Dropping language 12th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

You have avoided the question - only to try to prove you think you are right. I'm not trying to prove anything and am genuinely curious about the full picture for your child given your statements. (of course, I respect any wish you have to keep that private).

Again - best of luck to your child - I am sure they found a great match in this impressive bunch and will love their school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

Question: How is the information you were told any more "true" than the information we were told? I'm only sharing what college admissions staff have explicitly stated to us over the last year and a half. Everything noted in my original post was based on specific statements by college admissions staff. to us. Obviously nothing is set in stone to apply to every single school (or to every student).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wil this hurt DS for college acceptances? I know UVA highly recommends language all 4 years to be competitive. DS is a full IB student and decided to take IB Anthropology instead of IB Spanish 7, he’s not interested in pursuing further.
also Looking at DS2, would it be better to repeat a language when transitioning from MS to HS - take French 3 again 9th grade instead of accelerating to French 4? DS2 doesn’t have the basics down. Will that be seen as a negative later for colleges? Thoughts?

To OP - if UVA highly recommends language all 4 years and your DS REALLY wants to attend UVA, then they need to carefully consider whether they want to go against UVAs recommendation. That said, there are plenty of amazing places (maybe UVA included) that will accept him with the IB Anthropology choice. He has to weigh the pros/cons for his choice and potential impact on acceptance.

[Anonymous]

UVA counselor told us that 3 years of Chinese in HS including AP and 3the years of Chinese in middle school was enough

[Anonymous]

No single course will make a difference. Having said that, UVA and William & Mary and most other schools consider foreign language a core course - and don’t consider anthropology to be one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

Question: How is the information you were told any more "true" than the information we were told? I'm only sharing what college admissions staff have explicitly stated to us over the last year and a half. Everything noted in my original post was based on specific statements by college admissions staff. to us. Obviously nothing is set in stone to apply to every single school (or to every student).

Because what you are repeating is general information based on the truth that colleges want to see students challenged all four years, want a certain level of all core subjects and don’t want to see students slacking off. That’s all true. But when a student has already achieved level 6 of a language and replaces it with another challenging course, it’s a different picture. As I said, my kid took two sciences senior year - AP Chem and AP Physics. She had to choose. She didn’t take an easy class. She still showed proficiency in Spanish. She wasn’t slacking - but there are a limited number of daily periods in high school and decisions have to be made. I thought not having four years of foreign language would hurt her so I asked - and we were told it was fine. The hs counselor said the same thing. And, in the end, it was fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

NP Not sure why you are so curt with PP who is complimenting your kid! Bowdoin is a top admit, but Williams is clearly more competitive-- higher gpa/scores of applicants and slightly lower rate overall. Also, if these LAC acceptances were for a boy, there might be more leeway as more girls typically apply to LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

You have avoided the question - only to try to prove you think you are right. I'm not trying to prove anything and am genuinely curious about the full picture for your child given your statements. (of course, I respect any wish you have to keep that private).

Again - best of luck to your child - I am sure they found a great match in this impressive bunch and will love their school.

No, my child didn’t apply to any of those schools. They wanted a small liberal arts college. I insisted on including UVa but it was never where they wanted to attend. Yes, there was one denial, but it wasn’t an Ivy or any of the schools you listed. It was actually Tufts. I insisted on including a few bigger schools because I thought the slacs could be unpredictable. We’re not sure why Tufts was a denial although they are need-aware and my kid has financial need - but all those schools are lottery schools and my kid is very happy with their choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can parents whose kids are in college now and didn't take language senior year post about admissions? Would you mind sharing where kids got in?

This will probably vary by college, student, and HS, but our experiences:

DC1 reached AP in their language by junior year. Was told it would be “devastating” to college chances if they didn’t take. So they did. Did not enjoy the experience and didn’t do well on the AP exam. Had enough other things going for them though so got into a top 10 LAC. A classmate ignored the school and went to Stanford.

DC2 opted not to take AP foreign lang their senior year. Also got into a top 10 LAC, but now wonders if it would’ve been better to take the AP language to test out of college’s own graduation requirement. However, they did enjoy immensely the HS electives they took in place of the AP language, to the point that they might influence college major decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

NP Not sure why you are so curt with PP who is complimenting your kid! Bowdoin is a top admit, but Williams is clearly more competitive-- higher gpa/scores of applicants and slightly lower rate overall. Also, if these LAC acceptances were for a boy, there might be more leeway as more girls typically apply to LACs.

