Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA and the Ivies all want to see four years of foreign language, AP if offered.

'

You're just repeating what has already been said. Its not the longest thread - only 2 pages. Try reading next time.

Nowhere in the previous posts is UVA mentioned.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA and the Ivies all want to see four years of foreign language, AP if offered.

AP classes are offered but not everyone can take them. If my kid starts 9th grade taking Spanish 1, he can’t take AP Spanish. He would get to Spanish 4 by senior year.

The top colleges don’t give you slack for that. That’s like saying that Ap Calc Bc is offered but because you took Algebra 1 in 9th, you can’t take it. You will still be penalized if it is offered AT ALL, to someone, and you aren’t on track to take it. Same goes for other subjects. Maybe if you put something in the special information section that you came from a ms where hs level FL wasn’t offered, but otherwise you can’t pull a fast one.

Abject bull crap.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are targeting top 20 colleges, do they all require 4 years of world language? Is there a way to easily find who all require 4 years of world language. Kid is in high school and she wants to decide whether to pursue 4th year. Thanks!

Yes. The Common Data Set is your friend.

And where is says "recommended", read that as "required".

I quickly went through few of the top colleges website to look at their CDS.
First, thanks for telling about CDS. I wasn't aware of this and found this very helpful.

It seems most of the Ivies require (and also Univ of VA). Yale doesn't say anything. I couldn't find info on Columbia Univ. Nothwestern, Duke, Cornell, MIT, CMU don't recommend.

I am thinking if you are targeting engineering school like MIT, CMU etc..then 4 years of FL is not needed but if you have a kid who doesn't know what they want to do after HS, maybe it makes sense to just take 4 years of FL to be safe.
Now question is universities who recommend, how strict they are about this. Do they right away reject the app if they don't see 4 year FL? Even if they don't reject, if there is a choice between two students (one with 4 years of FL and one with less than 4), maye they would give preference to 4 years of FL student?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA and the Ivies all want to see four years of foreign language, AP if offered.

AP classes are offered but not everyone can take them. If my kid starts 9th grade taking Spanish 1, he can’t take AP Spanish. He would get to Spanish 4 by senior year.

The top colleges don’t give you slack for that. That’s like saying that Ap Calc Bc is offered but because you took Algebra 1 in 9th, you can’t take it. You will still be penalized if it is offered AT ALL, to someone, and you aren’t on track to take it. Same goes for other subjects. Maybe if you put something in the special information section that you came from a ms where hs level FL wasn’t offered, but otherwise you can’t pull a fast one.

No wonder there are so many crazy parents and students out there. You would have to be on this track starting in 4th or 5th grade in order to get to the highest math in many high schools. My kids private school requires everyone who wants to test out of algebra 1, 2 and geometry as well as their FL to take a placement test before 9th grade. The tests are hard! I only know one kid (a member of Mensa) to test out of algebra 1 and 2. He took geometry the summer before his freshman year. The only kid I know why texted out of the first level of his language was a native Spanish speaker.

Pretty much every area (public schools) starts tracking kids for math by 6th grade. I don’t mean this to be rude, but aside from sports recruits top colleges are meant for “the really smart kids” in the class. You all knew who they were in high school. And testing out of Alg 2?? So the kid can take precalc in 9th grade? That is way beyond what I was referring to re: rigor. And “the tests are hard” are you implying that honors hs math in public schools is a walk in the park?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA and the Ivies all want to see four years of foreign language, AP if offered.

AP classes are offered but not everyone can take them. If my kid starts 9th grade taking Spanish 1, he can’t take AP Spanish. He would get to Spanish 4 by senior year.

The top colleges don’t give you slack for that. That’s like saying that Ap Calc Bc is offered but because you took Algebra 1 in 9th, you can’t take it. You will still be penalized if it is offered AT ALL, to someone, and you aren’t on track to take it. Same goes for other subjects. Maybe if you put something in the special information section that you came from a ms where hs level FL wasn’t offered, but otherwise you can’t pull a fast one.

