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Post by ExpatBackHome on Sept 17, 2018 14:46:12 GMT
When I went to college, you didn’t have to take a foreign language if you took 3 years of one language in high school.
What type of requirements are there now?
Thanks!
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likescarrots
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,879 
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Post by likescarrots on Sept 17, 2018 14:54:05 GMT
It depends on the school. Every school has their own requirements so there is no way to answer this question broadly.
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Post by Really Red on Sept 17, 2018 14:59:56 GMT
It depends on the school. Most don't require it regardless of what you did in high school. One of my kids' colleges required it, but my daughter had a 5 on her AP. She didn't get credit for the AP (the school didn't take AP), but she got credit that she knew a language.
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AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on Sept 17, 2018 15:01:07 GMT
Well, most colleges require two or three years of foreign language as an admission requirement, so that’s a non-starter.
Yes, it depends on school and major. Many (probably most) liberal arts departments require foreign language, but you can take a proficiency test. Whether they use the proficiency test for placement or waiving the requirement depends on the school. Same for high school Advanced Placement credit.
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Post by myshelly on Sept 17, 2018 15:01:14 GMT
It depends on your college and your major.
I took 4 years in HS and still had to take 2 years in college for my degree.
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Sept 17, 2018 15:01:55 GMT
You're not saying your son is old enough for college are you.............. I must have missed too many years... He probably speaks more languages than I do.... (PS: I know he does!!)
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caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,461
Location: So Cal
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Post by caangel on Sept 17, 2018 15:05:48 GMT
I did 3 yrs in HS but needed 1 additional yr in college for my major to graduate.
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,333
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Post by amom23 on Sept 17, 2018 15:10:18 GMT
In North Dakota there is a such a teacher shortage that most smaller schools aren't able to offer a foreign language class period. The colleges then don't require it either. There is an in-state scholarship based on your GPA and ACT score that required students to take 2 years of a foreign language to be eligible, but that was dropped several years ago due to too many schools being unable to find/hire a teacher.
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Post by cindyupnorth on Sept 17, 2018 15:39:50 GMT
Totally depends on the college. 2 dd's, both went to private liberal colleges. One had to have 2 yrs foreign lang, the other didn't have to take any languages, but had to had to take something in the category that languages was also in.
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Post by malibou on Sept 17, 2018 15:55:07 GMT
We don't need foreign language to graduate high school, but ds hasn't looked at a college yet that doesn't require 2 years of language for admission.
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Post by just PEAchy on Sept 17, 2018 16:03:29 GMT
Most of the colleges that my kids attend/are looking at require 3 years of foreign language in high school, but not required in college. My kids' majors are engineering & music. They will obtain a bachelor of science degree. When I was in college, a foreign language was required for a Bachelor of Arts, but not Bachelor of Science.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Sept 17, 2018 16:05:27 GMT
I needed 4 years but my degree was in Japanese and Chinese. I also have 3 years of Spanish. Languages are my forte.
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Post by cmpeter on Sept 17, 2018 16:32:23 GMT
Are you asking how many years you need to take in high school in order to get into a college or are you asking how many years you need to take in college?
In our experience, most colleges want you to take 2-3 years in high school in order to be accepted to the college. But, once in college most degrees don't require you to take any foreign language. Of course there are exceptions and you should check the requirements of the colleges you are looking at.
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Post by ExpatBackHome on Sept 17, 2018 16:37:40 GMT
You're not saying your son is old enough for college are you.............. I must have missed too many years... He probably speaks more languages than I do.... (PS: I know he does!!) Not yet! He’s getting ready to enter high school next year. I’m trying to encourage him to stick with one language rather than going back and forth once he starts 9th grade. |
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Post by ExpatBackHome on Sept 17, 2018 16:40:41 GMT
Are you asking how many years you need to take in high school in order to get into a college or are you asking how many years you need to take in college? In our experience, most colleges want you to take 2-3 years in high school in order to be accepted to the college. But, once in college most degrees don't require you to take any foreign language. Of course there are exceptions and you should check the requirements of the colleges you are looking at. I am trying to figure out how many he should have in high school for admissions into college and to avoid having to take additional languages in college. |
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Post by Basket1lady on Sept 17, 2018 16:41:02 GMT
Both of my kids have a foreign language requirement, both are 3 semesters. One majoring in Electrical Engineering, one in Biology.
DS had 3 years of French in middle school and 3 years in high school, DD had a year of Spanish in elementary school, 2 in middle school, and 2 in high school. Both were given the option to test out of them, but both chose to take the classes. The easy classes and easy As we’re a big boost to their GPAs.
The kids looked at colleges in different states and the foreign language requirement seemed to be regional for a BS degree.
if your DS goes to school in the states, chances are he will be able to test out of the foreign language requirement, as he’s lived overseas for so long.
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catfan
Shy Member
Posts: 35
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Post by catfan on Sept 17, 2018 16:48:44 GMT
My daughter in parochial school has to have 2 semesters of foreign language to graduate. My son went to public school and needed no foreign language to graduate. To graduate college with a BA in English he will need 4 semesters of the same language to graduate. At the same college my daughter will need 2-4 semesters to graduate with a music degree, depending on her specific major. The university does not require foreign language for admission.
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Post by lemondrop on Sept 17, 2018 16:52:26 GMT
In my state, for most schools, 2 years are required, 3 are recommended for admissions.
