UVA's World Language Requirement - applies to all majors? Even Engineering?

[Anonymous]

Does UVA's World Language Requirement apply to all majors? Is there any way to get out of it? It seems they do not accept Duel Enrollment in a Language to satisfy the language requirement.

My STEM focused son with ADHD really struggles with world languages. He's doing ok in Latin with a lot of hard work and cannot wait to be done. He will go through Latin 3 and then stop. Other than language he has As in all his classes, which are a mix of Honors and AP. He wants to major in electrical engineering.

Does VA Tech have a world language requirement? What other VA publics require a world language requirement (trying to avoid)?

[Anonymous]

If it is like it was 15 years ago when I was there, it went by which college/school more than major. Arts and sciences and commerce had the language requirement, but I had friends in the engineering and education schools that did not. Thank being said, it may be major specific within those schools. I would figure out which school and possible majors you and/or your kid might be interested in and call the admissions staff at that school to be sure.

[Anonymous]

Vt's requirement is met by doing 2 years in HS for most majors https://advising.vt.edu/advising-resources/vt-foreign-language.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vt's requirement is met by doing 2 years in HS for most majors https://advising.vt.edu/advising-resources/vt-foreign-language.html

But OP asked about UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vt's requirement is met by doing 2 years in HS for most majors https://advising.vt.edu/advising-resources/vt-foreign-language.html

But OP asked about UVA?

And then asked about VT at the end:

Does UVA's World Language Requirement apply to all majors? Is there any way to get out of it? It seems they do not accept Duel Enrollment in a Language to satisfy the language requirement.

My STEM focused son with ADHD really struggles with world languages. He's doing ok in Latin with a lot of hard work and cannot wait to be done. He will go through Latin 3 and then stop. Other than language he has As in all his classes, which are a mix of Honors and AP. He wants to major in electrical engineering.

Does VA Tech have a world language requirement? What other VA publics require a world language requirement (trying to avoid)?

[Anonymous]

I believe that UVA's engineering school does not have this requirement. My kids are in the College of Arts and Sciences so I am very familiar with it as they just went through this. You can place out of the requirement very easily by getting a 4 or 5 on the AP exam for your language or by taking a placement test and placing out.

My DD took Spanish through 10th grade - did not take AP. She took the placement test and it placed her in 2020 level spanish at UVA, which she took last fall and now she's done with the requirement.

My DS took Spanish through AP and got a 3 on the AP exam so he did not place out. I have no doubt that if he took the UVA placement exam he would have placed out but he loves languages so he decided to start a new one and will be doing that for two years.

[Anonymous]

So AP Lang with a 4 or 5 doesn't meet this requirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vt's requirement is met by doing 2 years in HS for most majors https://advising.vt.edu/advising-resources/vt-foreign-language.html

But OP asked about UVA?

And then asked about VT at the end:

Does UVA's World Language Requirement apply to all majors? Is there any way to get out of it? It seems they do not accept Duel Enrollment in a Language to satisfy the language requirement.

My STEM focused son with ADHD really struggles with world languages. He's doing ok in Latin with a lot of hard work and cannot wait to be done. He will go through Latin 3 and then stop. Other than language he has As in all his classes, which are a mix of Honors and AP. He wants to major in electrical engineering.

Does VA Tech have a world language requirement? What other VA publics require a world language requirement (trying to avoid)?

whoops you're right, reading too fast today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So AP Lang with a 4 or 5 doesn't meet this requirement?

generally it will yes. For AP Spanish last year, as an example, a 4 or 5 would meet the requirement UVA.

[Anonymous]

There should be 2 documents somewhere online, for any public university. They may have their own unique names but something like:

The Program of Studies (listing all majors w/in each college, requirements for being accepted into each major, classes to complete each major)

The Course Catalogue (listing classes, prerequisites for each class, the schedule they are offered)

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure engineering at UVA does not have foreign language requirement but arts and sciences does. However, if your son requests accommodations a question would be to ask if they could waive that requirement or allow a substitute. My daughter is in the same boat, struggled with Spanish in middle school but switched to ASL which some schools accept and others don’t. Once she narrows her options we will ask this question before she enrolls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure engineering at UVA does not have foreign language requirement but arts and sciences does. However, if your son requests accommodations a question would be to ask if they could waive that requirement or allow a substitute. My daughter is in the same boat, struggled with Spanish in middle school but switched to ASL which some schools accept and others don’t. Once she narrows her options we will ask this question before she enrolls.

FWIW, my child was in the UVA Arts & Sciences program. The two years of foreign language were required (unless you tested out) of everyone in that school - I think at that time Engineering did not require it, but a quick google should figure that out. What was particularly tough for an ADHD kid was that UVA would not allow that diagnosis to relieve the student of the two-year requirement. And to be fair, I think knowing a foreign language is great and UVA offers every language under the sun, including Urdu. But at that time - three years ago - the ADHD student had to first try the foreign language and demonstrate by failing that they couldn't do it. So a petition for waiver didn't do the job. BUt I would check with student health services to see if that is still true. For those kids who have great difficulty with foreign languages, a different school with a more lenient policy might be a better pick.

[Anonymous]

What about William and Mary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does UVA's World Language Requirement apply to all majors? Is there any way to get out of it? It seems they do not accept Duel Enrollment in a Language to satisfy the language requirement.

My STEM focused son with ADHD really struggles with world languages. He's doing ok in Latin with a lot of hard work and cannot wait to be done. He will go through Latin 3 and then stop. Other than language he has As in all his classes, which are a mix of Honors and AP. He wants to major in electrical engineering.

Does VA Tech have a world language requirement? What other VA publics require a world language requirement (trying to avoid)?

http://records.ureg.virginia.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=52&poid=6760No it doesn't, but one of my old classmates is a EE prof there and if i were your son I'd go to VA Tech which takes CLEP and Spanish is the reputedly the easiest test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure engineering at UVA does not have foreign language requirement but arts and sciences does. However, if your son requests accommodations a question would be to ask if they could waive that requirement or allow a substitute. My daughter is in the same boat, struggled with Spanish in middle school but switched to ASL which some schools accept and others don’t. Once she narrows her options we will ask this question before she enrolls.

FWIW, my child was in the UVA Arts & Sciences program. The two years of foreign language were required (unless you tested out) of everyone in that school - I think at that time Engineering did not require it, but a quick google should figure that out. What was particularly tough for an ADHD kid was that UVA would not allow that diagnosis to relieve the student of the two-year requirement. And to be fair, I think knowing a foreign language is great and UVA offers every language under the sun, including Urdu. But at that time - three years ago - the ADHD student had to first try the foreign language and demonstrate by failing that they couldn't do it. So a petition for waiver didn't do the job. BUt I would check with student health services to see if that is still true. For those kids who have great difficulty with foreign languages, a different school with a more lenient policy might be a better pick.

Yes, it is possible to get an exemption from taking language but it's a bit of a process, detailed here:
https://college.as.virginia.edu/disability-accommodation

don't let the language requirement be the reason your son doesn't go to uva. there are accommodations for people who are truly unable to learn languages.