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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I find a lot of these artifical requirements so irritating. So Williams, UVA, etc would prefer a kid take level 1-4 of Spanish in HS than stop at level 4 of Spanish sophmore year. Because that is often what this amounts to at my kids’ HS (Whitman)- my older was in AP Spanish Lang as a junior and really disliked it and struggled but because we followed the advice that “colleges want to see 4 years of FL taken IN high school, his gpa was affected and he suffered through AP Spanish Lit as a senior which was a disaster. With my my younger we wised up and she started level 1 of Spanish in 8th grade, so she will finish off HS in spanish 5. They will probably be eligible at the same colleges, maybe my daughter even beyyer because she still has a 4.0 thanks to the easier pathway. [/quote]

There's so much out there that is artificial - you just need to put it into context for your kid and their college desires and their mental health.

We all have to make choices in life that could have consequences. We all have to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. Life is uncertain and some decisions are high stakes and some are less so.  This seems like a good, low stakes start to making those sorts of choices for OP's kid.

Honestly, will it really matter for the OP's child in the long run whether choosing AP Anthro keeps them out of school X? I doubt it.  But it's perfectly reasonable for OP (and/or OP's kid) to want to collect some information on others' experiences as anecdotes to help them decide.

I also think it's perfectly acceptable (and potentially preferable) to let them follow the Anthropology passion. Who knows, maybe they can write something in their applications about the hard choice to give up language to make room for this coveted course.

PP - It really sucks that your son suffered through that extra language. I hope they are happy at their school. I'm sure being in the Whitman pressure cooker doesn't help.

As a side note - I think this scenario of taking classes you don't like applies equally for kids who don't love science or math. I personally like the well rounded approach for HS and like the idea of kids needing to take all five core subjects each year.  The part that makes it suck is that there's an expectation of perfection in grades, which leads these young kids to already shying away from something they aren't great at or don't love before they are even 18.

And for full disclosure - I'm the one who is passing on the "inaccurate" information about what we hear from many of the HYPSM/top 10/Williams/Amherst/Pomona admissions staff on the "4 years of foreign language" question.  I have no agenda here and am not giving advice on whether to take 4 years.  Just passing on what we were told.

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