I’m taking classes through The American School, an accredited distance education program. I am a senior this year. I live in New York State, where homeschool laws are strict, so basically my courses have to completely satisfy NYS graduation requirements while also satisfying The American School (I’ll graduate with an accredited TAS diploma as well as a letter of approval from my school district), and satisfying college admissions requirements. Currently I’m almost done with my required classes to satisfy both NYS and The American School, and I have 2.5 free credits, which I plan on using during my second semester. I’m trying to decide what use of those credits would be best to prepare me for college.
My main dilemma is here; I have one year of foreign language (French) which I took during 9th grade when I was in a traditional high school. I did well. I only need one foreign language credit to graduate and I only need one to comply with NYS laws. However, a lot of colleges (especially out of state) require a minimum of 2 foreign language credits for admission. How strict is this? Should I waste an entire free credit on French 2 just to meet the requirements, or would colleges be more willing to overlook that if I actually have credits relating to my intended field of study?
Here’s what I mean: I plan on majoring in something psychology related (depends on the school, but I’m hoping to get a BS in psychology or behavioral neuroscience and move on to become an OT) so I don’t see why I’d need to be fluent in French. I was planning on using those 2.5 credits for Creative Writing (1/2 credit; basically because writing is a passion of mine and it’s put forth in my ECs a lot, so I want that to correspond with my choice of elective as well), Personal Psychology (I took Psychology and this is the follow-up course that The American School offers), and Sociology (might change this to Anatomy; I haven’t decided yet). I’m trying to build a strong background in psychology, human performance, etc. I feel that switching either of the two full-credit courses for French 2 would be morally wrong, but I’m also afraid it’d unnecessarily hurt my applications. If I go with the classes I chose, I’d be graduating with 4.5 credits in English (2 lit 1.5 basic english 1 total writing), 6 credits in Social Studies (2 history 1 gov 3 social sci unless I switch sociology to anatomy), 3 credits in Math (a1 a2 geo and trig), 3 credits in Science (2 are bio and chem each with lab, if I switch to anatomy then I’ll have a 4th non-lab), 1 foreign language and 2 electives (art and “planning your career”). So basically, I’d have a strong background to go into psychology, and I hope that schools would appreciate this and overlook their lousy 2nd year foreign language requirement.
Is this true, or do schools tend to be strict on that subject? How would I be best off spending that last free credit?
If it’s required, it’s required. Colleges do not expect applicants to be specialists in HS, and many, in fact, discourage it. However, there are many colleges that do not have a foreign language requirement for admissions.
Well, 2 years of HS French wouldn’t make you fluent anyway.
What schools are you planning on applying to, and what are your SAT / ACT scores? Schools with language requirements are not looking for you to be fluent, just well-rounded, and 2 years is typically the bare minimum required; in fact, many applicants will have more than that, putting you at a disadvantage. I’d opt for French 2 if I were you.
NYS homeschool regulations don’t require you to take an online program to get an accredited high school diploma. In fact, no NYS college will accept the online diploma, so make sure you complete everything needed to get the Letter of Substantial Equivalency from your district. As a NYS homeschooler, you don’t need an accredited diploma to be accepted to colleges in other states either; you need the LSE to show you’ve met our state’s requirements.
If you don’t take French 2, you will be in the situation of having to make excuses for why you blew off a requirement. Just take French 2. (And sorry, it won’t make you fluent.)
A requirement is a requirement… It would be like me saying “well I don’t really like math, so I’ll only take 1 math class” and the colleges won’t overlook only taking one year. Take the other year of French (not Spanish, not Latin, take French)
Thanks everyone. Sorry, I didn’t really realize how big of a deal it’d be. And the thing I said about being “fluent” was more of a joke… Anyways, I decided I’d be safest replacing sociology/anatomy with French 2 so that’s what I’m going to do.
@mjrube94 I’m applying to Ithaca, Northeastern, Lesley, Sarah Lawrence, SUNY New Paltz, and a few safeties. My SAT is 1930.
@austinmshauri My diploma won’t be online but it is a distance education program. My dad has been handling all of the NYS requirements with the local school district, we’ve got that under control and they confirmed that I would qualify for a Letter of Substantial Equivalency. I will have both the LSE and the accredited diploma; the LSE being more important. All I’m worried about right now is what additional courses will be best to prepare me for college.
