Admission Language Requirement

ohiopop
Sun, 14 Feb 2016 21:18:43 +0000

I think it depends on the school that OP intends to apply to. OP seems to be aiming for the “most selective schools”. While the minimum is 3 years of language (that is not one’s native tongue), the most selective schools want to see 4 years of foreign language (as well as 4 years of history, science and math), so skipping French 3 in junior year, and ending at the 3rd year level of language by the time OP graduates will not put OP in the best light, even if it will not disqualifies him/her.

Just as important is what OP is replacing French 3 with. AP stats is unfairly viewed as “lightweight”. If you are taking AP Stats in addition to Calculus or something, I suppose that is okay. But if AP Stats will be THE math subject for the year, and it is bumping out French 3, I’m not sure that the most selective universities will look favorable on this. To put things in perspective, my daughter wanted to take AP Stats in her senior year because after taking AP Calculus BC in her junior year, she thought she deserved to take the math subject that she wanted (and yes, that was a little easier). But because she is also planning to take AP Psych in her senior year, her GC strongly discouraged her from taking AP Stats (apparently, it sends the wrong perception to the AOs–2 “light APs”, even if she already finished AP Calc BC junior year, and she was also planning to take AP English and AP Bio in her senior year with her AP Psych and AP Stats). So, she is taking Honor Multivariable Calculus instead of AP Stats, in order for her to take AP Psych (her more preferred AP light subject). And she’s not even intending to major in a STEM field! While this may be an extreme case, it illustrates how much the most selective schools require 4 years of language and the most rigorous APs.

I hope this helps. Of course, this is only in the ideal situation. You have to balance this with what you want to take, what you are realistically able to take on, and what colleges want to see.