<p>I couldn't find this on the search function, so here's my question.</p>
<p>Spanish is my first language and I decided to take four years of Spanish for AP credit and because my counselor told me it would look good on my application. Will having taken four years of spanish impress college admissions officers? Or will it it just show to them that I took at advantage of the system.</p>
<p>If you have native or heritage level skill, it would look better to do one of the following:</p>
<p>a. Start in a higher level Spanish course appropriate to your ability (perhaps level 4 or 5; check the school’s Spanish teachers). After completing the highest level the school offers, use the empty schedule space for a different language or other academic elective. Your record will show level 4 or 5 of Spanish and some level of another language.</p>
<p>b. If your Spanish ability is higher than any of your high school’s courses, start a different language. You can take the AP and SAT subject tests to show colleges your Spanish ability in addition to however many levels of other language courses you have in school.</p>
<p>I’m already a senior in high school and I didn’t take Spanish V. I didn’t take a second language this year. My question was if 4 years of Spanish will still look good to an admissions officer.</p>
<p>While being bilingual is an asset, there is nothing impressive of passing classes in a language you are already fluent in.</p>
<p>Your counselor should be fired, for any number of reasons. You share the blame for taking non-required classes that you knew that you would learn nothing in.</p>
<p>I guess that you know my answer to your question: No, taking 4 years of a language that is your native language is not that impressive.</p>
<p>I do know of kids who take classes in their family language to refine their skills- just because it’s spoken at home doesn’t mean it’s on a high level or that you get the reading and writing. But, it’s not considered a tough challenge, when you already have the ear.</p>
<p>Just because someone is a native speaker, does not mean that person can read and write the language fluently. And, if the dialect spoken at home is significantly different from the standard dialect taught in school here, speaking the language at home does not mean that the student can communicate effectively in the standard spoken dialect.</p>
<p>Even when someone is fully literate in the home language, and the home language is a standard dialect, there are precious few means for high school aged people to demonstrate their fluency. Taking Language X in school through the AP level, and/or taking the AP exams, SAT II exams, or CLEP exams are just about it.</p>
<p>What is done is done. The colleges and universities will make of it what they will. The OP should not worry about this any more, and get on with his/her life.</p>
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<p>But isn’t it likely that such students start in a higher level course than the level 1 course?</p>
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<p>All of these options are readily available for Spanish. Perhaps less so for Vietnamese, Punjabi, or Farsi.</p>
<p>For “taking Language X in school through the AP level”, a heritage speaker might start at a higher level course (perhaps the AP course) based on recommendation from the Language X teachers, so there wouldn’t be “wasted” schedule space on lower level courses.</p>
<p>Agree, just didn’t say it. Some kids will be ready to start higher. Others may know dialect or a very informal level. But, if you start high, you may not get 3-4 years worth. Some of these kids do take an additional language. All this can depend on what the colleges expect.</p>
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No, it’s not impressive at all. In fact, on the SAT II Spanish test, the percentile ranking of the scores excludes the scores of native speakers.
<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;
<p>College AO’s will look dimly upon the fact that you used the opportunity to pad your GPA, rather than to take courses to stretch yourself academically.</p>
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<p>Such a student will reach a high level. For example, suppose a heritage speaker of Spanish takes only AP Spanish 4 in high school after being placed there by the Spanish teachers. Is that necessarily worse than someone else who takes 3 years of Spanish 1, 2, and 3?</p>
<p>@ucb, OP said Spanish is his/her FIRST language, not heritage language</p>
<p>Does it look impressive if students in the US take English all 4 years? Nah </p>
<p>They may see it as you trying to pad your gpa</p>
<p>Saying a language is your first language implies that you are fluent in this language; if so, then it certainly is not impressive to have spent years taking classes in which you basically learned nothing. However, it’s already done. </p>
<p>Maybe you should note in your app that your counselor recommended that you take this language?</p>
<p>Ucb- specifically only one year? He risks one of the first comments being about FL, foreign language. It’s not only about competence, also about the process. And his choices. A kid who walks into AP is presumably doing this early and could take an addl lang. Some who have a legit conflict do an online or a cc class, in order to continue. </p>
<p>OP shouldn’t worry, nor point a finger. He can’t change it now and adcoms will weigh. Remember, you submit a whole app. We have cases where we know the 3 years of Spanish were to improve, to get in the lit and writing. Not every Spanish speaker is fluent at the right levels. It just all depends on the whole picture.</p>