Foreign Language in High School (2015, colleges, best)

[pyad099]

I am a junior in high school, I took Spanish 3-4 as a sophmore and i skipped a year of spanish this year and i'm debating whether or not I should take Spanish 5-6 Senior year and get 3 years of a foreign language, my GPA is a 4.56 currently and I'm trying to take less classes next year and have a half day, my classes for next year already include AP Calc BC, AP Physics 2, AP Biology and Language Arts. My question is will 1 year in Spanish make a difference when I apply for colleges, I would like to go out of state to UCLA or other colleges.

[crystalys]

The best answer to your question is to find out what the requirements are for each college you plan on applying to. It also may depend on what degree program you pursue. Some colleges may require 3 years of a foreign language in high school.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by crystalys

The best answer to your question is to find out what the requirements are for each college you plan on applying to. It also may depend on what degree program you pursue. Some colleges may require 3 years of a foreign language in high school.

I suspect that it's much more subjective than that. Everything helps. If they were deciding between two candidates where all things were equal and one had a year more of Spanish than the other, they would probably take the one with more Spanish. The real questions are whether you have the time to devote to such a class and whether the time would be better spent on extra-curriculars, volunteer work, etc. Our younger son had 4 years of Spanish and UCLA was one of the schools he was accepted at, but I am pretty sure that it wasn't a requirement.

[crystalys]

Here is a recent article with some very good information to answer your question:

Tackling foreign language requirements for college


Tackling foreign language requirements for college

[kettlepot]

I believe that yes, you will need that second year of foreign language. Admissions to California State schools is completely formulaic. If you can't check the box, they won't let you in.

[Empidonax]

Perhaps think about this aside from the college requirements. Would you actually like to learn Spanish and become more proficient at it? If so, take the class. If not, do something else that you enjoy or that you think will give you an edge for college admissions.

[pyad099]

Originally Posted by crystalys

The best answer to your question is to find out what the requirements are for each college you plan on applying to. It also may depend on what degree program you pursue. Some colleges may require 3 years of a foreign language in high school.

They said it was recommended but not required