I’m planning on taking philosophy 101 at a local community college this fall but i’m not sure if it’s a course that will actually make my college apps anymore competitive. I’m a rising senior and I haven’t had the chance to take any AP courses or foreign language (due to my school) so I figured a cc course would help me out as a substitute and I chose phil because it’s an interest of mine but now I’m thinking something more practical like a language would’ve been a better choice. I’m not sure how the schools I’m looking to apply to as a visual arts major would view this (Bard, Reed, Bennington), even with their holistic admissions processes.
Do you mean to say that your high school does not offer any foreign language courses, or any courses at the AP level (whether or not labeled as AP)?
In that case, taking a college course while in high school does show the ability to take more challenging courses than ordinary high school courses, as well as give you the opportunity to explore a possible interest that is not normally offered in high school.
But lack of any foreign language could be a problem for admission to many colleges.
DE classes are just one way to show rigor, along with AP and IB classes. I would probably pick a DE foreign language class, however, as filling in a deficiency would be more urgent than showing competency in an area you enjoy.
Yes, if you can take college semester 1 and 2 of a foreign language, that may (depending on the college relative to high schools) be equivalent to high school year 2 or possibly 3 in terms of level of achievement.
Several things here:
- Can you afford these schools? How much are your parents willing to pay for college? Go to the NEt Price Calculators for each school (NPC) and get hard data from your parents on what they made in 2018 including their reported AG on 1040 and what their assets are. Fill it out. If there is a huge gap, you can’t afford those schools. Reed guarantees to meet full need, so if you have a gap there , it’s problematic.
If money is not an issue, let’s look at your high school. Are you taking the most rigorous classes available? You won’t get dinged if there are no AP courses but if thetevsre and you don’t take them , that’s a whole other story. Foreign language was likely available and that can be an issue if the colleges you have in mind want that
Also, look up what courses these colleges you like are recommending. Write down what you have taken. What’s the gap?
Philosophy would be a fine pick if you had your core courses at high levels at your high school. But if you are missing some core courses, like a foreign language, absolutely, that should be your pick. Note, we do not know what you have taken in high school, your grades etc
Based on the NPC of each school affording it will be feasible. I am taking the most rigorous courses available to me, I go to a very small therapeutic school with no AP or foreign language and foreign language requirements for my graduation will be waived because of my placement. I’ve taken 3 years of math, english, history, science and art electives so the only gap between courses I’ve taken and the schools recommendations is the classes I’ll be taking next year to graduate and foreign language.
Why would foreign language have to be waived for highschool graduation when your school does not have any foreign language to take?
But we are not talking about needing foreign language to graduate from high school. We are talking about whether not having taken it would compromise your chances of getting into college.
I’m graduating from my areas public high school while attending a therapeutic school, that’s why it’s a waived requirement. I haven’t had access to taking foreign language other than this coming year if I take a cc course.