Foreign language for college bound

[Anonymous]

My 10th grader is in Spanish 4 now. He recently registered for junior year classes and did not register for Spanish 5. His guidance counselor had previously expressed that college bound students need to keep up their foreign language for 3 to 4 years of high school, yet, she apparently accepted his registration form without saying anything or expressing any reservation. Is it a mistake for him not to take Spanish 5 his junior year? FWIW, he's registered for two sciences, calculcus BC, English, and World History (all AP or IB).

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t matter at all.

[Anonymous]

Its a choice many students make. He certainly has lots of challenge in his schedule. If he intends to apply to the most competitive schools...4 years of language in HS is one way a kid can stand out but there are many other ways to stand out as well.

[Anonymous]

Depends on where he wants to go and what he wants to do and his other stats. There is no one size fits all. Would it be slightly better that he would have had Spanish throughout and be fluent? Yes. Will it keep him from getting into a school if he doesn't - unlikely unless shooting for Ivy League - Princeton requires 4 years of HS language, and other very selective schools "prefer" 3-4 years of HS language, or if shooting for an "International" studies type program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter at all.

+1

[Anonymous]

OP-- search this board (and the college/univ board) and you'll find a million strong opinions about this. The general consensus is that colleges have a strong preference for 4 years of language in HS. People will express all kinds of skepticism of this strong preference and there seems to be some nuance if the student gets a 4 or 5 on the AP language exam and stops at that point). I don't have any knowledge beyond reading these discussions for years (2 in college now). But I think its risky to drop language so early.

(I used to qualify my comments that it depends on whether the kid is targeting a Top 10 university or a state school, but UMD has been so competitive in recent years, that I think you want to be as competitive as possible even if looking in-state.)

One of my kids had a similar time constraint due to a double-period science class junior year and pushed World back to senior year go fit in AP spanish Lang.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its a choice many students make. He certainly has lots of challenge in his schedule. If he intends to apply to the most competitive schools...4 years of language in HS is one way a kid can stand out but there are many other ways to stand out as well.

+1

[Anonymous]

There are many many colleges, good colleges, that do not require four years of HS foreign language. If he wants to go to a school that strongly prioritizes it, he should keep up his foreign language study. My kids were willing to shut the door on a few schools to free up the time to explore other interests. They aren’t going to apply to every school, so they were ok using this as their first narrowing of the universe.

[Anonymous]

This is one of the deepest mysteries of the universe. Colleges have been remarkable consistent in their refusal to state whether their encouragement of "4 years of language" is referring to years or credits/level.

[Anonymous]

The top colleges want to see everything thru to the AP level, including FL.

Other colleges don't care so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on where he wants to go and what he wants to do and his other stats. There is no one size fits all. Would it be slightly better that he would have had Spanish throughout and be fluent? Yes. Will it keep him from getting into a school if he doesn't - unlikely unless shooting for Ivy League - Princeton requires 4 years of HS language, and other very selective schools "prefer" 3-4 years of HS language, or if shooting for an "International" studies type program.

Side question here: if a kid takes AP Spanish language in junior year but then doesn’t take AP Spanish lit in senior year (so 3 years only but up to AP level) does that turn run foul of Princeton’s requirements?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The top colleges want to see everything thru to the AP level, including FL.

Other colleges don't care so much.

"4 years or AP" seems to be rough consensus for a "complete" HS education in foreign language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on where he wants to go and what he wants to do and his other stats. There is no one size fits all. Would it be slightly better that he would have had Spanish throughout and be fluent? Yes. Will it keep him from getting into a school if he doesn't - unlikely unless shooting for Ivy League - Princeton requires 4 years of HS language, and other very selective schools "prefer" 3-4 years of HS language, or if shooting for an "International" studies type program.

Side question here: if a kid takes AP Spanish language in junior year but then doesn’t take AP Spanish lit in senior year (so 3 years only but up to AP level) does that turn run foul of Princeton’s requirements?

Not a "requirement"

https://admission.princeton.edu/apply/before-you-apply

The principle is that you should challenge yourself in diverse range of subjects. If you need to drop language eventually to make room for another challenge, it's fine. If you challenged yourself by doing intro college level language before 12th grade (and have an AP score to validate it), that's fine too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP-- search this board (and the college/univ board) and you'll find a million strong opinions about this. The general consensus is that colleges have a strong preference for 4 years of language in HS. People will express all kinds of skepticism of this strong preference and there seems to be some nuance if the student gets a 4 or 5 on the AP language exam and stops at that point). I don't have any knowledge beyond reading these discussions for years (2 in college now). But I think its risky to drop language so early.

(I used to qualify my comments that it depends on whether the kid is targeting a Top 10 university or a state school, but UMD has been so competitive in recent years, that I think you want to be as competitive as possible even if looking in-state.)

One of my kids had a similar time constraint due to a double-period science class junior year and pushed World back to senior year go fit in AP spanish Lang.

Yeah, I've been following this topic for a few years, too! My Sr. DD took AP Spanish Lang last year and does not have time in the schedule this year for AP Spanish Lit due to AP Bio (double period). I think she is in better shape re World language than her several friends who dropped after completing Spanish 5 sophomore year, but I guess we'll see for sure in April.

[Anonymous]

We've gotten mixed advice. We're dropping it this year/Sophmore year after Spanish 5. Its very difficult if you don't speak it at home. Guidence counselor is pushing for 3-4 years but my attitude is if going to Spanish 5 (or 4) is not enough for college, then we don't need that college? Time for electives they are interested in.