Will not taking 3 years of Spanish affect my chances at a good school if i do an AP instead?
I really dislike language classes, and i'm not good at them. However, I have good grades, and i'm planning on taking 4 APs junior year (that's the most you can take junior year at my school). I know people always say that you really should do 3 years of a language, but if im taking AP's that have to do with my intended majors (i want to do economics or polisci, and next year i'm taking APush, AP gov, AP economics and AP lang), and language always drags my grade down, shouldn't I just do the AP's?
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2 answers
Most top colleges which include Ivys, Elites and Top Liberal Arts Colleges want to see a minimum of 3 years of language if not 4 or 5. I know Harvard states 4 is the minimum and other Ivys state 3 or more years is preferred. There are many admits to these schools that have done the entire suite of a single language like French 1,2,3,4 AP French and even Independent French research as a 6th year.
Therefore before you put your list of colleges together, I would highly recommend that you look at each and every one of their HS requirements on their admission section of their websites so you are informed on what you should do if you want to apply to that school.
Top colleges want the best students and typically the best students challenge themselves with course content that is both difficult and uncomfortable to master. That is why all top colleges not only look at your UWGPA but your WGPA, your course rigor, and your test scores (SAT/ACT, AP scores) and your intellectual vitality/curiosity outside of the classroom. Failing to grasp the material the first time is just part learning and those that can try a 2nd, 3rd, or the nth time to figure it all out, become better students because they understand that setbacks and failure are part of the game plan.
So not only do good colleges want you to have a min. of core coursework completed prior to applying, they expect you to have good grades and course rigor.
Good luck.
I did the same - I am wondering
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Thanks for the response! Im in all honors classes, including spanish. If I take all honors classes (and APs as of the next two years), and did 2 years of honors spanish, will they see that as a rigorous class load still (or will they see me as lazy for dropping spanish so early)? If I do take spanish, it would be a regular honors class, and I wouldn't get the opportunity to take 4 APs next year (spanish would have to take the place of AP gov or AP economics since its considered an elective)