UVA & HS Foreign Language

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is taking 3rd year of language as a sophomore (was able to get credit for level 1&2 through credit exam) and planning to take AP level as a junior. No plans to take any foreign language senior year but will have very rigorous course load with mostly AP or post AP classes at TJ. Will DC be competitive enough with regard to foreign language classes in HS for top colleges?

My understanding is that this is fine since they will have taken AP.

Is this true for STEM majors and engineering only?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What seems to be ridiculous about this conversation is insisting that a student has to take 4 years of same language IN HIGH SCHOOL. Most students begin in middle school. Why should UVA or anywhere else care if a student takes AP as a Junior in their language and then doesn’t have a language Senior year so they can use the elective time elsewhere? Say, a STEM student add an extra Science?

Don't believe that is what people are saying. If you take it in middle school at honors level it will show up on your transcript. My kid did exactly what you describe and was admitted as an Echols.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is completing his third year of HS Foreign Language as a Sophomore this school year. He is thinking of stopping at three years. He will probably take some AP class of greater interest in its place.

Would only 3 years of Language hurt his chances at UVA admission and how seriously would it hurt? UVA is the most selective college he is likely to apply to. He is tracking towards a decent chance of admission in other ways - GPA, Test Score, Sport & Activities etc.

You need four years for top schools and UVA. If you exhaust four years, you should take an AP language. Your student should be taking the most rigorous course of studies in all fields.

Is this absolute? My kid took 4 years of a less popular language (only 10 kids in the class at level 4). The teacher was the only one who taught the subject. During COVID, the teacher had a mental breakdown, to the point where admin became involved and the teacher disappeared the last few weeks of the year. Kid dropped the language after that; there was no acceptable path to continue with the teacher.

There was really no good way to explain this in an application. It’s going to look like kid didn’t pursue AP, but it’s obviously more nuanced than that.

My kid was in that class too. Changed languages and the counselor did not explain that 2+2 does not equal 4 in this sense. Since kid was competitive in every other way, I do think it affected the outcome of some applications.

Sorry your kid had to deal with that as well. My kids is a senior now and replaced world language with other APs, but the situation sucked. I think a lot of really bright kids dropped a tough world language after that happened.

It was unfortunate and not something UVA would have considered in any of their attempts to acknowledge changes in applications due to the pandemic. My kid landed at a good school but it’s further away and costs more. I do feel like the high school should have noted this unusual circumstance on applications. Coming from the student, it sounds like an excuse. Coming from the school, it sounds like a Covid-specific event. These kids were unfairly judged as avoiding rigor in the eyes of UVA. I liked my kid’s high school but I do feel let down by this.

[Anonymous]

I'll report back on the result of my FCPS EA applicant to the school of engineering who refused to take AP foreign language this year as well as bypassing AP Lang and Lit in favor of honors. 3.98/4.5, 1560 with no hooks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is taking 3rd year of language as a sophomore (was able to get credit for level 1&2 through credit exam) and planning to take AP level as a junior. No plans to take any foreign language senior year but will have very rigorous course load with mostly AP or post AP classes at TJ. Will DC be competitive enough with regard to foreign language classes in HS for top colleges?

My understanding is that this is fine since they will have taken AP.

Is this true for STEM majors and engineering only?

Dean J as s they want to see the students maxed out in core subjects which includes foreign language (then another two years at UVA unless exempt). I wouldn’t mess with that unless you have something really extraordinary to offset tgst. I’m f you’ve fulfilled the four years by junior year take the same foreign language AP. You need to demonstrate that your student has taken the most rigorous courses offered by your high school in core subjects

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is taking 3rd year of language as a sophomore (was able to get credit for level 1&2 through credit exam) and planning to take AP level as a junior. No plans to take any foreign language senior year but will have very rigorous course load with mostly AP or post AP classes at TJ. Will DC be competitive enough with regard to foreign language classes in HS for top colleges?

My understanding is that this is fine since they will have taken AP.

Is this true for STEM majors and engineering only?

