Should I skimp on foreign lang?Answered
Hey everybody.
I'm an 8th grader right now and am designing my course load for the entirety of high school to try to get ahead.
I can do 4 Computer science courses in 2 years (my intended major after high school), or 2 years of Spanish and computer science. I'm taking one computer science class either way.
Do colleges like people who do foreign languages more? For perspective, I'm aiming toward MIT/Caltech.
Thanks.
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5 answers
It's great you are playing forward on your college applications journey 4 years from now. So good for you.
The risk of setting things in stone for the next 4 years is that you may not only want to apply to MIT/Caltech but other schools. If you design your entire academic, EC, IV/IC narrative around only trying to get into those 2 schools, you may have missed the mark for being consider for other schools like Ivys and Elites.
For example at Harvard, the HS prep requirement is 4 year of foreign language. At other top schools it's 3 minimum, 4 preferred and you'll find majority of STEM related colleges that want 3 years of a language.
Just like you will be competing against students have 2 or 3 advanced math classes beyond AP Calc B/C, you will be competing against students that are fluent in 3 or 4 languages. So remember, when considering top schools, the minimum is not the standard, it's the minimum not to get your application thrown out right away.
Good luck.
I recommend not skimping on foreign language classes. Since computer science is your main interest, it will naturally shine in your application without you taking additional computer science courses. Your academic and extracurricular achievements will show that you are passionate about computer science, but what they will not show is that you are well rounded in addition to this interest. In short, colleges want to see that you are both well rounded and have a spike. Taking language classes is a great way to show that you are not a unidirectional, STEM-focused candidate. Hope this helps!
take the spanish, students often overput themselves into one major and that overworks them. plus many colleges like and/or require HS language classes in their enrollment requirements, so check on that and adjust if needed.
To the best of my knowledge, most elite universities like Harvard, Princeton, MIT or Sandford, want to see some commitment to a 1 or 2 things and recommend that you take at least 3 years of 1 world language (depends between colleges, average 3). So plan to take a single language that you might be able to study for all 4 years of high school. Or if you can't choose, you can even do both for all 4 or 3 years.
P.S. great that you started the process early, being in 8th grade. Good luck!
Hi there!
You may want to look at the graduation requirements for your school before making your final decision. Many schools require foreign language classes to graduate!
To answer your question towards the end there, foreign language classes are not required for many colleges, but they do tend to look good on your applications.
Hope this helped!
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Yea, you could try that. But you can even include in the "Additional information" selection on common app explaining that comp sci was considered a language in your school.