Honors world language in 9th grade

[Anonymous]

My daughter will be taking a challenging course load in 9th grade, but wants take Spanish 3 instead of Honors Spanish 3. She is not fond of learning Spanish but thinks it would be better for college to have 3-4 years of world language so wants to continue, but not take the Honors class.

Does it matter that she would take the regular Spanish instead of Honors? I don't understand the system very well. She has been getting A's in middle school.

[Anonymous]

If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

[Anonymous]

i don't think it matters to most colleges, especially if her other classes are challenging, and especially if she's not very into spanish. taking honors might just increase her suffering without much payoff

[Anonymous]

It matters. If she gets A grades she should take honors - she will be on track for an AP in the language.

And if she is aiming for top colleges they want to see the most rigorous curriculum chosen - that's honors and AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

[Anonymous]

I've had two kids take Honors Spanish 3 at two different high schools. it's not a hard class. She should take it because Honors classes are weighted to a 5 on the GPA scale, and regular is just a 4. She could try it and if it's too much work, then she could switch to regular.

[Anonymous]

With the covid learning limitations, I am not sure how many kids will do it, but in the past some kids definitely skip level 5 and go straight to AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

I’ve heard from a current and former AO that they want the years to be in high school, unless you reach AP or otherwise max out your school’s offerings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

I’ve heard from a current and former AO that they want the years to be in high school, unless you reach AP or otherwise max out your school’s offerings.

I mean, I get it that if you take 3 years of foreign language just in MS, they may not consider that as "HS school level," but in MCPS they have the accelerated (eg 1AB) and regular (eg 1A, followed by 1B) levels in MS. So if you take 3AB in 8th grade, then you take level 4 in HS, I really doubt that a college would then say "Sorry, that doesn't count!" While at the same time saying it would be fine for someone to take levels 1 and 2 in HS, so achieving a lower level overall.

If you take, say, 1A, 1B, 2A in 3 different MS years, I get how that wouldn't count as 3 years of HS, because in that case a whole year counts as a semester of HS.

Also, don't MS language grades go on the HS transcript or something like that? (We just signed up our older kid for MS so I don't recall everything they said.)

[Anonymous]

The MS classes and grades in HS level classes show on the HS transcript, but they don't calculate into the GPA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the covid learning limitations, I am not sure how many kids will do it, but in the past some kids definitely skip level 5 and go straight to AP.

Yes but this normally happens when they're taking AP in 12th and have done Hons 4 in 11th and got straight A grades. It's so they get the chance to take the AP before graduating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

I’ve heard from a current and former AO that they want the years to be in high school, unless you reach AP or otherwise max out your school’s offerings.

I mean, I get it that if you take 3 years of foreign language just in MS, they may not consider that as "HS school level," but in MCPS they have the accelerated (eg 1AB) and regular (eg 1A, followed by 1B) levels in MS. So if you take 3AB in 8th grade, then you take level 4 in HS, I really doubt that a college would then say "Sorry, that doesn't count!" While at the same time saying it would be fine for someone to take levels 1 and 2 in HS, so achieving a lower level overall.

If you take, say, 1A, 1B, 2A in 3 different MS years, I get how that wouldn't count as 3 years of HS, because in that case a whole year counts as a semester of HS.

Also, don't MS language grades go on the HS transcript or something like that? (We just signed up our older kid for MS so I don't recall everything they said.)

Yes of course they're taking HS level language in MS but they have to be physically in a HS building taking FL for 2 years. That's the state requirement for graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The MS classes and grades in HS level classes show on the HS transcript, but they don't calculate into the GPA

They do for current 10th graders and older. There is a proposal to give 10th and 11th graders same options 9th graders were given but it hasn’t come into place.