4 years of foreign language
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Anonymous
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Is preferred for top schools. Does it have to be the same language?
DS took French in 8th for HS credit, didn’t like it and switched over to Spanish in 9th grade. He’s taking Spanish in 10th and 11th too, but does he need to take it senior year too to be competitive for college admission? There’s other electives he wants to take. |
Anonymous
| I can speak only to UVA - it wants to see four years of a single language, at the most rigorous level offered. |
Anonymous
| Ideally, yes, especially for a school like UVA that places high value on world language. But it doesn’t mean you won’t get in if other things are strong. Most kids have strengths and less important parts of their applications. If your DC has other subjects that are also lacking, it’s more of a problem. For the top schools, you generally want at least one AP in all five of the core academic subjects. |
Anonymous
| Thank you. DS will graduate with 9 APs but wasn’t planning on the Spanish AP. Maybe he should rethink that. |
Anonymous
| Many schools like 4 years of the same language. At some schools taking 4 years of the same language exempts you from taking a foreign language in college. |
Anonymous
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DS did not take language after 10th grade, which he took Spanish AP.
Into an Ivy, class of HS '22 |
Anonymous
| DS just accepted into a top 30 with only 3 years of French. |
Anonymous
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Anyone might get lucky without it, but 4 years of same foreign language is preferred by many schools.
And to PP, DS taking Spanish AP cannot hurt, and probably would help… |
Anonymous
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4 years of language is generally taken to mean 4 years of the same language, because things naturally become more complex as the levels build on one another. Taking the first-year version of 4 different languages, for example, doesn't demonstrate the same kind of intellectual growth and development. That's why college language requirements require X number of semesters or years of the same language, too.
- College prof |
Anonymous
| If his school offers AP in high language he should take it. It is supposedly preferred over any elective, even if the elective is relevant to his prospective major. This is one area our college counselor won’t budge on, and she’s pretty flexible about most other things. |
Anonymous
That would be an unnecessary requirement for a STEM major. |
Anonymous
| For the top Virginia schools, does it make any difference if a student spoke 2 foreign languages as opposed to 1? |
Anonymous
Agreed. My daughter (majoring in ME) wanted to take AP CS instead and she insisted on AP Spanish V. It has definitely made senior year less pleasant. But she was accepted to her ED yesterday so I’m inclined to think it was good advice? Though impossible to ever know for sure. |
Anonymous
| So if my DS is a junior in Chinese 3. Would the next step be AP Chinese or Chinese 4? |
Anonymous
It depends on the progression of the language at public school system. If Chinese 3 is taught at necessary prerequisite rigor, and most past students went straight to AP Chinese than that is the preferred path. Many school systems have WL 1,2,3,4,5, and then AP, where as other have students doing WL 1,2,3, and then AP. Because of this variation of language levels before getting to AP, it is better to complete AP level in the earliest year possible and use it in time for college applications. After getting admitted, colleges give World Language (WL) credits mostly based on AP score of 4 or 5, sometimes 3. https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/getting-credit-placement/search-policies/college/2350 At UVA, AP Chinese score of 4 gives credit for CHIN 2010, whereas score of 5 gives credit for both CHIN 2010 and CHIN 2020 |