My DS who got into UVA aerospace engineering took four years of foreign language. Some of his high school classmates started a new language (5th year) at the local community college. They also got into UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is taking 3rd year of language as a sophomore (was able to get credit for level 1&2 through credit exam) and planning to take AP level as a junior. No plans to take any foreign language senior year but will have very rigorous course load with mostly AP or post AP classes at TJ. Will DC be competitive enough with regard to foreign language classes in HS for top colleges?

My understanding is that this is fine since they will have taken AP.

Is this true for STEM majors and engineering only?

My DS who got into UVA aerospace engineering took four years of foreign language. Some of his high school classmates started a new language (5th year) at the local community college. They also got into UVA.

I am confused. Are people saying take AP World Language and then you are done? So if you finish Junior year with AP Spanish no need to take Spanish 5 (which is the next Spanish after AP at our school). Or they must take world language every year (9th-12th), regardless of whether they reach AP level at an earlier grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What seems to be ridiculous about this conversation is insisting that a student has to take 4 years of same language IN HIGH SCHOOL. Most students begin in middle school. Why should UVA or anywhere else care if a student takes AP as a Junior in their language and then doesn’t have a language Senior year so they can use the elective time elsewhere? Say, a STEM student add an extra Science?

Don't believe that is what people are saying. If you take it in middle school at honors level it will show up on your transcript. My kid did exactly what you describe and was admitted as an Echols.

Eh, Echols admissions are opaque. Their criteria for selection are very murky and I would not attribute any one factor to be decisive in the selection process.

[Anonymous]

Is my daughter's chances of admissions seriously lowered because she took only 3 years of language? She dropped Spanish after three years and is doing the most rigorous course load but it seems a bit fishy if they consider language this much for someone who is going into engineering school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is my daughter's chances of admissions seriously lowered because she took only 3 years of language? She dropped Spanish after three years and is doing the most rigorous course load but it seems a bit fishy if they consider language this much for someone who is going into engineering school

It just depends on the school. 4 years seems to be critical to UVA admissions though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is my daughter's chances of admissions seriously lowered because she took only 3 years of language? She dropped Spanish after three years and is doing the most rigorous course load but it seems a bit fishy if they consider language this much for someone who is going into engineering school

It just depends on the school. 4 years seems to be critical to UVA admissions though.

DS was admitted to UVA last cycle. Took AP Spanish in 10th grade, no language after that.

[Anonymous]

This is a math question, not a world language question. My DC is in honors Algebra 1 as a 9th grader. This is at a private school. DC will not reach AP Calculus without taking Geometry or Precalculus over the summer. Can you gain admissions to UVA without AP Calculus? DC would not be an engineering or math major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a math question, not a world language question. My DC is in honors Algebra 1 as a 9th grader. This is at a private school. DC will not reach AP Calculus without taking Geometry or Precalculus over the summer. Can you gain admissions to UVA without AP Calculus? DC would not be an engineering or math major.

Is honors algebra 1 the hardest math class for 9th graders at your school?

[Anonymous]

Both my kids took only 1 year of language in HS (AP frosh year) and none in MS. They took the world languages exam in MS to get HS credit (I think it appeared as Language 1,2, and maybe 3 for the younger one since FCPS changed policies) in HS transcript. Accepted into engr/cs. That may be another acceptable option for UVA, at least it was for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a math question, not a world language question. My DC is in honors Algebra 1 as a 9th grader. This is at a private school. DC will not reach AP Calculus without taking Geometry or Precalculus over the summer. Can you gain admissions to UVA without AP Calculus? DC would not be an engineering or math major.

Is honors algebra 1 the hardest math class for 9th graders at your school?

No, there are certainly kids coming from public school that are advanced in math and test into geometry, algebra 2 or even precalculus in 9th. However, this is the hardest math class available to my DC based on their placement test. DC had the option of Algebra 1 or Algebra 1 honors and took the harder class. Most kids at this school are required to repeat Algebra in 9th even after taking it in middle school.