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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is wild that this thread is dragging on.

Fact: UVA says that it would like to see max rigor

Fact: UVA has said many times (both on website and through Dean J) that they would like to see four years of a foreign language

Fact: If you go to UVA in A&S, by the time you graduate you will have to show language competency either through an upper level class, AP credit or testing

Probably a fact: You can get in with fewer than four years of foreign language (some anonymous person knows at least five people's course load somehow from one HS). Unknown how much this hurts your application and if other things are needed to overcome a lack of language proficiency.

If you want to put yourself in the best position for UVA (and a lot of other schools), just take four years of language. It's not that hard. If you didn't take four years, you can still apply and you might get in. [/quote]

+1, yes to all of the above.

The intense competition among NOVA families to achieve a perceived (to them) entitlement, e.g. a slot at the state public flagship, which is frequently denied due to said intense competition leads to posters on this site spouting off truisms about UVA.

The "rule" about 4 years of a single foreign language is a best practice, but not a necessity.

Our own FCPS DC had 2 years of a foreign language in MS, 2 years in HS and stopped. This was the equivalent of 3 years of that foreign language.  DC then took up another foreign language for 2 years.   So, not 4 years of a single foreign language, and definitely not AP level.

DC was accepted EA into CAS, and is now taking a third foreign language to satisfy the language requirement. DC's not happy about that, but likes the class and the teacher.

I agree with other posters who emphasize the rigor of the core subjects. DC took AP US History, AP World History, AP Government, AP Calculus AB, and perhaps importantly for DC's candidacy, IMHO, AP Lang. DC did not take APs in science except Environmental Science.  DC did not have all As in those subjects, and in fact had Bs in most of them. But DC took the classes, demonstrating rigor.  In our little example, Bs in AP courses > As in honors courses.

FYI, we are not hooked in any way, and in fact are Asian (the "anti-hook").

This worked for our DC. Will it work for your DC?  Perhaps, perhaps not. But I post our own one-person example to show that the process is not rigid; it definitely can get arbitrary.

Good luck![/quote]

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