UVA and 4 years of foreign language

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

+1. Plus UVA has its own foreign language requirement for undergrads not innSTEM

Only Engineering and Nursing are excepted from the foreign language requirement. UVa requires foreign language for all undergrad students in Arts & Sciences -- including for math and science degrees (example: Physics).

[Anonymous]

I love people saying myth debunked because they know one person who got in without AP foreign language. It happens, it doesn’t mean UVA doesn’t prefer 4 years. And as others noted, now you have to take it in college. My kids were glad to be done in HS and move on to thing they really wanted to study in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

+1. Plus UVA has its own foreign language requirement for undergrads not innSTEM

Only Engineering and Nursing are excepted from the foreign language requirement. UVa requires foreign language for all undergrad students in Arts & Sciences -- including for math and science degrees (example: Physics).

To be crystal clear, the above is talking avout AFTER matriculation, not talking about Admissions either way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to the admits who got in without taking AP World Language. They will now have to take the UVA version of WL (if in the College of Arts and Sciences) which I have heard from my current 3rd year, was a class her first year friends dreaded! It took up a lot of time, and was not easy.

Ive heard great things about the several language departments there.

I am the previous poster. I agree the language depts are amazing. My kid is majoring in one now. However, the lower level classes are a time suck, and the first years she knew taking it, were quite annoyed they didn’t get the AP credit to test out.

[Anonymous]

Some students skip APUSH so they can focus on their AP Physics and AP Calc BC that year. Just saying that the whole course load tells the story, not a single course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some students skip APUSH so they can focus on their AP Physics and AP Calc BC that year. Just saying that the whole course load tells the story, not a single course.

+1

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question. It depends on the rest of the rigor. Obviously, some people get in without it. For some others, who have less rigor, it may be the straw that breaks the camel's back for rigor. Many students rejected from UVA did take four years of foreign language. UVA gives a blanket recommendation, but it is not a requirement, the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everybody yapping about their n=1 exception to the rule as if it means anything. 🙄

If you were advising a 9th grader, the correct advice is “plan on taking four years of a language” - not just for UVA but many other selective schools.

Many of these kids we are discussing have 5 years of language - they stared in 7th grade and ended in 11th.

+1
My kid will have taken 4 years by end of 10th. AP or IB level class would be 11th. Trying to understand not just the years count that matters but more specifically if they ignore the MS years of langauge is the key question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everybody yapping about their n=1 exception to the rule as if it means anything. 🙄

If you were advising a 9th grader, the correct advice is “plan on taking four years of a language” - not just for UVA but many other selective schools.

Many of these kids we are discussing have 5 years of language - they stared in 7th grade and ended in 11th.

+1
My kid will have taken 4 years by end of 10th. AP or IB level class would be 11th. Trying to understand not just the years count that matters but more specifically if they ignore the MS years of langauge is the key question.

No one knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love people saying myth debunked because they know one person who got in without AP foreign language. It happens, it doesn’t mean UVA doesn’t prefer 4 years. And as others noted, now you have to take it in college. My kids were glad to be done in HS and move on to thing they really wanted to study in college.

Correct

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everybody yapping about their n=1 exception to the rule as if it means anything. 🙄

If you were advising a 9th grader, the correct advice is “plan on taking four years of a language” - not just for UVA but many other selective schools.

Many of these kids we are discussing have 5 years of language - they stared in 7th grade and ended in 11th.

+1
My kid will have taken 4 years by end of 10th. AP or IB level class would be 11th. Trying to understand not just the years count that matters but more specifically if they ignore the MS years of langauge is the key question.

Call UVA admissions and ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to the admits who got in without taking AP World Language. They will now have to take the UVA version of WL (if in the College of Arts and Sciences) which I have heard from my current 3rd year, was a class her first year friends dreaded! It took up a lot of time, and was not easy.

Ive heard great things about the several language departments there.

I am the previous poster. I agree the language depts are amazing. My kid is majoring in one now. However, the lower level classes are a time suck, and the first years she knew taking it, were quite annoyed they didn’t get the AP credit to test out.

Yes, they are. 24 languages are offered. https://college.as.virginia.edu/world-language-requirement-faqs.

My UVA kid was not happy about the UVA undergrad requirement (yes, he was accepted with four years of Spanish and most rigorous) and decided to try something new like Urdu but, in the end, picked German. That led to an amazing trip to Berlin with his German teacher and fellow classmates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love people saying myth debunked because they know one person who got in without AP foreign language. It happens, it doesn’t mean UVA doesn’t prefer 4 years. And as others noted, now you have to take it in college. My kids were glad to be done in HS and move on to thing they really wanted to study in college.

I know at least 5 ppl, from one HS in the last 3 years. But ok.

Why do you care so much? Because your kid likes language and you need to believe it’s an edge? It is. But it’s not required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some students skip APUSH so they can focus on their AP Physics and AP Calc BC that year. Just saying that the whole course load tells the story, not a single course.

Depends on your HS. My kid skipped an AP in a core subject and got waitlisted. 3.98/4.5, 1560-engineering. I'm sure the accepted students from his high achieving public were all taking 4-5 APs junior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to the admits who got in without taking AP World Language. They will now have to take the UVA version of WL (if in the College of Arts and Sciences) which I have heard from my current 3rd year, was a class her first year friends dreaded! It took up a lot of time, and was not easy.

Ive heard great things about the several language departments there.

I am the previous poster. I agree the language depts are amazing. My kid is majoring in one now. However, the lower level classes are a time suck, and the first years she knew taking it, were quite annoyed they didn’t get the AP credit to test out.

Yes, they are. 24 languages are offered. https://college.as.virginia.edu/world-language-requirement-faqs.

My UVA kid was not happy about the UVA undergrad requirement (yes, he was accepted with four years of Spanish and most rigorous) and decided to try something new like Urdu but, in the end, picked German. That led to an amazing trip to Berlin with his German teacher and fellow classmates.

Agree; the German department is AMAZING!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some students skip APUSH so they can focus on their AP Physics and AP Calc BC that year. Just saying that the whole course load tells the story, not a single course.

Depends on your HS. My kid skipped an AP in a core subject and got waitlisted. 3.98/4.5, 1560-engineering. I'm sure the accepted students from his high achieving public were all taking 4-5 APs junior year.

Did they have strong ECs/leadership/service? You have no way to know it was the lack of that specific AP.