<p>Hi, I’m a Canadian who will apply to Harvard next year, but I kind of have a problem.</p>
<p>I see Harvard ‘recommends’ 4 years of the same foreign language and 3 years of history. Now, this isn’t mandatory, but it would benefit me as an international applicant to get close to meeting these recommended courses.</p>
<p>This is what I have so far:
-Gr.9 French
-Gr.10 Spanish (no pre-req required to take this course, this is an intro. course to spanish)
-Gr.10 History (we don’t have gr.9 history)</p>
<p>That’s all I have! I am a junior this year and want to know if I should drop a class next semester to fit in Spanish…then take Spanish again in grade 12. This way I will have 3 spanish credits and 1 french credit. I have no room for another history this year, but maybe I’ll take history in gr.12…thus giving me 2 history credits.</p>
<p>So, how much of a disadvantage am I in for having only 1 year of a foreign language and 1 year of history? (If i don’t make the changes in my schedule). Is it pretty significant?</p>
<p>Also, when other schools (like UT Austin) REQUIRE 2 years of a foreign language, does that apply to international applicants too? Or is that just for US applicants? I plan on applying to some schools that require 2-3 years of a foreign language too. So, I’d need to know if this applies to me.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. I would like to have responses in a week at the latest, because I need to let my councilor know that I need to change my schedule next semester and give her time to work in Spanish into my schedule. And could you let me know how many years of a foreign language and history you guys have? Just so I can get an idea of what everyone else has. Thanks!</p>
<p>I recommend taking an online class or a class at a local university. For example, in the US Brigham Young University has a lot of college level history courses that you could take and would give you many more credits. Also, they offer Spanish and French, among Japanese, Russian, Latin, etc. </p>
<p>Just do a google search for “BYU Independent Study”. There are classes for both high school students and college students. The college courses would look better on your app, I think, but are also a lot more expensive (offer many more credits though). This would be an especially good option if you need a GPA boost.</p>
<p>so, these classes are online? and are they difficult? You said they would give me a GPA boost, but I’m a little skeptical of how easy a college level course could be.</p>
<p>And when schools require 2 years of the same language, does that apply to international applicants too?</p>
<p>Yes, these classes are super easy (the high school level ones). I haven’t started my college history course through BYU though, so I can’t say. I do know, however, that it won’t be harder than an AP class. It’s online and from an okay college, so it’s not geared towards really high achieving students. It’s mostly for kids missing credits. If you get an A, which is quite possible, your GPA would go up quite a bit (it’s 4-5 credits). Of course this depends on your GPA currently, but if you had a 3.8 for example, it would probably increase to a 3.9 (well mine would, since I get a half a credit for each class I take).</p>
<p>And yes, two years of the same language are probably expected of you. The one exception might be if you’re already bilingual. For example, in my school you are not required to study a foreign language at all if you are bilingual. HYP would certainly like to see you put time into another language during high school though.</p>
<p>ok, here’s the thing…my current gr.11 average is around 98%…we use percent, so there is a very likely chance that taking this would make it go down. But, i don’t even know if they can put it on my transcript because my high school would require a course my school and the grading would have to be in percent. I don’t know if what i said is confusing…but like, I don’t go to a US school, so how would that work?</p>
<p>Do you think if I just took spanish this year and next that I’d be all set? I’m not very good at foreign languages. And I am kinda bilingual. My parents speak an indian language, and I can understand them, but I can only speak a little. </p>
<p>If I don’t choose the online course option offered by BYU would 3 spanish credits and 1 history credit be fine? Or would you suggest 2 history?</p>
<p>I really would suggest two history courses. </p>
<p>If you look into the online courses you should ask your guidance counselor (if you have one) how to get the credits transferred (most likely they’ll be able to). If you don’t have one, then that’s a problem because you have to have a certified BYU proctor, which seems like it’s unlikely considering you’re international. It’s easy to get certified, and your counselor could easily do it.</p>
<p>Another suggestion: this summer try taking a history and spanish class at your local university. That way you would definitely get the credits.</p>
<p>ok. so do you think 3 spanish and 1 french is enough? </p>
<p>Plus, I could say that I kinda know another indian language if there is some sort of area of the application that allows for that.</p>
<p>And i’ll take gr.12 history at my school, there are lots of options too like N.A. history, european, and world history too. So would the 3 spanish and 1 french and 2 history be enough for any school? The thing is I don’t want to compromise my average by taking too many courses that will bring my grades down, so would the previously mentioned courses be enough for any school?</p>
<p>I will look into the BYU courses too. I need to talk to my guidance councilor soon too about courses and I will ask her then.</p>
<p>…bump…anyone know if 3 spanish credits and 1 history (maybe 2) would be enough? And how many foreign language and history credits do all you applicants have?</p>