high school -- has anyone's kid skipped foreign languages in favor of technology classes?

[Anonymous]

My rising 9th grader is doing fine in Spanish IB -- he's not a foreign language genius but it's easy and enjoyable for him. He is a math and science kid, probably eventually headed to a STEM college education. Is there any advantage or disadvantage in him going the route of taking technology courses instead of continuing high school Spanish in terms of college admission? I know foreign language education is great and all -- I did two years of full-time immersion language study in college and grad school and lived overseas for a number of years. And for what it's worth, he's also taking a different language class on weekends that we are committed to continuing. But the tech courses look pretty cool and are right up his alley.

[Anonymous]

If as you say he has a 2nd language that you're keeping alive with weekend classes, I don't see how it could be a problem unless he specifically needs Spanish later on - and even then he can probably pick up roughly where he left off, once in college if he wants to.

[Anonymous]

1 check with school advisor bc some school systems require certain lang credits for graduation and/or universities require for admission.
2 when I got a. IB diploma o the 90s, you had to test in a foreign Lang. It was not a choice. If your child happens to speak and wrote a lang that IB tests on, that could take care of that. However, If the child is not truly proficient written and spoke n, that would create a problem. I recall IB also has portfolio requirements/submissions in addition to tests (unlike ap), so you would have to figure out how to do that, in partnership with the school.

[Anonymous]

1 check with school advisor bc some school systems require certain lang credits for graduation and/or universities require for admission.
2 when I got a. IB diploma o the 90s, you had to test in a foreign Lang. It was not a choice. If your child happens to speak and wrote a lang that IB tests on, that could take care of that. However, If the child is not truly proficient written and spoke n, that would create a problem. I recall IB also has portfolio requirements/submissions in addition to tests (unlike ap), so you would have to figure out how to do that, in partnership with the school. Sorry for typos, pecking on phone w one hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1 check with school advisor bc some school systems require certain lang credits for graduation and/or universities require for admission.
2 when I got a. IB diploma o the 90s, you had to test in a foreign Lang. It was not a choice. If your child happens to speak and wrote a lang that IB tests on, that could take care of that. However, If the child is not truly proficient written and spoke n, that would create a problem. I recall IB also has portfolio requirements/submissions in addition to tests (unlike ap), so you would have to figure out how to do that, in partnership with the school. Sorry for typos, pecking on phone w one hand.

OP here sorry my post should have been more clear -- my son isn't going into an International Baccalaureate program: he is in Spanish 1B this year in middle school -- i.e. Second year of middle hook Spanish equaling 1 high school credit for the two years. He would take Spanish 2 and 3 if he continues with Spanish.

[Anonymous]

nearly every college will want to see at least 2 years of high school foreign language credits for admission. Consult a guidance counselor.

[Anonymous]

Some colleges will not acknowledge language taken in middle school. OP I would not let your kid go the tech route instead of language. He will be able to take plenty of stem as it is.

[Anonymous]

MCPS requires two years of a language. It doesn't have to be the same language, but two years are mandatory to graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires two years of a language. It doesn't have to be the same language, but two years are mandatory to graduate.

No, if the student doesn't take two years of language, than he can take 2 years of advanced tech(PLTW for example) and 2.5 years of general electives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:nearly every college will want to see at least 2 years of high school foreign language credits for admission. Consult a guidance counselor.

If you want to go the DIY route, you can google the Common Data Set for a variety of colleges you think might be on your child's eventual list. Section C will have information on the courses that are required and/ or recommended for admission. Most top schools do require a minimum number of high school foreign language credits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My rising 9th grader is doing fine in Spanish IB -- he's not a foreign language genius but it's easy and enjoyable for him. He is a math and science kid, probably eventually headed to a STEM college education. Is there any advantage or disadvantage in him going the route of taking technology courses instead of continuing high school Spanish in terms of college admission? I know foreign language education is great and all -- I did two years of full-time immersion language study in college and grad school and lived overseas for a number of years. And for what it's worth, he's also taking a different language class on weekends that we are committed to continuing. But the tech courses look pretty cool and are right up his alley.

I have a HS junior who has really struggled with language classes due to LD, and so I've spent a lot of time looking at college requirements. Many many colleges, including almost all of the most selective ones, require between 2 and 4 years of a world language that is taken during the HS years. Some schools will waive it if you sub a tech requirement, but they're usually public schools in states that don't require a language (e.g. you can go to most of the MD public schools without a language), or they're schools that take a lot of kids with LD. Some schools that don't usually waive the requirement will waive them for kids with a documented LD, but that doesn't sound like the case.

I wouldn't make this decision now. In MCPS there are 7 classes a year, so even if he takes Spanish 2 and the other 4 core courses, there are still 2 more slots. He could take Introduction to Engineering Design as a "semi-elective" (by which I mean a course that fulfills a requirement, in this case Tech, but isn't considered a core class) and the first level of Computer Programming as a true elective. I'd keep Spanish for one more year, at least, so that he can check that box, and so that he has more information before making the choice to stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires two years of a language. It doesn't have to be the same language, but two years are mandatory to graduate.

No, if the student doesn't take two years of language, than he can take 2 years of advanced tech(PLTW for example) and 2.5 years of general electives.

You can also take a 4 credit pre-vocational program, like the computer Networking program at Thomas Edison.

[Anonymous]

I took 4 years of language in high school and it was the biggest waste of time. MCPS can not start languages at the 7th grade level and expect kids to know the language taking it that late.

If there was an option to take technology, I would jump on it.

[Anonymous]

I looked into this for my son. He took one year of middle school spanish and then 1 year of latin at Blair (mistake).

While parents may say 'colleges require 4 years of a language' or '2-4 years of a language' that is just not the case. Even if a counselor says that, you should check. We looked up 25 schools -- top schools he would even consider in either economics or engineering -- and only ONE school required 2 years of high school language and it was the Univ. California system (UC Berkeley, UCLA, etc). All others recommended or suggested years of high school language, but it's not required.

And a lower GPA is not worth those 'nice-to-have' languages -- particularly for someone who is looking at STEM. If your child were looking at International Business or International Affairs or Poli Sci, then maybe. Maybe. But a school isn't going to care if you are majoring in engineering if you took language if your GPA is better.

He's not taking any more language in high school. There is a difference between a language requirement for entering college and the one that might exist at the college in order to graduate. I'm just talking about the language requirement to apply to the college. It's just not there -- no matter what people assume and state as fact. If you are looking into it, I suggest looking up 'admittance requirements' for a few schools yourself so you can correct people when they say (and they will!) "Oh, you need 4 years of language to apply" . You don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I looked into this for my son. He took one year of middle school spanish and then 1 year of latin at Blair (mistake).

Care to elaborate? Was it a particular to your child or an issue with that class at Blair? My DC is considering this next year, also at Blair, doesn't love languages but does well and is somehow motivated to switch to latin.