How important is it to have 3-4 years of language?

[Anonymous]

10th grader hates her language class (says is not learning anything). Already has required credits for HS graduation for language from MS. Is it a bad idea to not take a language after 10th grade?

[Anonymous]

Depends on what her college goals are

[Anonymous]

For top colleges you definitely need 4, for decent colleges I would still aim for 3. Is she in honors/accelerated/whatever is the highest level? It’s hard to imagine not learning anything in a language class?

[Anonymous]

What are her strengths? At this point, my 10th grader is hoping to get through year 2 and wants to stop. A language technically isn’t required in VA but he knows he needs at least 2 years for many colleges. He won’t be applying to one’s where he needs 4+. His plan is to have room to take other courses and focus on more STEM related areas.

[Anonymous]

The most competitive schools expect 4 years of language in HS. They also want to see rigor which means it's sub-optimal to drop the language after freshman or sophomore year if you started in MS. That said, if there's a lot of rigor elsewhere and if the student is STEM oriented, doing the bare minimum is probably not going to kill an application.

Check the Common Data Set for the schools your kid is interested in - that will show how many years the school requires/recommends for each subject.

[Anonymous]

Very important at many schools. Look at the CDS for the specific schools.

[Anonymous]

I think in this era of grade inflation and no SATs...class choice is very important. It may not be necessary to meet a minimum requirement for a school, but it does differentiate a kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think in this era of grade inflation and no SATs...class choice is very important. It may not be necessary to meet a minimum requirement for a school, but it does differentiate a kid.

It’s this. It doesn’t really matter and the colleges don’t really care, but they have to sort through 50 applications for every seat and this is an easy way to reject a bunch. It’s all part of the ridiculous ritual that is college applications in the USA. If your kid would be happy at a less competitive college, let them drop the class and be happy.

[Anonymous]

Some colleges have language proficiency requirements. If you have only taken two or three years in college, you may have to take another year in college. My older DS DID NOT have to take a language at W&M because he took four years in high school, but several of his friends did. My younger DS is at a SLAC. I told him to take a fourth year of Spanish in high school but he thought it was "stupid." Well, he was the "stupid" one and ended up having to take a full year of Spanish once he got to college.

[Anonymous]

OP here--thanks! We'll see if she can take it at a college after this year.

[Anonymous]

Also consider career aspirations. In some fields, it’s helpful in the job search.

[Anonymous]

She should use the class time to teach herself Spanish if the teacher is no good. Languages are the easiest of subjects - all you have to do is memorize the words and put them in order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also consider career aspirations. In some fields, it’s helpful in the job search.

Language fluency can be helpful in the job search. High school Spanish is not. It sounds like this would only be to check a box for a college application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here--thanks! We'll see if she can take it at a college after this year.

If it’s not Spanish yet, could she add/drop and take Spanish (or a different, new language) 1, 2 & 3 before graduation? Or could she ve interested in taking American Sign Language?

[Anonymous]

Np here
So when we say 4 years , does it mean if junior dc is done with Spanish 4 this year, then not necessary or particularly impressive to take ap Spanish during senior year if you are applying to say schools like uva who recommend 4 years???