through AP Spanish Language, but forgoing AP Spanish Literature if you so desire.</p>
<p>^I’d think it a great choice, but I thought OP had said it wasn’t available - I suppose that because of the IB model, it’s either 2 years (Ap Span Lan + span Lit) or ab initio.</p>
<p>You have met any requirements for 4 years of a single foreign language. Plan your HS courses to benefit you, not to game the college entrance system. Continuing in Spanish will improve your fluency and keep you from forgetting it if you wish to major in it in college. However, the thought of learning a different language for the fun of it in HS is an excellent idea. Do not base your decision on possible grades but on your interest. There is no reason to continue Spanish unless you are truly interested in it and want to continue it. Enjoy your HS academics. It sounds like the thought of more Spanish stresses you and it may be a good idea to remove it from your schedule just to take away the stress. However- if you plan on taking more Spanish in college continuing with it will be beneficial. Remember however that once you finish with the 4th level of any language you have finished with the fundamentals are getting into culture and literature. </p>
<p>Ask yourself WHY you want to continue with Spanish in college. There are many subjects and interests from HS that are let go of in college in favor of all sorts of new interests. Free yourself to explore other options- such as another foreign language in HS. Do not let the perceived toughness of any course, IB or AP discourage from a course. Who knows- you could get the A. Having met the 4 years requirement do not torture yourself with a class you really don’t want just to get college credits from HS work. Do not count on getting into Harvard or any other school regardless of how perfect your credentials are. </p>
<p>btw- does being a nonnative English speaker make it more difficult for you because you are still translating internally into your native tongue? Likely not an Indo-European language as those have many similarities to English. I took HS French and college German (Chemistry major) and found it interesting to see how those languages influenced English. You might have fun with learning another foreign language instead of Spanish culture.</p>
<p>I thought colleges only counted the credits taken in 9th-12th grades. If they count the credits from 7th and 8th, does that mean they use the GPAs from those grades to calculate the cumulative GPA? Do they count all courses and ECs from middle school or just foreign languages? Suppose your middle school is separate from your high school, but your child had 2 years of a language at the MS and 2 more at the HS, which school sends the MS transcript? </p>
<p>^I don’t think there is one hard and fast rule. Our high school has certain high school level courses that were taken in middle school on the high school transcript and factored into the GPA. These are for most students - Algebra 1, and Regents Biology. Since the 1st year language course is stretched over two years of middle school they just given it a “CR” and you start high school at Level 2. I imagine that most colleges even if they recalculate GPAs will count those courses because they are there on the high school transcript with their grades, but some might not. The middle school does warn the parents that their kids should not take these high school level courses if they don’t expect to do well since they will not go away.</p>
<p>My dd took six trimesters of Spanish in HS, which amount to three academic years, ending with AP Spanish Language, the highest level offered at her school. She is a heritage speaker, which I regard as different both from a native speaker and a non native speaker. She got a 5 in the AP exam and over 700 in the SAT with listening, her college requires still her to take a placement test to get out of the foreign language requirement although I believe she got some credit as a generic elective. She would have liked to start a new language but scheduling conflicts did not allow it.
If you were my daughter I would recommend continuing onto AP Spanish. You say it is a two year course, which means it won’t be as gruelling as a regular one year AP class and you will not be sitting for the exam at the end of the year. This way you still have the rigor that elite colleges seek but it will not be as taxing as your other AP classes. Plus, you never know how easy or hard you will find the next language! You might to work just as hard to get a grasp of a whole new one! </p>
<p>InfoQuestMom: There are two different AP courses/tests – Language, and Literature. Apparently the OP’s school requires that you take both as a two year sequence, or none. Students would take the Language AP test in 11th grade and Literature in 12th. </p>
<p>Getting credit for taking a course and having your grade in a course are two different things. Meeting foreign language requirements means passing the courses, regardless of the passing grade received. It does not imply competence in the language. Middle school foreign language grades do not have to count on your HS transcript to count. For example, you take two years of a language in middle school which are considered equivalent to one year of HS so you start with level two in HS. Once you finish level four in HS you will have the equivalent of four college semesters of that foreign language. This means you have 4 years of the language for admissions to college purposes and could mean you have met a college’s graduation requirement for foreign language. It does not matter what passing grades you received and you do not have to take any AP or other exams. Getting college credits for the language would be dependent on AP scores and/or passing a placement test given by the college plus taking a semester of that language in college.</p>
<p>Sounds complicated but it is straightforward. For most colleges having the equivalent of 4 years of HS foreign language will make you competitive as an applicant. Deciding to get AP credits is a different matter. Those AP credits may or may not count as college credits depending on the college you eventually attend. Likewise- SAT results will show mastery but otherwise do nothing.</p>
<p>Bottom line- make your HS course choice based on your interest and ability.</p>