4th Year of Language
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Anonymous
| How important is a 4th year of a language? It's ASL so there's no AP exam. Level 4 is as high as the curriculum goes. DS isn't that thrilled with taking another year but is willing if it's important for college apps. |
Anonymous
| It just depends on what level of school he is applying to. Some schools won't even count ASL as a language. My kid did though ASL 3 and got into every university she applied to, but they weren't the most competitive (she got in Ohio State, Clemson, Indiana, and Penn State- she wanted a larger state school). |
Anonymous
| What about top universities? Does it matter for those? |
Anonymous
| It depends on the college, most want two years in high school. Our guidance counselor pushed for more but the teacher in level 5 was bad and taught it the next year so school was done. |
Anonymous
We've been told top schools want 3 years in high school (so middle school language doesn't count). And that they prefer spoken and written languages to ASL, FWIW. |
Anonymous
How is that going to work with the new regional programs which mostly seem to only have room for kids to take 1 or 2 years of foreign language in HS? |
Anonymous
Some of it doesn’t make sense except if they count middle school. |
Anonymous
| Admissions officer from UMD said their most competitive applicants have 4 years in HS (not counting middle school) |
Anonymous
I find that hard to believe Ie e with stem majors as it’s very hard to fit every in even with summer health ed. |
Anonymous
At Poolesville and Blair the SMCS program has an extra period. I’ve heard that sign language is frowned on but that’s not scientific like most admissions advice. You won’t ever know what part of your kids application hurt them. |
Anonymous
My DD will manage 4 years of high school world language plus double period STEM APs and such, but only because she did summer classes to get the science prerequisites, like taking Honors Physics in the summer so she could take AP Physics C during the year (and of course Health in the summer as well). Otherwise it may still possible, but it means abandoning other electives, which she did not want to do. |
Anonymous
+1. This is oft discussed in the College subforum. Yes, the top schools either require four years (Princeton) or are very clear they want to see four years of a foreign language. https://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/foreign-languages-for-university-admissions |
Anonymous
| OP-This is really subjective to the student’s overall profile and what else is on their transcript and application. Some applicants will have 4 years and others won’t. It’s about tradeoffs and how your student’s standout. |
Anonymous
| Take FL as far as that language will go, to AP or to 4 or to 5, whatever is available. |
Anonymous
What do you mean they only have room for 1 or 2 years? All schools seems to offer through AP/IB, which should take kids through junior year. If you mean that you have to take a bunch of classes to fulfill program requirements, students would need to use an elective slot for foreign language. |