Hi. So I am currently a junior in high school. I am taking Spanish 4 Honors and plan to take AP Spanish 5 next year as a senior. I am also in French 3 right now, and plan to take French 4 Honors in Senior year. I have been taking two languages in high school since I was a freshman, as I have a huge passion for linguistics. I plan on majoring in international business or linguistics. Among my extracurriculars, I am a Hebrew tutor at my local sunday school and I also am a leader of international club. Originally, I thought taking these two languages would be impressive to colleges, but now I’m having second thoughts.
Next year, I have the option to take an AP science instead of a foreign language. Would this be more impressive to colleges?
I appreciate all the help I can get
Thank you
I’m also in AP US History, AP English, AP Psych, and a beta class for AP Physics, so I take rigorous courses besides languages
Seems like you already have an AP science (AP physics) in your schedule. Have you also taken biology and chemistry (not necessarily AP)?
Math through precalculus or calculus? Art/music?
Taking two foreign languages to a high level will definitely be helpful in your intended majors, so it is a good thing to have, as long as they do not cause you to be below normal level in anything else.
I haven’t taken those 2 AP sciences yet, no. And thanks for your reply!
But have you at least taken regular biology and chemistry?
I think that at the very least, you should have the three main laboratory sciences (i.e., chemistry, physics and biology), with one or more at the honors or AP level. Beyond that, if you don’t plan on going into a STEM field, you’ll probably be fine with just those three. As @ucbalumnus suggests, you just need to make sure you get far enough in math (probably Calc AB would be enough if you are looking at more elite schools) and that you have met all of your other requirements.
My daughter is almost in the exact same situation as you; she studies two languages and was trying to decide whether or not she needed to take math and/or science in her senior year or if she could skip either or both and take literature classes in her two languages and AP Psych. (she plans to study comparative literature in college). I’ve gotten a few opinions of GC’s and those in the know. One of the adcoms I spoke with at a school we visited said that, as long as the student challenges him/herself, they would rather see a kid with passion for learning rather than one that just wants to tick off all of the boxes (i.e., 4 years of all core subjects). She ultimately decided that she will probably take AP Stats and forgo science.
Thanks so much for your reply! Is your daughter looking at ivy leagues?
Yes- I took honors chem/bio in freshman and sophomore year
You didn’t mention your math classes, which will be important for a business major. Will you take math up to Calculus?
Seems like you are good with science, since you will have all three of biology, chemistry, and physics.
What level of math will you complete by high school graduation? Precalculus is generally the minimum expected by colleges at the high end of the admission selectivity scale; if you complete precalculus in 11th grade or earlier, calculus is strongly recommended if you are targeting highly selective colleges, since most other applicants to highly selective colleges will have it.
As a business major, you will need to learn calculus and statistics either now (in high school) or later (in college). As a linguistics major, general skills in math, statistics, and logic should be helpful.
@ucbalumnus is spot on (as usual).
In answer to your question, my daughter is probably looking more at LACs than Ivys, but may apply to one or two Ivys just for fun.
What schools are you interested in? (Also, you do know that studying languages is very different than studying linguistics, no?). I studied both back in early prehistory, so I could possibly advise on that.