Ok guys so I’m in French 2 now and it definitely one of the easiest classes I’ve taken. I’ve gotten a 100 for the first semester with no studying. However, I don’t have space to take the class next year unless I drop automotive(which is a 2 class period class). I want to go to a slightly competitive college. Is automotive going to hurt my chances? I really enjoy the class, but it’s not a career I want to go into. I take a decently difficult schedule.
It will depend on what sort of college you wish to go to. French is an academic subject while automotive is not, and many colleges want to see applicants choose academic courses. Some colleges require 4 years of a foreign language. So you should investigate a handful of schools you’re interested in and see what their requirements are. www.collegedata.com is a good place to start.
French is a core class for selective colleges. Rhey expect a minimum of level 3, often level 4 or ap. Automotive isn’t a core class or even an academic class, it’s a ‘fun class’. (I don’t think they’ll even count it in your recalculated GPA.)
In addition, if I understand right, dropping automotive frees up two periods, one for french3 and therefore one more, which you could use for all sorts of elective classes, from AP cs principles to AP psychology to DECA to journalism or theater tech.
What do you want to study in college? Automotive could be good if you are headed into automotive engineering or the like.
Will you end up with any kind of certification after the automotive course? That could land you a part-time job as a mechanic while you are in college, which is likely to pay a lot better than typical student work such as food service or re-shelving books at the university library.
What do the colleges on your short-list require for application, and what do they recommend for admission, and what do they require for graduation with the degree program you think you want? Right now French is easy for you. Will it become significantly more difficult at your high school as time goes on? Do you have a whole bunch of really tough classes for next year? Is Automotive your “fun” class?
Lots to think about!
^ op indicated s/he doesn’t intend on working as a mechanic or in automotive, nor is it something they want to study or required by their college.
The expected classes for a student who wants to attend a selective 4-year college include
- 4 years of English, including honors and/or AP lit and/AP Lang
- 4 years of history and social science, which may include APUSH, AP euro, AP world, AP gov, AP econ.
- math through precalculus or calculus
- foreign language through level 4 or AP
- one each of biology, chemistry, physics, plus one more science (cs, environmental, etc)
- (recommended) art, music…
- some classes you pick because you’re interested in them.
In this particular case, I would drop automotive and keep taking French until French 4 if you want to go to a competitive college.