Please walk me through world language trajectory in high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Start a new WL and take 3 years in HS. Colleges only care that you took 3 years in HS. Why are you wasting your time in MS?

This question comes up all the time. If this is really how college feel, that seems a$$-backwards, but maybe it’s true.

[Anonymous]

Any suggestions for an incoming middle school student? Anything that you’d do differently?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Start a new WL and take 3 years in HS. Colleges only care that you took 3 years in HS. Why are you wasting your time in MS?

This question comes up all the time. If this is really how college feel, that seems a$$-backwards, but maybe it’s true.

It is how they feel which is why many MCPS principals don’t allow WL in 6th grade and even remind parents that their kid will still need 3 years in Hs. btw those level 4/5’s will be combined classes in HS anyway because there isn’t the staffing allocation for such small classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd go with Spanish 4 for now. You can always talk with someone at the high school about changing that (if necessary), and the middle school teacher may also have a sense of what would be the best fit.

Another thing to thing about long-term is college admissions. If your child might be considering highly selective colleges, they tend to prefer 3-4 years of world language during high school. So not much point to rush to do AP language in 9th grade and then be penalized for having only one year of a foreign language.

OP here. Thank you, I think she is selective college material! But is 4 years really necessary if you reach the AP level in the language, if the student wants to free up periods for other AP courses, or high-level topics?

Colleges want courses completed in high school, not just middle school. A student who does Calculus in 8th grade would be expected to find ways of continuing with math through high school. Same goes for foreign languages.

Harvard, for instance, recommends "four years of a single foreign language" in high school. If a student completes AP foreign language in 9th, that's just one year (instead of the ideal of four), so they'll wonder why she didn't start a new language in 10th grade. If a student completes AP foreign language in 11th grade, that's three years taken in high school, and there's not much time to make progress in a new language, so they'd understand more why a student didn't do a foreign language senior year.

Calc in 8th? How can my kid get on that track? WPES only offers Alg 1 in 5th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Start a new WL and take 3 years in HS. Colleges only care that you took 3 years in HS. Why are you wasting your time in MS?

This question comes up all the time. If this is really how college feel, that seems a$$-backwards, but maybe it’s true.

It is how they feel which is why many MCPS principals don’t allow WL in 6th grade and even remind parents that their kid will still need 3 years in Hs. btw those level 4/5’s will be combined classes in HS anyway because there isn’t the staffing allocation for such small classes.

I reiterate that is is a$$-backwards for two reasons: 1) the sooner you start a language the better as far as developing fluency and a good ear for it. 2) there aren’t a lot of great classes to take in MS but there are lots of great classes in HS. So you are essentially trading something like AP Econ as an extra HS elective something like 6th grade art.
I’m not disagreeing with your assertion—but it’s sad that the college AOs take this approach, as it’s really dumb.
My younger kid took Spanish 1-2 in MS, and is taking 3 now. He’d like to drop so he can double up on science classes, but everyone is saying that he could only drop after 3 if he started in 9th grade with 1. It’s just silly.

[Anonymous]

My freshman is taking Hon Spanish 4 now. It's a lot of work; probably the first time since the very beginning that he has to work hard in a language class. He'll go in sequence and probably do both APs in junior and senior year respectively.

Btw if you really want to understand languages and the college admissions process, you should do a search of the college forum here - it gets discussed regularly. You can also check the common data set for individual schools (just google, most have it posted on their website.)

Many kids don't do all 4 years, but it's also true that many schools (especially very competitive ones) want to see 4 years in HS of language and highest rigor. Mileage definitely varies, and kids with specialized talents elsewhere seem to do fine. But the bottom line that I've absorbed from reading here as well as having 1 kid go thru the admissions process - it's better to do 4 years in HS if your kid can manage it.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

Thank you for your advice. I now understand the reasoning behind 4 years of language. She can do Spanish 4, 5, AP Spanish, and AP Spanish Lit, then.

To a PP who asked why a language in middle school, it's because this kid gets impatient. She needs a challenge. We are bilingual in another language she takes outside of MCPS in a weekend school, and she took Algebra 1 in grade 6 - which shouldn't be a problem at her high school, they have stuff beyond AP Calc BC. But middle school promised to be a miserable experience without those accommodations. I am glad she is now going into high school, and will have the opportunity to knock herself out with APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Thank you, I think she is selective college material! But is 4 years really necessary if you reach the AP level in the language, if the student wants to free up periods for other AP courses, or high-level topics?

No, it's not.

Mine did just that (AP language in 10th grade, then chose other rigorous coursework in areas of deeper personal interest beyond that) and had excellent college admissions outcome at very competitive schools.

Several of his peers made the same decision and also had very positive college acceptance outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd go with Spanish 4 for now. You can always talk with someone at the high school about changing that (if necessary), and the middle school teacher may also have a sense of what would be the best fit.

Another thing to thing about long-term is college admissions. If your child might be considering highly selective colleges, they tend to prefer 3-4 years of world language during high school. So not much point to rush to do AP language in 9th grade and then be penalized for having only one year of a foreign language.

OP here. Thank you, I think she is selective college material! But is 4 years really necessary if you reach the AP level in the language, if the student wants to free up periods for other AP courses, or high-level topics?

Colleges want courses completed in high school, not just middle school. A student who does Calculus in 8th grade would be expected to find ways of continuing with math through high school. Same goes for foreign languages.

Harvard, for instance, recommends "four years of a single foreign language" in high school. If a student completes AP foreign language in 9th, that's just one year (instead of the ideal of four), so they'll wonder why she didn't start a new language in 10th grade. If a student completes AP foreign language in 11th grade, that's three years taken in high school, and there's not much time to make progress in a new language, so they'd understand more why a student didn't do a foreign language senior year.

Calc in 8th? How can my kid get on that track? WPES only offers Alg 1 in 5th.

That was a thought experiment, based on a very advanced student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd go with Spanish 4 for now. You can always talk with someone at the high school about changing that (if necessary), and the middle school teacher may also have a sense of what would be the best fit.

Another thing to thing about long-term is college admissions. If your child might be considering highly selective colleges, they tend to prefer 3-4 years of world language during high school. So not much point to rush to do AP language in 9th grade and then be penalized for having only one year of a foreign language.

This always baffled me. Why do colleges do this!

[Anonymous]

College counselors will tell you that kids need to take 4 years of FL in HS. Especially true for non STEM kids. Pushing too fast in MS just makes things harder in HS.