Foreign Language vs GPA

[Anonymous]

My son started taking a language as a MS student that counts on his HS transcript. He is really struggling dispite studying (has some learning issue that make things harder). So far he has all C's in Spanish which are low grades for him. He has the option to start again with Spanish 1 and erase the C's (waste of time/boring?), continue as he is doing likely continuing to get C's, or lving with the C's he has..dropping the language and focusing on other things. Any thoughts on what would make him a stroger college applicant down the road? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'd start over with Spanish 1, or start another language. Many colleges require/expect 3-4 years of foreign language in HS from their applicants and many require language proficiency as a graduation requirement. My DC was not strong in language and only did 2 years in HS, which weakened his applications and eliminated some schools from consideration.

[Anonymous]

OP again..I will add that while I fully expect him to attend college, it will likely not be a highly competitive top choice school (yet not a community college either). That is why I am not sure who important that language is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son started taking a language as a MS student that counts on his HS transcript. He is really struggling dispite studying (has some learning issue that make things harder). So far he has all C's in Spanish which are low grades for him. He has the option to start again with Spanish 1 and erase the C's (waste of time/boring?), continue as he is doing likely continuing to get C's, or lving with the C's he has..dropping the language and focusing on other things. Any thoughts on what would make him a stroger college applicant down the road? Thanks.

Would Latin be an option? It might be worth checking to see which colleges might accept it.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the same boat. Is it correct, then, that if they restart with another language as a freshman, those middle school C's go away?

Do colleges want 4 years of a language overall, or must it be three or four years in HS?

I think DS would stick with it if he could do only a couple of HS language years and then be done with it.

[Anonymous]

DD is a senior and the only C on her report card is Spanish 2, despite outside tutoring. She had a low B or C in middle school so she opted to repeat Spanish 1 freshman year in HS and got a B. Spanish 2 was awful, she got a C and decided to quit foreign language. Then she read that Va Tech required 3 years of a language. She got lucky in Spanish 3 (great/easy teacher plus tutoring and got a B). Outside of the top 50 colleges, it seems most require 2 years of a language, a few require 3 years (like VA Tech, but I don't know what they do if you only have 2 years). No school she looked at required 4 years. However, a few of the colleges (Michigan, Wisconsin are names that come to me) required college level proficiency -- so college language was required. Those schools were crossed off her list.

[Anonymous]

And yes, at least in VA, if you tell the HS you don't want the middle school grade, then it doesn't transfer. DS did this with both the foreign language and Algebra he took in middle school (because both grades were mediocre). Hasn't seemed to hurt him in terms of colleges (he's looking outside the top 30 schools).

[Anonymous]

I joke that I took french 1 three times. Once as an 8th grader in FCPS, once in catholic school (when I didn't pass the catholic school french 1 test) and once as French 101 when I attended a VA state college that required 4 years and I quit after 3 in high school. It's been 20 years, so I don't know current requirements.

My kids are doing language immersion in elementary school because of my lack of language skills.

[Anonymous]

Have him repeat and do one year to show he did something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And yes, at least in VA, if you tell the HS you don't want the middle school grade, then it doesn't transfer. DS did this with both the foreign language and Algebra he took in middle school (because both grades were mediocre). Hasn't seemed to hurt him in terms of colleges (he's looking outside the top 30 schools).

I agree with this. I don't think you want those C's on the HS transcript.

[Anonymous]

My DS applied to state schools in MD, VA, and NC. They required at least 3 years of a foreign language, and it didn't matter if they were taken in middle or high school.

OP, I'd have the child retake a foreign language. Any "C" grade that can be eliminated will help the overall GPA.

[Anonymous]

A FCPS student pursuing the Standard Diploma (last time I checked) can take foreign language pass/fail - not factored into gpa unless it's an F.

Colleges like to see the Advanced Diploma. That diploma type is sort of short-hand for a prescribed advanced curriculum. But there's no reason an advanced curriculum can't be completed for the Standard Diploma.

[Anonymous]

Erase. He won't remember the Spanish from this class by the time he's 20.

[Anonymous]

Lose the c's. start over w Spanish 1

[Anonymous]

Just study Spanish with him and aim for Spanish 2. An improvement in grades is important. Some colleges are not interested in freshman year