The foreign language dilemma: need 4 years for Brown, U of Chicago?

[Anonymous]

Some "safety" schools like U-Wisconsin requires four years of high school language, so applicants really need to check requirements across the board before signing up for 12th grade classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some "safety" schools like U-Wisconsin requires four years of high school language, so applicants really need to check requirements across the board before signing up for 12th grade classes.

That's why my kid is just doing it. You don't want to find out after the fact that if you change your college list and one of the schools you like now requires it.

Many schools want to see 4-years--so he is just going to do it.

[Anonymous]

Wisconsin is becoming less of a “safety” school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wisconsin is becoming less of a “safety” school.

+1000

[Anonymous]

My kid was rejected from Wisconsin last year—it was his top safety school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a student takes first year of language in MS, does this generally count towards 4 year recommendation? So if they take language their senior year, it would be level 5, but would rather take other classes.

Most say 4 years of language IN HIGH SCHOOL. They don't care about middle school.

Correct. That year of language in MS does not count towards college foreign language recommendations/requirements.

Wrong. FL is HS credit regardless of if you take it in MS or HS. It is absolutely put on the HS transcript.

My kid did 3 yrs of FL in MS, and then 2 years of FL in HS. He finished the FL AP in his 10th grade. There was no other course offered higher than AP for my kid in the school and he had reached the highest level of FL in HS.

But, does it matter? There are many reasons why a college admits a student. Legacy, athletics, race, gender, SES, first gen...all of these matter sometimes more than academics. When they say "recommended" they only mean that most students would have at least 4 years of FL.

PP didn’t say the class doesn’t count for HS credit. PP said colleges want four years of language in high school; there is a difference. And high school transcripts note that the class was taken in middle school for high school credit.

Actually, college want you to take the highest level of all subjects, including FL.

If you have taken the highest level FL in 10th grade because you took 3 years in MS, and there is no higher course than AP in your school, you are better than the student who is taking French 4 in 12th grade.

So, hope this is very clear to you. Taking AP French Lang in 10th grade will trump taking French 4 in 12th grade. Also, if you can have APs in the 5 core subjects (FL, English, Math, Science with lab, Social Science) by the end of 11th grade, that is better for your college admission - because it shows rigor in all core subjects.

Thanks for this post. Is it better to have the foreign language AP in 11th grade versus 12th grade? And if so, why is that - Is it impact on GPA? Does the AP class in 12th grade have less of an impact on the GPA? We are new to this country so sorry if this is a silly question

[Anonymous]

Yes. It shows the student tool the highest level of WL (if no other AP WL clSs is offered-as is the case in my DC’s school) plus it opens a spot in 12th grade to take another AP class.

[Anonymous]

*took

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a student takes first year of language in MS, does this generally count towards 4 year recommendation? So if they take language their senior year, it would be level 5, but would rather take other classes.

Most say 4 years of language IN HIGH SCHOOL. They don't care about middle school.

Correct. That year of language in MS does not count towards college foreign language recommendations/requirements.

Wrong. FL is HS credit regardless of if you take it in MS or HS. It is absolutely put on the HS transcript.

My kid did 3 yrs of FL in MS, and then 2 years of FL in HS. He finished the FL AP in his 10th grade. There was no other course offered higher than AP for my kid in the school and he had reached the highest level of FL in HS.

But, does it matter? There are many reasons why a college admits a student. Legacy, athletics, race, gender, SES, first gen...all of these matter sometimes more than academics. When they say "recommended" they only mean that most students would have at least 4 years of FL.

PP didn’t say the class doesn’t count for HS credit. PP said colleges want four years of language in high school; there is a difference. And high school transcripts note that the class was taken in middle school for high school credit.

Actually, college want you to take the highest level of all subjects, including FL.

If you have taken the highest level FL in 10th grade because you took 3 years in MS, and there is no higher course than AP in your school, you are better than the student who is taking French 4 in 12th grade.

