That is definitely the most important next step! Good luck, and while no obligation, I am sure people here would be interested to learn what they say.
6 Likes
Hopefully they will recommend some way for your student to take Spanish next year⊠any Spanish at this point. I would suggest that in terms of college admissions, Spanish is more important for Senior year than any other class except English and Math (for your childâs specific case).
Google the name of a college your child is interested in and âCDSâ or âCommon Data Set.â Every schoolâs CDS will tell you how many years of foreign language are recommended or required.
1 Like
Seems like language requirement question comes up from time to time.
S24 has two years of Spanish. It never occurred to me that will be a problem when he applied to college. Apparently few of the tippy top: UCLA, Berkeley, WashU, and seven other schools donât see it as a problem either.
Worse case scenario, if OP really âneedâ more years of FL. At least in CA, community college language courses offered, each semester is equivalent to one year of HS FL.
Obviously, YMMV.
Two years of FL study in high school is different than zero years of FL in high school, which is what OPâs child has.
1 Like
OP said middle school. I am under the impression, there is a grade in MS which can be listed as one year. Opâs son has another year in 12th grade to make up the second year. Or community college option, there are three semesters left before graduation. There is still a way.
Exactly! I agree! Thatâs why the student absolutely needs to find a way to take Spanish next year.
What levels were the two years?
Note that UCs require level 2 and recommend level 3. WUStL recommends âat least 2 years of the same foreign language since the ninth gradeâ.
However, the OPâs student has only level 1 listed from pre-high-school course work, and some of the in-state NY public universities require 3 years.
1 Like
But I canât imagine a schedule issue preventing a student for not taking a FL all 4 years. One of mine dropped a class senior year that she really enjoyed (chamber singers, weighted class, was in the top choirs in middle and high school like her 4 siblings, to take an AP class her calculus teacher suggested she take before college), I think many students have more classes they want to take but canât fit them in.
Our HS has no AP offering and for sure he did not take the Honors offering, so it is whatever the school listed on transcript.
OP said the schools on their list indicates 1-2 years. Iâm saying (from my recollection of common app and UC applications) middle school FL counts. He just need to find another year of Spanish somewhere before people start jumping in about 3-4 years are necessary.
So what I read the OP as saying was: âI see many many of the schools on his list with at least 1-2 years of high school foreign language as a requirement.â (emphasis added).
Another poster then pointed out the varying SUNY (the OPâs state universities) statements in their CDS, which included one requiring 3 and two others recommending 3.
In the end, though, the OPâs kid can only do what is possible. I understand why people are hoping the kid can at least find a way to take one yearâs-worth of HS Spanish, but I think the OP is explaining why that might not be possible.
Edit: By the way, I note privates can usually waive even things they say are required if they feel like it, and obviously public or private ârecommendationsâ are intentionally open to waiver. But this obviously raises the stakes for getting them to want to do something like that in your case.
This was âalmostâ an issue for my kids. Both took 2 years of Spanish, but the school really pushed 4. Going into junior year, we looked at the colleges they were most likely to apply to and see where that put them. If he knows what major he is interested in and where he might apply, you can see if this is something that is worth worrying about or not.
You can always reach out to AOâs, as well, to ask about if itâs a strict must-have or not (they will probably all say âwholistic reviewâ, which leaves you unsure) and if there is any other way to meet the requirement such as a CLEP exam.
1 Like
Were the two years in high school levels 1 and 2, or 2 and 3, or something else? That matters (especially for UCs, which are only concerned about what the highest level was).
Some of the OPâs in-state New York publics require 3 years (not 2 like in California).
So the OP is closing their own door before exploring options?
Hoping to find a way when:
Community college FL can be an option
even some of the private FL language institutes can offer credit classes
Just offering our real world example of getting into schools without 3-4 years of FL. But agree OP needs to find a way to fulfill at least the minimum requirements.
1 Like
Agree! Sure, some private colleges can âwaiveâ the FL recommendation/requirement and others are holistic review. But why would you intentionally go into the application process with an obvious and published weakness that you could correct or at least partially correct in senior year.
If it were my child, and if I cared about not prematurely closing doors, I would make sure Spanish were on the senior schedule even if it meant dropping another important class. English and Math for four years are non-negotiable, but after that, Iâd prioritize Spanish above other classes (for this particular student).
2 Likes
Again, I am just trying to listen to the OP, but I believe part of the problem is the kid last took Spanish in 7th grade. They could try to take a summer course in Spanish for credit, but realistically I am not sure how well they could do in that class unless it was basically starting over again.
I note I think this is part of why another poster is asking you for more details about when your kid took their two language classes and at what level. This is just a hypothetical, but I think if this kid had taken Spanish 2 (into which they apparently could have placed at the time) in 9th and Spanish 3 in 10th, they could have been in good enough shape for a lot of colleges (although I am not quite sure about Binghamton).
But if they took Spanish 1 in 7th, and due to disuse would realistically have to repeat Spanish 1 this summer? I am not sure that is really going to help much.
In our case, I donât know if we have Spanish 1/2 or Spanish 2/3. But I do know itâs two actual years. If taking Spanish 2/3 actually counts as having three years, then we lucked out.
I guess Iâm answering a question not asked. You are right, OP is not asking about options.
1 Like
OP, Indiana University High School Online and University of Nebraska High School offer high school level foreign language courses online. These are self-paced courses, a motivated student could complete levels 1 and 2 in a summer. A less motivated student could complete level 1 during the summer and work on level 2 throughout the school year.
Also check summer schedules at local colleges. Many offer beginning foreign language courses during the summer. If summer courses are not possible, community colleges often offer American Sign Language as evening courses.
7 Likes
It is common for students who took Spanish in middle school to start high school in Spanish 2, so such a student who takes Spanish for two years in high school reaches Spanish 3.
UC policies essentially mean that level reached are what is important, regardless of the number of years in high school (so the above scenario would be â3 yearsâ for UC purposes). While level reached is always important for colleges that want to see foreign language in high school, some colleges may also consider number of years in high school.
2 Likes
I know several students (in my classes, my child, and his friends) who took fewer than 4 years foreign language in high school and were accepted to these universities in 2023 and 2024:
UT Austin, U Michigan, U Washington, Rice, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, U Chicago, Northwestern, NYU, Notre Dame, Case Western Reserve, Waterloo, and maybe Duke (this one Iâm not certain). Some took Spanish in middle school counting as high school credit (shown on their high school transcript).
At one of my kidsâ university 2 years of language needed to be taken in HS. Our schools offer FL in middle school, some move up to level 3 freshman year, some 2, based on an assessment. My daughter started Spanish 3 freshman year, so needed 4 for this requirement.