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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What do top tier colleges think about a kid who takes 12+ APs but drops language in both 11th and 12th grade because it doesn't interest them (and in order to take AP "electives" that the student clearly finds more interesting?)

I ask because DD is planning her schedule for 11th grade. She'll be taking AP Calc BC, AP English Lang/Comp, APUSH, and AP Bio. Plus the requried PE/Health and Orchestra as her elective.  That leaves one more class, which is typically honors language (with AP language in 12th).  But she'd much rather drop Spanish and take either AP Stats, AP Evironmental or AP CS Principles.

[b]Thoughts? [/quote][/b]

Yes, colleges want to see four years of world languages plus AP and college courses if possible.  that is clear.  Actually college courses taken from Virginia community colleges or, as my kids did, as a non-degree student at GMU works well. You do NOT drop a foreign language in 11th and 12th grade because the institution to which you are applying want four years at the most rigorous level because that institution will ask for more years in the same language as a college student.  Talk to your college counselor.  This is one of the rare simple questions asked about college admissions. But students and their parents want to ignore this advice.   YES! four years.  Yes! same language! Yes, take real college courses during the summer or late afternoons while a high school student..  WHY you ask? because thos e same elite schools are (they think) training citizens of the world who whill need these languages in the super sophisticated business world to come[/quote]

[b]Which is funny because four years of high school language and four years of college language still doesn’t make people fluent.[/b] [/quote]

This is DD’s point exactly. She’s a super practical kid and doesn’t see the point of going through the motions without becoming fluent. (My sense is immersion is the only way to get to fluency.) Plus she’s eager to try out some other interesting AP classes while in high school.

But she’s aiming for T-20 schools. Not sure about intended major yet, but it sounds like the keep-your-options-open answer is to continue with Spanish for at least 11th grade and possibly 12th. (Thankfully, Spanish doesn’t seem hard to her - just boring and pointless compared to other classes she could take instead.) Thanks everyone! [/quote]

NP, and I think this is the wrong way to think about it. A humanities kid who takes AP Calc might not “master” calculus or even remember much of it in two years, but schools want to see kids who are willing to challenge themselves across subjects. That’s the reason to pursue foreign language to the highest level available—to demonstrate to schools that you sought rigor, even in subjects that might not be your strong suits. Fluency is not the point.[/quote]

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