UVA and 4 years of foreign language

[Anonymous]

It does not seem to be a disqualifer as much as it's a "nice to have."

As in, it's "nice to have" on your application some of the following:

Certain difficult AP courses (APUSH, Chem, etc.)
Captain of a varsity sport
Strong examples of service and/or leadership

But lacking one of these things alone is not a disqualifer. IMO.

[Anonymous]

Exceptions will exist at every college to any Admissions "rule" or guideline. This is not hard to understand.

Why do we have to rehash the UVa FL rule - guideline monthly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's see if this works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does not seem to be a disqualifer as much as it's a "nice to have."

As in, it's "nice to have" on your application some of the following:

Certain difficult AP courses (APUSH, Chem, etc.)
Captain of a varsity sport
Strong examples of service and/or leadership

But lacking one of these things alone is not a disqualifer. IMO.

+1

[Anonymous]

BUT I REALLY REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY DON'T WANT TO TAKE A FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR 4 YERS!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. To be clear, I never said taking a language all four years was a “requirement.” I said not taking one was not a “good look.” And that’s what Dean J’s October post confirms.

Still disagree.

SEAS students get away with not taking 4 years of FL. Anyone saying it's not a problem for Arts and Sciences is kidding themselves. If UVA is your student's dream school, it is a big mistake to not take 4 years of FL and not to take APUSH if you are from NoVa.

My UVA student did take 4 years of FL. Did NOT take APUSH. They were clearly a stem kid and focused on that while also taking high rigor across the board, just not APUSH. There is always an exception I guess, maybe this is where the holistic admissions really plays in.

Why skip APUSH?

It’s not needed. Furthermore it’s a big risk for getting a bad grade on account of how hard it is.

You've been warned. Skip APUSH at your own risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BUT I REALLY REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY DON'T WANT TO TAKE A FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR 4 YERS!!!!!

And you don't have to. You can still attend UVA if your app has enough other stuff.

[Anonymous]

My kid started spanish in MCPS in 6th. They're in AP Spanish (Spanish 6) in 11th. If they don't want to take Spanish again next year, UVA can pound sand if they want to consider that a strike. Their SAT verbal is an 800.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BUT I REALLY REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY DON'T WANT TO TAKE A FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR 4 YERS!!!!!

And you don't have to. You can still attend UVA if your app has enough other stuff.

This. And that is why these threads keep popping up. Because some posters don’t believe this. But it’s true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whelp we are about to find out. DD stopped after junior year. Applied ED to UVA this year. Her scores are in sold admit range for our school’s scatterplot (no one with her scores has been denied in the last 5 years from our large VA public HS.)

She was aware of this when she elected not to take AP foreign language senior year. The teacher at our HS is particularly ineffective - she has very low pass rates and there tend to be about 7 kids total left in that language by senior year because she is so terrible. Took double science instead.

I will try to remember to update this thread when I know the result.

I am back with an update. She’s in! No foreign language senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whelp we are about to find out. DD stopped after junior year. Applied ED to UVA this year. Her scores are in sold admit range for our school’s scatterplot (no one with her scores has been denied in the last 5 years from our large VA public HS.)

She was aware of this when she elected not to take AP foreign language senior year. The teacher at our HS is particularly ineffective - she has very low pass rates and there tend to be about 7 kids total left in that language by senior year because she is so terrible. Took double science instead.

I will try to remember to update this thread when I know the result.

I am back with an update. She’s in! No foreign language senior year.

Congrats! (I'm right again.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whelp we are about to find out. DD stopped after junior year. Applied ED to UVA this year. Her scores are in sold admit range for our school’s scatterplot (no one with her scores has been denied in the last 5 years from our large VA public HS.)

She was aware of this when she elected not to take AP foreign language senior year. The teacher at our HS is particularly ineffective - she has very low pass rates and there tend to be about 7 kids total left in that language by senior year because she is so terrible. Took double science instead.

I will try to remember to update this thread when I know the result.

I am back with an update. She’s in! No foreign language senior year.

Congrats! (I'm right again.)

I’m the PP and DD knows several current UVA students from her HS who didn’t take senior year foreign language, which is what gave her the confidence to do it.

[Anonymous]

So what UVA says about UVA admissions is true and DCUM is wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what UVA says about UVA admissions is true and DCUM is wrong?

No. DCUM’s assertion that it is a dealbreaker is wrong. Factually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. To be clear, I never said taking a language all four years was a “requirement.” I said not taking one was not a “good look.” And that’s what Dean J’s October post confirms.

Still disagree.

SEAS students get away with not taking 4 years of FL. Anyone saying it's not a problem for Arts and Sciences is kidding themselves. If UVA is your student's dream school, it is a big mistake to not take 4 years of FL and not to take APUSH if you are from NoVa.

My UVA student did take 4 years of FL. Did NOT take APUSH. They were clearly a stem kid and focused on that while also taking high rigor across the board, just not APUSH. There is always an exception I guess, maybe this is where the holistic admissions really plays in.

Why skip APUSH?

It’s not needed. Furthermore it’s a big risk for getting a bad grade on account of how hard it is.

Your kid wants to attend UVA in 8 Mos and worried about the difficulty of a HS class?