<p>Here's my situation:
I moved to my current school during Freshman year, so I had least priority for class selection. I took French in middle school so I wanted to continue French in high school (wanted to take French 1 again because I really didn't care much back in middle school; ended up with D) but there wasn't any room in French, according to my counselor, though I'm sure he lied to me for whatever reason. So I took French 1 in Sophomore year. Because I've been learning French, though not well, in middle school, my French is good compared to the rest of my classmates. I wanted to skip a level to take AP French this year, and my French teacher would love me to do that. But unfortunately, the holier-than-thou German teacher, who is the department leader, says it's against her policy. >=( I also talked to my counselor and the principal, but to no avail.</p>
<p>So 2 questions:
1) How bad is having only 3 years of foreign language?
2) Should I ask my counselor to briefly explain my situation on the college app?</p>
<p>Selective colleges often state that 3 years of one foreign language is “required”. Some also then say 4 years of one foreign language is recommended. There’s of course no harm in studying more than one, but they’d like to see high competence in one language.</p>
<p>So the short answer is that you will have met the requirements.</p>
<p>I’m taken aback however by your comments that one teacher lied to you, and another is holier than thou. Much more important than whether you have 3 or 4 years of a language is the impression you leave with the teachers that teach you – in terms of recommendations, grades, and discussions they may have with your GC. It’s hard to imagine that there is a conspiracy going on in your school to make it difficult for you to study french.</p>
<p>And the answer to your second question is “don’t apologize on your application paperwork for doing the best you can especially when you meet the college requirements.” This has the effect of focusing the application committee on minor points in your application. You’d rather that they focus on your major (positive) points.</p>
<p>i would ask your gc to mention it although i don’t think it would matter, unless it was a really selective school. </p>
<p>my friend tested out of spanish junior year at our school and took italian her senior year. she along with 4 other kids tested out and petitioned to have a spanish class her senior year but the principal or someone said 5 isn’t enough. </p>
<p>a little different scenario but she nonetheless sought help from the administration.
got accepted to some CA school oos and they gave her $ to pursue spanish in spain her first year of college.</p>
<p>EDIT you could always double up.
rare case: my other friend started french 1 as a freshman and by senior year she took french 4 AND AP french, which is, at my school, only allowed after you take french 5. she was so smart that the administration allowed her to take french 4, skip french 5, and straight to AP french. asking never hurts, really.</p>
<p>This all depends on where you are applying to school. As fc stated, schools will have their required years of a subject, and then recommended. Look at the required vs. recommended years at your target schools. If the recommended is more than three, then go to your GC with this information. Be respectful. Tell them you understand their policy, however you want to give the most competitive application possible. Ask if there is anything that can be done to help you. People are better with specifics. I want xyz… doesn’t always get you what you want. I would like xyz because it will help me achieve abc, is a far more concrete concept. They see a direct reason to help you, not just a student that wants the rules different for them.</p>
<p>If someone is studying the sciences and engineering, do they need 3-4 of a single foreign language? Wouldn’t it be better to take only 2 and have more AP science and AP math courses?</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. Can you or someone post a link to a college that explicitly states 3 or more years “required” of a single foreign language?</p>
Please actually read before responding. The teacher I called holier-than-thou is not MY teacher. She’s the German teacher. I highly dislike her because she loves to cling to the power she has at my school because she’s been teaching a long time, and both my French teacher and another language teacher dislike that she has so much control over their decisions. Fellow students have told me that there were many empty seats in French 1 three years ago, something that contradicts what my previous counselor told me, which is that there weren’t any room left in French 1. I got a new counselor now, anyways, since he left. </p>
<p>For your second response, my other major parts of the application (course rigor, 9-11 GPA, ECs) are not so good either, which is why I need every bit of improvement I can get. The only thing that is decent if my SAT score, which is higher than the average scores for all the schools I’m applying to, except Tufts. </p>
<p>An please don’t criticize how I think. I’m asking for answers, not moral evaluations of how I should think/act.</p>
<p>For everyone else, the competitive schools I’m applying to are Cornell, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Tufts, and Carnegie Mellon. Some of them recommend 4 years, so I’m really inclined to ask my counselor to explain my situation. Thoughts?</p>
<p>@ belief, my school doesn’t work like that unfortunately.</p>