<p>I’m a hs sophomore, and I have to decide my courses for next year. My spanish and french teachers are constantly reminding me after-school to continue my foreign language courses, saying that it looks good on college app if you have it all 4 years of hs. I have taken 3 French and 2 Spanish years (spanish is too easy, so I’m just gonna take the state exam at the end of the year, no need for another boring year). The main reason I don’t want to take a Foreign Language next or my senior year is due to time/schedule constraints. I want to take as many ap’s as possible. There are no AP foreign languages at our school, just advanced courses beyond the required 3-year curriculum. Can I stop my foreign language education? Will UPenn frown upon my decision and question my transcript/admission? Or will they realize I wanted to take many hard ap classes? I have to give my final decision to my guidance counselor soon, so what should I do? Is what I have enough? 
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<p>don't stop until you're fluent. if you are, anyone will understand why you haven't taken 4 yrs of a language. of course, you'll need appropriate (650 minimum) SAT II's to back that up. Don't worry about schedule constraints. You have to do what's best for your education intellectually, not on paper. Taking AP's for the sake of taking them is not worthwhile. Especially considering that you have 2 years left. I mean, gee, how many AP's can your school offer?</p>
<p>the point is, as i said, don't drop it unless you're fluent. maybe skip a level if necessary. it's hard to give advice without the specific examples, but adcoms will be able to realize that Spanish 4/5/whatever is probably more important that AP Environmental Science (unless, you know, thats your major or something, etc) or more obscure AP's like that. Adcoms will recognise what you're doing. Dropping one AP for a foreign language will not hurt you. </p>
<p>(Plus, you can apply for huntsman :D)</p>
<p>I would continue with at least one of them and I agree with everything 26e just said. Basically, dropping out of the language could be worse than missing one more AP. Penn will look at your transcript and realize that you're taking the most advanced language your school gives, so that wont hurt you. Dropping out of something you started could, though.</p>
<p>But I don't take APs (our school has lots) just for good application. Also, we have a weighted average ranking system, and my very competitive friends will be maxing out on AP's next year. We can all handle it similarly, so, not taking as much ap's might hurt my ranking (I really want to be Valedictorian). I will eventually take the SAT II for one of the languages, so I don't have to take in college. </p>
<p>Also, here is why I don't really want to take more languages: My french teacher is the most incompetent fool (very old) I've ever met. She can't teach for her life. I wouldn't get anything out another year in her class (think of a rock as a teacher, no exaggeration, and you will see my predicament). As for spanish, I guess I could skip 3rd year and go to advanced college spanish (my teacher is urging me to do so). Spanish is pretty easy, plus the teachers are pretty good, so I might do that. I just would rather take AP classes, especially since junior year is the most important year, especially for rankings (we do final ranking at midterm of senior year, so the second half of senior year won't matter if you took like 10 aps, which is a major waste!!!)</p>
<p>P.S. I want to get into Wharton business school!</p>
<p>If you're relatively fluent in French you should take the SAT II for that and see how you score. If you do well, you could stop French but continue with the advanced Spanish after skipping the lower class. Then next year you could take the SAT II for that and see how things go. If you do well on both, not taking a language senior year won't look bad. But I would think that admissions commitees do like when students take multiple languages. I took both Spanish and French and skipped a level of French and I think it helped me get into Penn ED this year. And about the weighted classes, is the higher level Spanish class weighted? You said that it's college Spanish so I'd think it might be, meaning you wouldn't have to worry about your GPA and Valedictorian status too much.</p>
<p>wharton, so huntsman again. although it seems you aren't leaning that way. but who knows, you want to be in a good way for that, if at some point you think you want to pursue it, which you might. a lot can change in 2 (1 1/2?) years, and thats a door you definitely want open.</p>
<p>also, idk your exact situation, but you could consider taking the class outside. if you think you could handle it, maybe taking the languages from a distance services, like FLVS or a university's distance ed. system? best of bost worlds, if you have time for it.</p>
<p>So, basically I was in the same situation as fuzzman8me when I was applying ED. I only took two years of spanish. I took one year in 8th and one year in 9th and just stopped to pursue AP classes. When I realized that Penn recommended four years of a language I freaked and I worried constantly about it. However, in the end all my worrying was a waste. Contrary to what I explained, I highly recommend taking as many years of a language as possible (I wish I had done so), however if you truly do not like learning a language, don't do it. You don't want to waste your time agonizing over a class you feel like you have to take.</p>
<p>Taking a class at a community college or outside source, just like 26e mentioned, is a great idea since you want to max out your APs in high school. I would suggest taking language classes in the summer if they are offered somewhere close to where you live.</p>
<p>another thing: how does your school rank? my school has both weighted and unweighted ranks. So if you have a really strong schedule, you can afford to be a little low w rank with a no 1 uw rank.
you have to look at the app, and talk with your counselour. if you take the language, and when you apply in two years, you can get a MRA for schedule toughness from your counselour, and [rank: weighted: 4. unweighted: 1] something like that. that's fine. they want to see real, rounded people. not lifeless #'s freaks</p>
<p>We have one new ranking system. It is based on who has the highest weighted averages.
* AP classes= grade x 1.1
* Honors/Accelerated= grade x 1.05
* Everything else/normal= grade x 1</p>
<p>So, whoever has the highest weighted average is valedictorian (hopefully me in 2008! : )</p>
<p>Im in a similar situation and I could use all your opinions also. Im a junior now and I plan on applying next year ED...Im currently taking Russian and Spanish and as of now I plan on dropping Spanish (would be taking Syracuse/college Spanish) and continuing with Russian. I have 3 years of Spanish and have taken the the state test and I will be entering my third year of russian next year where I will take the Russian regents. Does it look bad that I dropped Spanish after three years to take a language which I like a lot more (I blow at spanish) yet know less of?</p>
<p>i doubt it, if you're continuing and doing well in A language. (although it would look bad if you were, in fact, russian - i love russian, btw, lol - but that doesnt seem the case)</p>
<p>Ok, sorry to bother you guys again. Before I go on, let me thank you all for your help!</p>
<p>I have finally decided to drop French (so I will have 3 years of it, the Junior High counts on transcript in my school) and take the SAT II for it. I think I will take it in fall of next year, b/c with all the prep I will be doing for my AP class, etc., I just don't want to bother with it right now. I will pick up a review book over the summer, though, to keep my knowledge refreshed.</p>
<p>I talked to my Spanish teacher, and I can skip 3rd year regular class and just take my state test (regents) to show qualification, at the end of the year. So then, next year, as my teacher suggested, I will take College (I think syracuse) Spanish as a junior. I will also take a sat II for that, (but do I really need to, if I already scored above a 650 on satII for french?). </p>
<p>If I do all that, and not take any language senior year, will it look bad in any way? Please remember that I will have taken TWO languages, both for 3 years each, one where I skipped a complete grade level to college level. Sorry again for the long post, but I just need some feedback so I can breathe freely again. :)</p>
<p>I think it's fine. Must have taken you a while to figure that out. haha, you're doing fine. Relax and breathe.</p>
<p>Take a summer course at a local college in the language you prefer. Then, you can take all the APs you want and, hopefully, get a decent teacher.</p>
<p>i took 3 years of spanish and got accepted ED.
and i took that online placement exam and was placed into that spanish 140 (the 4th of the 4 required semesters of spanish)... i havent had spanish since 10th grade.</p>
<p>thats just me though.</p>