World language requirements
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Anonymous
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Do you need to 3 credits in the same language or can it be a combination? Do colleges view it unfavorably?
Instead of taking Spanish-1, Spanish-2 and Spanish-3, can you take Spanish-1, Spanish-2 and Chinese-1? |
Anonymous
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For the advanced diploma (which 70+% of students get, you have to do 3 years of one language or 2 + 2 (meaning 2 of Spanish and 2 of Chinese).
I don't think colleges care regarding admissions. But, depending on the school, your kid may have to take foreign language for their degree. My kid is going to UMW. She took 3 years of HS Spanish. Had she taken a 4th year, she would not need to take any foreign language in college. Since she only took 3 years of HS Spanish, she will have to take THREE SEMESTERS of college Spanish! Oh well. |
Anonymous
| Yep. I find most parents of firstborns do not know this. If your child takes 4 years in high school, he/she won’t ever have to worry about a foreign language in college, which is much harder academically to get through. |
Anonymous
I mean -- HOW would we know this? Seems like it is something the high schools should tell us if this is the rule at many/most state universities! |
Anonymous
OK, I just looked up the language requirements for GMU, VT and UVA. It's not what you are portraying it to be. GMU requires three semesters unless you pass a proficiency exam. It doesn't say anything about getting a waiver if you took 4 years of language in HS. VT seems to be fine with either 2 years of HS language or 3 years of HS language -- depending on your major at VT. UVA requires four college semesters unless you can pass a proficiency exam. (or you can place into a level that gives you credit for several semesters and you do the rest at UVA). So, really, only UMW is waiving language requirements if you took 4 years in HS. Who knows if you would be able to pass the proficiency exams at GMU or UVA if you took 4 years in HS. No guarantee on that. I didn't check VCU, Radford or ODU. JMU also requires 4 semesters in college -- but will give credit (like GMU and UVA) if you take an exam and prove proficiency. |
Anonymous
Ok, but how do you think one passes a proficiency exam to place out? I’ll wait….ding ding ding! If you take 4-5 years of a language in high school! Also, some colleges will not require a proficiency exam and will accept 4 years. |
Anonymous
The reason I know is my own experience and having two older brothers who all went to prestigious schools. I attended a top state school in VA and my 4 years of language in high school exempted me from the foreign language requirement. Plus it gives one a leg up in admissions. |
Anonymous
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Think of world language as the fifth category of core classes, the others being math, English, social studies and science. Colleges want a rigorous curriculum. That starts with taking the 5 core subjects all 4 years of high school (or as close as you can) and at the highest levels you can reasonably manage.
From that, stocking with a language and reaching higher levels is the preferred path from colleges. |
Anonymous
| Wouldn’t the 4th year of a language in high school be AP? |
Anonymous
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I have two kids in college. One at W&M - he took 4 years of French in high school. He did not have to take a proficiency exam and simply because he took the 4 years in hs, he got out of the language requirement. He told me his friends who had to take a language at W&M really struggled.
I have another child at a mid tier small liberal arts school. He took 3 years of Spanish in high school. I tried to convince him to take 4 - but no, he hated Spanish. His college requires language proficiency and he took a language proficiency exam. And as suspected, he didn't pass so now has to take a full year of Spanish in college. He's planning on doing it this summer at Nova CC, which he's not looking forward to. But with his other liberal arts requirements and his degree requirements, he decided the best way to get it out of the way was summer school. |
Anonymous
| It must depend on the college or university. DH and I attended three different schools, because I transferred. None had a language requirement and neither of us took four years in HS. |
Anonymous
| There is only a foreign language requirement in college if you are getting a BA. Not one BS program that my kid applied to out of eight had this requirement. |
Anonymous
Not true everywhere. At UMW, it doesn't matter if you are seeking a BA or a BS...you have to have 4 yrs in HS or 3 semesters in college. At VT, you can get by with 2 yrs in HS for most majors (including engineering and comsci), but a much smaller group of majors require 3 yrs. As to the person who previously claimed that 4 yrs of HS language would mean that you pass the proficiency test at schools like UVA or GMU, it's not guaranteed that you will pass and not have to take any foreign lsnguage in college. You might only get waived from the first or second college course and you'd still have to take 1 or 2 semesters in college. You initially claimed that if you take 4 yrs in HS, you'd never have to take foreign lang in college. That is demonstrably false except at one school mentioned: UMW. |
Anonymous
| How does study abroad work for languages in college? One semester of a language abroad counted as a year when I was in college because of the immersion aspect. Study abroad is great for a lot of reasons, including learning a language. |
Anonymous
They do tell you. I heard this at MIDDLE SCHOOL orientation (where you choose your FL path). There are the minimums to graduate. Then there are what colleges expect. |