College language Requirements??

[java]

Does anyone know - in general- do most colleges still require 3 years of the same language in High School?

My son is currently in his second year of latin and struggling. He wants to drop it next year. It's not required by his high school for graduation. My concern is College applications. I thought a 3 year language was standard. Could he switch languages?

Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[golfgal]

2 years is standard although some require 3 years. If he has a general idea of what colleges he wants to attend go to their website and find out what they require.

 

[java]

2 years is standard although some require 3 years. If he has a general idea of what colleges he wants to attend go to their website and find out what they require.

Thank you Golfgal.
I just quickly checked a few he has mentioned and they all (with the exception of one I don't think he will get into) only require 2 years! We'll do a more extensive search this weekend!

 

[jazzielady]

It can depend on the college he planning to attend AND ALSO the major he's planning to pursue.

I am a retired French teacher and we have done extensive research on this for our department evaluations.

For example, college X may require 2 years of one language for admission, but the pre-med major may need 3 years. That would mean if he quits Latin now, he either a)wouldn't get into pre-med, or b)would have to take enough semesters of a language in college to meet the requirment.

Some schools (Harvard comes to mind but I know there were many others) accepted 2 years of 2 languages, but preferred 3 or more years of the same language.

If he can stick it out with Latin, it will help him tremendously on his SAT's, ACT's, and if he's planning to pursue pre-med or pre-law.

 

[golfgal]

It can depend on the college he planning to attend AND ALSO the major he's planning to pursue.

I am a retired French teacher and we have done extensive research on this for our department evaluations.

For example, college X may require 2 years of one language for admission, but the pre-med major may need 3 years. That would mean if he quits Latin now, he either a)wouldn't get into pre-med, or b)would have to take enough semesters of a language in college to meet the requirment.

Some schools (Harvard comes to mind but I know there were many others) accepted 2 years of 2 languages, but preferred 3 or more years of the same language.

If he can stick it out with Latin, it will help him tremendously on his SAT's, ACT's, and if he's planning to pursue pre-med or pre-law.

So what about students that change majors and start out one that requires 2 and want to switch to one that requires 3?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My dd took 4 yrs of Spanish in HS. At her college now they do a language test freshman yr. She tested out of Span 1 & 2 and was able to take Span 3. She got 10hrs of credit free for Span 1 & 2 since they are 5hr classes. She is taking Span 4 this semester. She likes language and that is why she went this route.

However, since she took 4yrs she could have opted out and gotten her lang. credit fulfilled and gained no hrs.

It is all convulted. She is going to be transferring colleges next yr and we will see if they even accept the Span 1 & 2.

In the end if your son gets into the school and his major requires a language he will have to take it. It is really college/major dependent and they are all so different.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Our high school requires 2 years of a foreign language for most colleges.

 

[golfgal]

My dd took 4 yrs of Spanish in HS. At her college now they do a language test freshman yr. She tested out of Span 1 & 2 and was able to take Span 3. She got 10hrs of credit free for Span 1 & 2 since they are 5hr classes. She is taking Span 4 this semester. She likes language and that is why she went this route.

However, since she took 4yrs she could have opted out and gotten her lang. credit fulfilled and gained no hrs.

It is all convulted. She is going to be transferring colleges next yr and we will see if they even accept the Span 1 & 2.

In the end if your son gets into the school and his major requires a language he will have to take it. It is really college/major dependent and they are all so different.

Dh had an awesome Spanish teacher in high school. He tested out of all 4 years of college Spanish but took 3 classes of conversational Spanish to fulfill degree requirements and ended up with a double major in Spanish and Economics.

The way they do the language requirements at our high school the kids will take Spanish 6 their senior year after taking 2 years in middle school. It still only shows up as 4 classes in high school but they find that almost all the kids that do this test out of any language requirements in college.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Dh had an awesome Spanish teacher in high school. He tested out of all 4 years of college Spanish but took 3 classes of conversational Spanish to fulfill degree requirements and ended up with a double major in Spanish and Economics.

The way they do the language requirements at our high school the kids will take Spanish 6 their senior year after taking 2 years in middle school. It still only shows up as 4 classes in high school but they find that almost all the kids that do this test out of any language requirements in college.

That is pretty cool. I will have to look into that for my younger dd.

My poor older dd did not have that option, she was at a MO middle school that did not offer any language. Then we moved to TX and then moved back again. So she had to contend with 4 schools. I am happy she pulled off what she did.

Naturally when we moved back to MO we moved into a school district that offered better choices. Thank goodness. My younger dd is really doing well. She is a natural with english, reading, and writing so learning a language just makes sense to her.

 

[Yankeemouse]

Unless your kid is planning to attend Harvard or some other Ivy League school, 2 years should be good. My son was accepted to all 5 colleges he applied to in 2008 / 2009, including St. John's U. in NY, with 2 years of Spanish. He did take three years in high school but did so badly in it, that I would hesitate to say it helped him get into the school of his choice lol!

(that teacher has been around for 38 years and kids that were planning on majoring in Spanish in college flunked it...even the top 1 to 2% who took Spanish from her failed or came close to it..) Parents have been complaining for YEARS about her, but she's still there) One more reason why my youngest son is only taking 2 years in high school. If he needs it in college, he can take it then. But I don't believe it will hurt his chances of getting in to a good school.