Both my kids did 3 years because that ensured that they would fulfill the language requirement and not need anything further in college. DS really did not want to do the 3rd year (and it was a struggle) but the thought of having to start up again in college was enough to make him power through!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 5:14:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2018 17:37:18 GMT
Are you asking how many years you need to take in high school in order to get into a college or are you asking how many years you need to take in college? In our experience, most colleges want you to take 2-3 years in high school in order to be accepted to the college. But, once in college most degrees don't require you to take any foreign language. Of course there are exceptions and you should check the requirements of the colleges you are looking at. I am trying to figure out how many he should have in high school for admissions into college and to avoid having to take additional languages in college. That is completely up to the individual college. We do require students to have some high school language but they still have to take a foreign language in college too, even if they took 4 years of high school level. The only students to get a waiver are international students who score high enough (in our opinion) on the TOEFL or IELTS tests they can waive it by claiming their native language. |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Sept 17, 2018 17:52:18 GMT
You're not saying your son is old enough for college are you.............. I must have missed too many years... He probably speaks more languages than I do.... (PS: I know he does!!) Not yet! He’s getting ready to enter high school next year. I’m trying to encourage him to stick with one language rather than going back and forth once he starts 9th grade. The vast majority of colleges require at least 2 years in high school in one language for admission - a whole lot recommend 3 - again all in one language. I highly recommended my children find a language they can tolerate (if not like) for at least 3 years in high school for ADMISSION. One of mine is not a fan and is pretty much ruling out any college that requires additional foreign language for their degree (which is really not hard as he's planning on studying engineering). |
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Post by shamrock on Sept 17, 2018 18:43:16 GMT
My son is a freshman, so we’re just getting started in this phase. But from what we’ve been told is that colleges do not look favorably on one year of Spanish, one year of French, one year of Chinese in high school. They want 2-3 years of the same language. In fact one of our high school “tracks” requires 2 years of foreign language, they do not count a year each of 2 separate languages. It has to be the same language. So I’d strongly advise him to stick with one language in high school.
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Post by cmpeter on Sept 17, 2018 18:59:10 GMT
In most cases, it should be 2-3 years of the same language. Look at his target schools to see if he needs 2 or 3. My son needed 2 years for a state school. My daughter took 2 years but then her top choice school didn't require any language. It's OK though, because the language has helped her in ways beyond admissions (she's a vocal major).
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Sept 17, 2018 19:47:08 GMT
Not yet! He’s getting ready to enter high school next year. I’m trying to encourage him to stick with one language rather than going back and forth once he starts 9th grade. Your DS has an education most don't ... |
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Post by kernriver on Sept 17, 2018 19:51:02 GMT
I think it depends on the college and the major. I’ve been an art history major at 2 colleges, one with language requirement and one without. It’s easy to find out by looking online at the college of your choice.
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Post by Patter on Sept 18, 2018 10:39:23 GMT
It depends on the school. Every school has their own requirements so there is no way to answer this question broadly. Exactly. My girls' university did not require a foreign language. |
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Post by monklady123 on Sept 18, 2018 11:27:38 GMT
Are you asking how many years you need to take in high school in order to get into a college or are you asking how many years you need to take in college? In our experience, most colleges want you to take 2-3 years in high school in order to be accepted to the college. But, once in college most degrees don't require you to take any foreign language. Of course there are exceptions and you should check the requirements of the colleges you are looking at. I am trying to figure out how many he should have in high school for admissions into college and to avoid having to take additional languages in college. As others have said it's totally up to each school. My dd went to a Virginia state university that required at least two years of a language in high school in order to get in, then I believe it goes by major as to how many semesters you have to have in college. Dd was a social work major and she needed to take three (I think, although it might have been four) semesters in college. They offered a placement test that could get you out of those classes (although not out of the credits...i.e., if you placed out of the language requirement you still had to take those credits somewhere else). She took French in high school but really wanted to learn some Spanish so she opted just to start a new language. Ds is in a public university in Georgia and they are required to take four semesters of a language. He took some German at our community college before he moved to Georgia but he also opted not to take a placement test for it. He took French and his main reason was that I speak it so he could call me when he had questions. lol. He took two semesters at college and then did a month in France to get the other two semesters' credits. Ds's university also requires at least two years in high school to get in, although because he was older when he enrolled and had taken German at the community college that didn't apply to him. |
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maryannscraps
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,731
Aug 28, 2017 12:51:28 GMT
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Post by maryannscraps on Sept 18, 2018 12:17:47 GMT
Most of the colleges that my kids attend/are looking at require 3 years of foreign language in high school, but not required in college. My kids' majors are engineering & music. They will obtain a bachelor of science degree. When I was in college, a foreign language was required for a Bachelor of Arts, but not Bachelor of Science. That was my experience also. Including DD who majored in computer engineering and DS who is currently majoring in clarinet performance. DD took a lot of German classes (4 or 5 semesters?), but she was minoring in German. They weren't required. Her high school German teacher retired this year, and since her daughter lives in Georgia, has stopped by to visit DD in Atlanta. They were very close after six years of small classes together. |
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tanya2
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1604
Posts: 4,423
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Post by tanya2 on Sept 18, 2018 12:21:59 GMT
Wow this is interesting, and something I definitely did not know. In Ontario kids are required to take one year of french (our other national language) to graduate high school, and they've most likely taken it all the way through elementary school. But in my experience none of our colleges or universities require any more language education than that and it's not a prerequisite of acceptance unless you're planning to study a foreign language there
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 5:14:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 12:38:54 GMT
It's going to depend on the school and major.
As a secondary education and English major, the two years in high school was enough 20 years ago. DH as an engineering major didn't have to take any at a different University.
DS1 is a senior and will go through our community college on a scholarship for his first two years. His two years of Spanish is supposed to be enough since he's planning on an engineering major. DS2 wants to be a pilot. He's been told to consider a third year of Spanish or at least a refresher course at some point but it's not required at this time.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 5:14:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 12:41:38 GMT
Oh and the high school requires two years of a foreign language to graduate. Some states require 1-3 credits of a foreign language just to get the high school diploma. Exemptions are made.
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