😂😂 Because that’s not a compliment and I don’t need a stranger on a board to tell me that Bowdoin is a top admit - especially not a person who is repeating some sort of generalized advice. My kid didn’t apply to Williams (thought it was too remote) so I really can’t say whether they would or wouldn’t get in. We were happy with the results. But the advice being given here is inaccurate and I really recommend the OP talk to the specific schools because when we asked, we were told it was fine. This includes colleges where they recommend and even report four years of foreign language (like Wesleyan). They will often say that if a student has reached AP or IB level (which is what Spanish 6 is), the student is fine as long as they replace with a challenging class. (Fwiw, my kid did ask at Amherst and received the same reply - that senior classes were fine without foreign language) but never ended up applying to Amherst. They really fell in love with both Bowdoin and Wes when we visited.)

https://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/apply/class-profile.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

NP Not sure why you are so curt with PP who is complimenting your kid! Bowdoin is a top admit, but Williams is clearly more competitive-- higher gpa/scores of applicants and slightly lower rate overall. Also, if these LAC acceptances were for a boy, there might be more leeway as more girls typically apply to LACs.

😂😂 Because that’s not a compliment and I don’t need a stranger on a board to tell me that Bowdoin is a top admit - especially not a person who is repeating some sort of generalized advice. My kid didn’t apply to Williams (thought it was too remote) so I really can’t say whether they would or wouldn’t get in. We were happy with the results. But the advice being given here is inaccurate and I really recommend the OP talk to the specific schools because when we asked, we were told it was fine. This includes colleges where they recommend and even report four years of foreign language (like Wesleyan). They will often say that if a student has reached AP or IB level (which is what Spanish 6 is), the student is fine as long as they replace with a challenging class. (Fwiw, my kid did ask at Amherst and received the same reply - that senior classes were fine without foreign language) but never ended up applying to Amherst. They really fell in love with both Bowdoin and Wes when we visited.)

https://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/apply/class-profile.html

PP here. Last I checked "impressive and competitive " were compliments.

Look, I agree your experience is valuable, but it's not universal, and I thought a PP had sad they contacted the AO. So, not sure why you feel the need to be so defensive.

Mine was admitted to Wes too, but she didn't love it. It did give her awesome FA, though (for those considering Wes).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

Question: How is the information you were told any more "true" than the information we were told? I'm only sharing what college admissions staff have explicitly stated to us over the last year and a half. Everything noted in my original post was based on specific statements by college admissions staff. to us. Obviously nothing is set in stone to apply to every single school (or to every student).

Because what you are repeating is general information based on the truth that colleges want to see students challenged all four years, want a certain level of all core subjects and don’t want to see students slacking off. That’s all true. But when a student has already achieved level 6 of a language and replaces it with another challenging course, it’s a different picture. As I said, my kid took two sciences senior year - AP Chem and AP Physics. She had to choose. She didn’t take an easy class. She still showed proficiency in Spanish. She wasn’t slacking - but there are a limited number of daily periods in high school and decisions have to be made. I thought not having four years of foreign language would hurt her so I asked - and we were told it was fine. The hs counselor said the same thing. And, in the end, it was fine.

It's all good to share your experience. This is what OP is asking for and I have no issues with what you shared. You shared your child's experience and they had great admits (which I still think is lovely). You also provided a context for a science-leaning application and this is all useful information for OP.

But just because these were your experiences and just because they have some merit, it doesn't mean others' experiences are "misinformation".

Both experiences can be true and there's no need to attack the other.

In the end, none of us knows what will make the difference for the OP's child's applications. All we can do is share information based on what OP has asked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

You have avoided the question - only to try to prove you think you are right. I'm not trying to prove anything and am genuinely curious about the full picture for your child given your statements. (of course, I respect any wish you have to keep that private).

Again - best of luck to your child - I am sure they found a great match in this impressive bunch and will love their school.

