Can you take 6 classes instead of 7 in FCPS and still not been seen negatively for college admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So this was MCPS, not FCPS, but my son had sleep apnea issues in high school, and by 12th grade in 2023, he couldn't handle the fatigue anymore. He dropped the first period class. He got into W&M, GW, McGill, St Andrews, UMD Honors, that sort of level. So not T20. He had a 35 ACT, 12 APs and a 4.6wPGA. Oh, and two languages taken to AP level.

But he had a medical issue and presumably that was explained in college applications or by the college counselor. That’s not what OP is describing

Actually no one mentioned it. He's not the best at doing applications...

You said sleep Apnea, OP. That is a medical issue, usually treated with a CPAP machine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:U Chicago is 1 year. Some of the top slacs don't require foreign language either. MIT does not either.

u of Chicago “strongly recommends” two years”. I don’t know of any “top” SLAC that doesn’t say something about looming for foreign language. Most have their own foreign language requirements at the undergraduate level so look for it at the high school level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:U Chicago is 1 year. Some of the top slacs don't require foreign language either. MIT does not either.

u of Chicago “strongly recommends” two years”. I don’t know of any “top” SLAC that doesn’t say something about looming for foreign language. Most have their own foreign language requirements at the undergraduate level so look for it at the high school level.

+1. MIT also recommends two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:U Chicago is 1 year. Some of the top slacs don't require foreign language either. MIT does not either.

u of Chicago “strongly recommends” two years”. I don’t know of any “top” SLAC that doesn’t say something about looming for foreign language. Most have their own foreign language requirements at the undergraduate level so look for it at the high school level.

+1. MIT also recommends two years.

Harvard recommends four years of a single language. OP this is easily googleable for the T20 but you really need to talk to your high school college counselor. Your kid will be compared to other applicants in his class- and at a Langley or McLean those kids are incredibly impressive with 10-12 AP courses; Four years of a single language; Top GPA and national honors. That’s what it takes to get into a T20

[Anonymous]

Episode 395 of Your College Bound Kid addressed this question.

"Do very selective colleges require a student to take 4 years of foreign language?"

Here is a direct link to that question and the discussion:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-college-bound-kid-admission-tips-admission-trends/id1349060136?i=1000641259255&t=2594

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Episode 395 of Your College Bound Kid addressed this question.

"Do very selective colleges require a student to take 4 years of foreign language?"

Here is a direct link to that question and the discussion:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-college-bound-kid-admission-tips-admission-trends/id1349060136?i=1000641259255&t=2594

yes. He concludes “it makes sense to go to the farthest level of a language”. That’s exactly what top schools want to see … rigor. this approach makes sense when the into has more foreign language requirements at the undergraduate level for non-stem types. This is what UVA does.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not!! This will not work out for you.

[Anonymous]

I meant that the languages are not required in college or only a year at some top school.

My kid has taken 4 years. The question is whether or not skipping AP will tank the app.

[Anonymous]

Total rigor without the AP language class will be 15 AP classss. With the AP language will be 16.

I think there is a case to be made that without the language it still could be highest rigor.

But I guess the safest path is to do the language and just suck it up.

[Anonymous]

I asked before: why not Span 5 Honors?

[Anonymous]

The school doesn't have Spanish 5 honors.

It does have DE Spanish but that seems to be used as a replacement for Spanish 4 honors. So it basically would be repeating the same class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So this was MCPS, not FCPS, but my son had sleep apnea issues in high school, and by 12th grade in 2023, he couldn't handle the fatigue anymore. He dropped the first period class. He got into W&M, GW, McGill, St Andrews, UMD Honors, that sort of level. So not T20. He had a 35 ACT, 12 APs and a 4.6wPGA. Oh, and two languages taken to AP level.

But he had a medical issue and presumably that was explained in college applications or by the college counselor. That’s not what OP is describing

Actually no one mentioned it. He's not the best at doing applications...

You said sleep Apnea, OP. That is a medical issue, usually treated with a CPAP machine

OP and the sleep apnea poster are not the same kid.

[Anonymous]

Let your kid have a break. This is ridiculous! So he gets into WM, McGill, St Andrews instead of Cornell and UVa. Is this really the end of the world? It’s time for him to learn choices have consequences and to learn that those consequences are fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most top 20 schools want to see 4 years of language

Yet barely a few, if at all, can converse or comprehend that foreign language. What a sham! And it goes on in universities as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school doesn't have Spanish 5 honors.

It does have DE Spanish but that seems to be used as a replacement for Spanish 4 honors. So it basically would be repeating the same class.

If that's a legitimate option, it would still check the box for 4 years in high school though (although I will always be confused why showing 4 total years of language on the transcript isn't good enough - why start in middle school then). Would also give him the GPA bump and would probably be an easy A if the material is the same. It doesn't seem any crazier an idea than any of the other hoops these kids have to jump through.