I’m currently a sophomore taking Spanish 3 and many of the schools I’m looking at (VT, UMich, Cornell, etc) for engineering/STEM recommend 3 or 4 years of world language. However, I suck at Spanish, and my finishing grade will likely be a B- or B. My other classes are fine, this year I can pull off an A in AP econ and calc, and a B+ in AP chem.
I’ve heard from somewhere that proficiency level is equivalent to units/years taken (so I’ve taken 3 units/years now?), somebody please let me know if this is incorrect.
I’m wondering whether or not I should take Spanish 4 next year. I will probably get a B- or B in the class. My main concern is whether or not a Spanish 4 matters that much to colleges that “recommend” a 4th unit and if it will make my chances better or worse than getting an A in a not core AP class while all my other classes are A-'s and A’s.
I am aware that there is more to college chances than just course and grades, but I have a scheduling meeting tomorrow and I want to know what the best course of action is. Thanks in advance.
D22 sucked at Spanish. And I mean SUCKED. We only figured it out because she took it during COVID so my husband (a former German teacher) listened in. She was in Spanish 3. She was so bad, I called the school and asked what would happen next year if she failed Spanish 3, as they had already picked classes for next year and she was slated for Spanish 4. They told me she’d still be in Spanish 4 as there was a range of abilities in the class. I was pretty unhappy with this answer.
Based on this knowledge, we looked at all of the colleges we thought she’d be interested in and realized that they only “required” 2 years, so we pulled her out of Spanish 4 for the following year. The reason we were comfortable doing this is that she had a particular interest and this would allow her an additional class in that area which we thought, in the long run, was more valuable for her as she was never going to be proficient in Spanish and having the extra 2 classes (1/2 year classes) was going to let her explore an interest that would possibly lead to her being able to identify a major.
All this to say that I wouldn’t drop it based on the fear of a poor grade, but if there are other classes that you can take (especially if there are engineering classes or capstone AP that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to take) that might have a bigger impact than another year of Spanish, it might be worth exploring your options. As you are looking at very competitive colleges, you would have to take a class not seen as a “blow-off elective” to maintain the rigor these schools are looking for if you intend to drop a class often seen as a core class.
Depending on your school and major, you may be required to either show proficiency or take a language in college. D22 was willing to cross those colleges off her list if there wasn’t some other way (study abroad, cultural classes) to meet the requirement. You may just be kicking the can down the road depending on what will be required.
The only AP I would be sacrificing would be APES or Human Geo, everything else my school offers that’s relevant to me can be taken with Spanish 4. Should I just send it in spanish 4 and sub it out for something else if its really really bad?
You’re going to have to research where you think you might want to end up and talk to your guidance counselor. Truthfully, I think most GC’s push 3-4 years of a language as it is something that is usually figured into reports either for the state or for “best high school” publications. I’m not sure if they could pull up the data on past students admitted to the schools you’re interested in, but they might have some sense of what those schools really look for.
Is Spanish 4 with the same teacher you had last year? I wouldn’t assume a B-. Especially with a different teacher. I will say your GC is not going to see a B as a reason to not take a class. It comes across as “grade protection”. You would have to come up with a better alternative than just dropping a class to protect your GPA.
My daughter was BAD at Spanish and her teacher in 9th grade recommended testing, that’s how we figured out she had dyslexia! She had learned to cope in English but it was really difficult to learn another language, something to consider…
If you are planning to apply to the schools you’ve listed, you should take through level 4 of a foreign language to be a competitive applicant. Are there admitted students that do less? Sure. But I’d advise taking Spanish 4 as highly competitive schools will expect this.
I feel your pain because the hardest class I ever took in HS or college was HS Spanish. And I studied engineering in college!
So I’m going to tell you what I wish someone had told me back then. What you have, barring any causes such as dyslexia, is actually an opportunity. As you go further into your education the pace picks up and so does the difficulty. You’ll find that techniques for doing better in Spanish class apply when studying other subjects as well.
What I suggest is identifying the specific problem(s) you are facing in Spanish (conjugation, vocabulary, articles and gender, listening comprehension, etc) and then work on ways to overcome them. You can start by meeting with your teacher and asking what they may have noticed about you, and if there’s anything they know more successful students do in areas you find difficult. If you’re having problems memorizing then mnemonics can help as can apps such as Anki which use spaced repetition (a more effective way to learn). Online you can find forums to ask questions and get advice.
It may be worth revisiting how you are studying. I know when I was in HS all I did in Spanish was the homework (by flipping back in the chapter to find the answer) and then reviewing the vocab the morning of the test. It didn’t work out so well. The most effective study techniques, sadly almost never explained in school, include spaced repetition and self-testing. The former means instead of cramming for a test it’s better to do 15-30 minutes of study almost every day. And instead of just reading thru homework and the textbook (which trains recognition) it’s more effective to quiz yourself which forces you to recall the answer, the same way you will on the test.
So my advice is not to see your ability in Spanish as fixed but to take steps to do what you can to improve, starting right now.
You should take Spanish 4 next year so that you have 3 years of the language. Most colleges will want 3 years. My recommendation would be to try to do some kind of Spanish remediation over the summer. Maybe there is an online program or some free resources (duolingo maybe?) or self studying from a book. Also, if your family can afford it see if you can get a tutor for next year or maybe you have a friend or classmate you can form a study group with?