No, my child didn’t apply to any of those schools. They wanted a small liberal arts college. I insisted on including UVa but it was never where they wanted to attend. Yes, there was one denial, but it wasn’t an Ivy or any of the schools you listed. It was actually Tufts. I insisted on including a few bigger schools because I thought the slacs could be unpredictable. We’re not sure why Tufts was a denial although they are need-aware and my kid has financial need - but all those schools are lottery schools and my kid is very happy with their choices.

FYI - Tufts has a 6 semester foreign language requirement in arts & sciences and highly recommends 4 years of HS language. (although - not applicable if your child was engineering?). But who cares, your kid is clearly going somewhere awesome and will do great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

NP Not sure why you are so curt with PP who is complimenting your kid! Bowdoin is a top admit, but Williams is clearly more competitive-- higher gpa/scores of applicants and slightly lower rate overall. Also, if these LAC acceptances were for a boy, there might be more leeway as more girls typically apply to LACs.

😂😂 Because that’s not a compliment and I don’t need a stranger on a board to tell me that Bowdoin is a top admit - especially not a person who is repeating some sort of generalized advice. My kid didn’t apply to Williams (thought it was too remote) so I really can’t say whether they would or wouldn’t get in. We were happy with the results. But the advice being given here is inaccurate and I really recommend the OP talk to the specific schools because when we asked, we were told it was fine. This includes colleges where they recommend and even report four years of foreign language (like Wesleyan). They will often say that if a student has reached AP or IB level (which is what Spanish 6 is), the student is fine as long as they replace with a challenging class. (Fwiw, my kid did ask at Amherst and received the same reply - that senior classes were fine without foreign language) but never ended up applying to Amherst. They really fell in love with both Bowdoin and Wes when we visited.)

https://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/apply/class-profile.html

No "inaccurate advice" was given. What you are attacking is that I shared what COLLEGE ADMISSIONS STAFF explicitly stated at the most competitive schools over the past year (it wasn't all of them, but it was many - and it includes schools outside of the very most competitive).

It's not all or nothing. It's not your experience vs anyone else's. Clearly every child is different and every school is different. In fact, different applicants at the same school can be treated quite differently. This is all good in my book. They will be looking at MANY things in addition to the language senior year. It should be that way. We don't all have the same kid and we will all have our own life experiences.

I think the OP (and any other rational person) can take the various stories experienced by different people on this board to use them as context in their decision. They will recognize which ones resonate with their own experience, which ones do not. There is no "exact" answer for this question and there is no need for you to attack what someone shared as their experience (- and it was not "advice").

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most competitive colleges may not like dropping the language...this has been said many times in sessions over the past few years.

Your DC has to decide whether that matters to them or not - they can always take the - "if they don't like me for me, then I'll go elsewhere" stance on the front end as long as they can live with the consequences/second thoughts on the back end.

For schools that want 4 years of language - I'm certain they mean 4 courses in HS....not that getting to level 4 is enough. It's generally more acceptable to cut out of language by senior year when the student has no option to continue their language that year because of running out of courses.

I posted above. You would be wrong. My kid was accepted at Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Vassar, UVA, Colby and Hamilton without Spanish 7 senior year because they took a second science.

Really awesome choices! Congrats to your child. If they are a first year, best wishes for a great year.

No snark or disrespect intended here (at all), but were there rejections? What were they?

You child's acceptances are an impressively competitive list (and a helpful one too). But I don't see the "pie in the sky" HYPSM, Top 10, Williams/Amherst/Pomona schools here....so I'm curious if your child applied to any of those. These "lottery" schools are what I was referring to above as "most competitive". (But not everyone wants to apply to one of those - so maybe your child didn't.)

Plenty of misinformation - Bowdoin is considered “most competitive” and has the exact same admissions rate (9%) as Williams (where my kid didn’t apply because it was too remote).

I suggest the OP call one of the colleges their kid is interested in. We were consistently told that with that many years of foreign language and substituting another very rigorous course, the lack of foreign language senior year was a non-issue. We found it to be true.

NP Not sure why you are so curt with PP who is complimenting your kid! Bowdoin is a top admit, but Williams is clearly more competitive-- higher gpa/scores of applicants and slightly lower rate overall. Also, if these LAC acceptances were for a boy, there might be more leeway as more girls typically apply to LACs.

Also, Bowdoin has two ED rounds and Williams has one, so even their admissions rate is a bit apples and oranges.