I am currently a freshmen in high school, and was wondering if universities like Yale have specific requirements for foreign language classes? I am in the process of choosing my classes for next year, and for electives, I am interested in taking honors computer science (counts as an language credit). Suppose I don’t take any foreign language classes in high school, would this hurt my chances of getting into Ivies?
Not for Yale, it doesn’t.
Absolutely yes.
You must take foreign language classes (at least 3 years) as a requirement for many top-tier universities. Most of them state their exact policy.
For Yale, I would take up to AP Spanish/French/Latin/etc.
Only took 2 years of a language and got accepted to Yale. With so many applicants and so many other variables to consider, the last factor they might want to use to reject an applicant is “he didn’t take enough years of a language”.
With that said, your schedule should really reflect your academic interests. 4 years of a language is awesome but don’t go head over heels trying to achieve it.
fr33pl0x, actually, what you’re saying only applies if your HS only offers 2 years of a foreign language or if you have other extenuating circumstances. It doesn’t apply to everyone.
Top 25 universities/LACs expect up to Level 4 in a foreign language. AP or IB HL or DE Level 4 and 5 would be better, of course, but isn’t expected the way level 4 is.
For reference: Top colleges expect each HS year to include 1 unit each from the 5 core courses: English, Math, Science, Social Science, Foreign Language. Jr/Sr year you can “double up” in one subject (ie. 2 AP sciences instead of AP Foreign Language senior year = fine. APES, AP Psych, no Foreign language jr/sr year = not fine.)
Yale is in fact more exacting than its peers: it has no specific entrance requirement… but it has a pretty heavy foreign language college graduation requirement that requires roughly 1 or 2 semesters POST AP LEVEL (that pretty much supposes everyone’s reached at least HS Level 4 if not AP.) You have to take 1 semester if you scored a 5 on the AP language, 2 semesters (or more) otherwise. If you start from scratch, you have to take 5 semesters. Keep in mind that in most cases, 1 semester college language at Yale = 2 years of high school FL for L1 and L2. Yes, that means you cover 1 semester’s worth of material in high school in 1 month in college. The pace is brutal and assumes you already have some FL knowledge (many students with 2 years start at L1).