So, hope this is very clear to you. Taking AP French Lang in 10th grade will trump taking French 4 in 12th grade. Also, if you can have APs in the 5 core subjects (FL, English, Math, Science with lab, Social Science) by the end of 11th grade, that is better for your college admission - because it shows rigor in all core subjects.

Thanks for this post. Is it better to have the foreign language AP in 11th grade versus 12th grade? And if so, why is that - Is it impact on GPA? Does the AP class in 12th grade have less of an impact on the GPA? We are new to this country so sorry if this is a silly question

I'm not the PP, but I think the point they're trying to make is that if you are that advanced in earlier grades in HS, then that has a lot of weight and you can move on and take something else later. Don't overthink it, OP. I think it's recommended because some high schools in the country may not even offer 4 years of one foreign language.

Bottom line, your child should take what they are interested in. Just because they check off all the recommended boxes doesn't guarantee they'll get into Brown or UofC. Really these should be considered lottery schools for the top stats kids unless you are applying ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some "safety" schools like U-Wisconsin requires four years of high school language, so applicants really need to check requirements across the board before signing up for 12th grade classes.

Wisconsin is a safety school? On what planet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a student takes first year of language in MS, does this generally count towards 4 year recommendation? So if they take language their senior year, it would be level 5, but would rather take other classes.

Most say 4 years of language IN HIGH SCHOOL. They don't care about middle school.

Correct. That year of language in MS does not count towards college foreign language recommendations/requirements.

Wrong. FL is HS credit regardless of if you take it in MS or HS. It is absolutely put on the HS transcript.

My kid did 3 yrs of FL in MS, and then 2 years of FL in HS. He finished the FL AP in his 10th grade. There was no other course offered higher than AP for my kid in the school and he had reached the highest level of FL in HS.

But, does it matter? There are many reasons why a college admits a student. Legacy, athletics, race, gender, SES, first gen...all of these matter sometimes more than academics. When they say "recommended" they only mean that most students would have at least 4 years of FL.

PP didn’t say the class doesn’t count for HS credit. PP said colleges want four years of language in high school; there is a difference. And high school transcripts note that the class was taken in middle school for high school credit.

Actually, college want you to take the highest level of all subjects, including FL.

If you have taken the highest level FL in 10th grade because you took 3 years in MS, and there is no higher course than AP in your school, you are better than the student who is taking French 4 in 12th grade.

So, hope this is very clear to you. Taking AP French Lang in 10th grade will trump taking French 4 in 12th grade. Also, if you can have APs in the 5 core subjects (FL, English, Math, Science with lab, Social Science) by the end of 11th grade, that is better for your college admission - because it shows rigor in all core subjects.

Thanks for this post. Is it better to have the foreign language AP in 11th grade versus 12th grade? And if so, why is that - Is it impact on GPA? Does the AP class in 12th grade have less of an impact on the GPA? We are new to this country so sorry if this is a silly question

By the time you have grades in your 12th grade classes, you have already been admitted. So 12th grade GPA does not help unless you are WL, and can only hurt you where you are admitted if you suddenly get really poor grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some "safety" schools like U-Wisconsin requires four years of high school language, so applicants really need to check requirements across the board before signing up for 12th grade classes.

Wisconsin is a safety school? On what planet?

It has long been a safety school for DC students and a great value with DCTAG.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some "safety" schools like U-Wisconsin requires four years of high school language, so applicants really need to check requirements across the board before signing up for 12th grade classes.

Wisconsin is a safety school? On what planet?

It has long been a safety school for DC students and a great value with DCTAG.

Not in the last 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some "safety" schools like U-Wisconsin requires four years of high school language, so applicants really need to check requirements across the board before signing up for 12th grade classes.

Wisconsin is a safety school? On what planet?

It has long been a safety school for DC students and a great value with DCTAG.

What’s DCTAG?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some "safety" schools like U-Wisconsin requires four years of high school language, so applicants really need to check requirements across the board before signing up for 12th grade classes.

“We also look for four years of English, three to four years of science, social science, and world language, and two years of fine arts/additional academics.”

https://admissions.wisc.edu/can-i-get-in-to-uw-madison/