I’m seeking advice on the foreign language requirements for competitive University of California (UC) schools. My son’s high school language track is as follows:
- Grade 8: Spanish 1
- Grade 9: Spanish 2
- Grade 10: Elementary Spanish 3 and Intermediate Spanish 1 at a community college.
Due to scheduling conflicts and concerns about the quality of high school instruction, we opted for community college courses in 10th grade. Would it be beneficial for him to self-study for the AP Spanish exam in 11th grade to demonstrate language mastery, or are the community college courses sufficient to show college readiness and a passion for the language? I’m also curious if UCs view community college courses as equivalent to high school Spanish classes
PS: He’s likely to pursue an engineering track but keeping other options open too at this stage.
Probably the time spent elsewhere is a better ROI. And by no stretch of the imagination does the AP exam “demonstrate language mastery”
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Is he planning to stop at Spanish I? My main concern is that he has through Spanish 3 in high school but only Spanish I at CC - it seems like there would be significant overlap? I realize CC classes move faster, but after 3 years of Spanish, would he not have been prepared for Spanish 2? Is there something I’m missing? Essentially re-taking first year Spanish may appear as grade-grubbing. If he’s planning to proceed to Spanish 2, then that would likely look better.
Generally, if you take CC classes then AP exams are not really useful - if the CC class is UC transferrable, then you will get the credit. With the AP exam, you may or may not get credit (depending on score). So the CC class is a safer bet for credit and therefore there is no reason to take the AP exam as well. The CC classes will also likely be better in terms of placement, if he plans to continue language in college.
Yes, for the most part. They are weighted exactly the same in calculating the UC GPA (both get a +1).
EDITED TO ADD: I see you say “Intermediate Spanish I” - so is that equivalent to second year Spanish? If so, then you should be totally good in demonstrating fulfillment of language requirements/expectations. If that is the case, please disregard my first paragraph.
Just to clarify. Intermediate Spanish 1 is considered 4th level in our community college after Elementary Spanish 1, Spanish 2 and Spanish 3.
In that case, you should be good on fulfilling the UC LOTE requirement.
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Thank you for your previous responses! I understand that my son has met the UC language other than English (LOTE) requirement. However, I’m concerned about how his language track compares to students who complete four years of language study in high school, including AP Spanish. Specifically, for highly competitive schools like UC Berkeley and UCLA, will his choice not to pursue language studies in 11th and 12th grades be viewed as less rigorous, especially considering he won’t be continuing with Spanish in these years?
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It sounds like he has completed the equivalent of 4 years of language, between three years of HS level language and fourth semester of college-level language. The UCs require two years of LOTE and recommend 3, so he has exceeded the requirements which will make him competitive in terms of language requirement.
Hopefully @Gumbymom will chime in on this, however, just to be sure. But that is how I understand what you have described.
I agree with @worriedmomucb that he has exceeded the minimum UC requirements so he should be fine for the UC’s including UCLA and UCB.
He will show rigor by taking the CC course.
For schools other than the UC’s, they may want to see additional years of Spanish taken while in HS.
“For schools other than the UC’s, they may want to see additional years of Spanish taken while in HS.” - Do you mean for other colleges other than UCs, they expect Spanish in 11th and 12th grade too ? In that case, is it better to take the Spanish level 4 course in CC next year (11th grade)? He already finished Spanish level 3 course in 10th grade in CC (this year).
I know that recommendations for elite schools may require 4 years of Foreign language taken in HS. You would have to check every school’s requirements to confirm. UC’s are pretty flexible since they only require 2 years but recommend 3 years and will accept Middle school courses for the Foreign language requirement. UC’s are more concerned about the level reached vs. the # of years taken in HS.
This link might help summarize FL requirements for many of the colleges: Foreign Language Requirements for College
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My child took Spanish 1 and 2 in middle school and Spanish 3 and honors Spanish 4 in high school. She didn’t take the AP test or another Spanish class at CC. She got into UC Berkeley last year. I don’t think you need to stress about taking the AP exam. There are so many other things that go into the UC application…and honestly after living the process last year and seeing where my daughter and her friends were accepted it is very hard to predict what the winning formula is.
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For UCs (and CSUs) specifically, you can look up what level the California community college Spanish course is considered to be for a-g requirements.
Put the community college name in the web page to look up a-g requirement fulfillment.
It looks like most intermediate foreign language at community colleges (semester 3) is considered equivalent to high school year 4 (LOTE 4+) for a-g requirements. But check the specific course to be sure.
UCs and CSUs effectively consider the highest level completed for foreign language.
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Thank you @ucbalumnus!
S27 is looking to take foreign language at community college after 3 years of HS foreign language.
Your point aligns for community college with semester units: Sem 1 = LOTE 2, Sem 2 = LOTE 3, Sem 3 = LOTE 4+ .
I previously thought S27 needed to go into Sem 4, but professor said Sem 3 course after the placement exam. I realized that I was confused by my friend’s kids’ foreign language community college experience, which were based on quarter units: Qtr 1 = LOTE 1, Qtr 2 = LOTE 2, Qtr 3 = LOTE 3 and Qtr 4= LOTE 4+.