No wonder there are so many crazy parents and students out there. You would have to be on this track starting in 4th or 5th grade in order to get to the highest math in many high schools. My kids private school requires everyone who wants to test out of algebra 1, 2 and geometry as well as their FL to take a placement test before 9th grade. The tests are hard! I only know one kid (a member of Mensa) to test out of algebra 1 and 2. He took geometry the summer before his freshman year. The only kid I know why texted out of the first level of his language was a native Spanish speaker.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA and the Ivies all want to see four years of foreign language, AP if offered.

AP classes are offered but not everyone can take them. If my kid starts 9th grade taking Spanish 1, he can’t take AP Spanish. He would get to Spanish 4 by senior year.

The top colleges don’t give you slack for that. That’s like saying that Ap Calc Bc is offered but because you took Algebra 1 in 9th, you can’t take it. You will still be penalized if it is offered AT ALL, to someone, and you aren’t on track to take it. Same goes for other subjects. Maybe if you put something in the special information section that you came from a ms where hs level FL wasn’t offered, but otherwise you can’t pull a fast one.

Anonymous wrote:UVA and the Ivies all want to see four years of foreign language, AP if offered.

AP classes are offered but not everyone can take them. If my kid starts 9th grade taking Spanish 1, he can’t take AP Spanish. He would get to Spanish 4 by senior year.

Anonymous wrote:UVA and the Ivies all want to see four years of foreign language, AP if offered.

'

You're just repeating what has already been said. Its not the longest thread - only 2 pages. Try reading next time.

UVA and the Ivies all want to see four years of foreign language, AP if offered.

Anonymous wrote:Apparently FCPS must suck, because the maximum is 5 years, 8-12.

Not true. We are in FCPS and DD is in 7th grade taking HS level FL. Please don’t generalize.

I posted this on a different thread as well. My kid took 4 years of Spanish in hs and placed into Spanish 101-At her college, the class for kids who never took Spanish before.

Anonymous wrote:+1 The Common Data Set. A great resource. The point is to have the coursework to be successful in the desired college major. If a major is going to require extensive foreign language, it was available to the student in HS, and they didn't take it. Why not? A STEM or engineering major, isn't going to need much/any FL and it's ok if their HS record reflects that.

For those of you that have kids just finishing college or finished in the last few years.. What's the practical value of a FL education? How has that made a difference in their work lives or given them a leg up in getting a job?

Not an Ivy by any means, but my daughters friends got into Bucknell with 2 and 3 years of foreign language.

+1 The Common Data Set. A great resource. The point is to have the coursework to be successful in the desired college major. If a major is going to require extensive foreign language, it was available to the student in HS, and they didn't take it. Why not? A STEM or engineering major, isn't going to need much/any FL and it's ok if their HS record reflects that.

Anonymous wrote:Complete BS. Our public school had girl get into Princeton who took two years of language, one of which was in Middke School.

Not BS. Here it is. All you had do was Google Princeton Admissions Requirements:

Academic Preparation
During the admission process, our goal is to find students who will thrive in Princeton’s rigorous academic environment. With this in mind, we offer a suggested course of study to help students prepare for Princeton.

This is not a list of admission requirements. We understand that not all secondary schools offer the same academic opportunities, and we give full consideration to students who don’t have access to all of these courses.

If possible, we expect students will complete the following courses before beginning study at Princeton:

Four years of English (including continued practice in writing)
Four years of mathematics (including calculus for students interested in engineering)
Four years of one foreign language
At least two years of laboratory science (including physics and chemistry for students interested in engineering)
At least two years of history
In addition, most candidates have had some study in the visual or performing arts.

Whenever you can, challenge yourself with the most rigorous courses possible, such as honors, Advanced Placement (AP) and dual-enrollment courses. We will evaluate the International Baccalaureate (IB), A-levels or another diploma in the context of the program’s curriculum.