4 years of Spanish vs. 4 AP - which would look better to colleges for senior year???

[JFSinIL]

DS started school this year, and is swamped with work and frazzled. I talked him into a fourth year of Spanish despite his concern (he is NOT good at foreign language) as I thought it was important to look good for college. (He is looking at private, liberal arts places and needs to get scholarships.) He could stay in Spanish - (by 4th year is all in Spanish, instructions etc.) - and get a C at best plus not have time to do as well as he might in AP Bio/Calculus/English/Civic-Econ OR drop the Spanish, heave a sigh of relief, and have more time to do the AP stuff well.

 

 

Or should he drop AP Bio and keep the Spanish? What to do, what to do???

 

I told him I'd "ask the WTMommies"

 

PS he got straight As last year BUT only had two AP classes.

[HollyinNNV]

DS started school this year, and is swamped with work and frazzled. I talked him into a fourth year of Spanish despite his concern (he is NOT good at foreign language) as I thought it was important to look good for college. (He is looking at private, liberal arts places and needs to get scholarships.) He could stay in Spanish - (by 4th year is all in Spanish, instructions etc.) - and get a C at best plus not have time to do as well as he might in AP Bio/Calculus/English/Civic-Econ OR drop the Spanish, heave a sigh of relief, and have more time to do the AP stuff well.

 

 

Or should he drop AP Bio and keep the Spanish? What to do, what to do???

 

I told him I'd "ask the WTMommies"

 

PS he got straight As last year BUT only had two AP classes.

 

Personally, I'd rather not have a "C" on my transcript. That would be the deciding factor in my mind.

 

However, I think I'd ask your ds and let him decide. Isn't he a senior?

Holly

[Brenda in MA]

I would suggest dropping the Spanish unless he plans to major in it in college (but it doesn't sound that way).

 

I agree that a C on his record would not look good. Would he replace that course with something else so he is still taking a "full load" of courses?

 

Brenda

[Sandra in NC]

Don't waste all the work he's done so far! Have him take the CLEP. If he has had 3 years of Spanish, he might be able to pass at Level 1 or Level 2 and get college credit for it. I've heard the trick is to take notes during the listening section of the test so you can answer the multiple choice that follows.

 

He could earn up to 12 credits! A score of 50 on the CLEP is generally considered passing, but for some of our state schools a score as low as 54 can earn 12 credits. Please look into this for your own state. (You can use the CollegeBoard's Find a College feature and look at the SAT/AP/CLEP page to see what scores are required for credit.)

 

Here is and excerpt from http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/ex_cls.html

 

The examination contains 120 questions to be answered in 90 minutes. Some of these are pretest questions that will not be scored. There are three separately timed sections. The three sections are weighted so that each question contributes equally to the total score. Any time candidates spend on tutorials or providing personal information is in addition to the actual testing time.

 

There are two Listening sections and one Reading section. Each section has its own timing requirements.

 

* The two Listening sections together are about 30 minutes in length. The amount of time candidates have to answer a question varies according to the section and does not include the time they spend listening to the test material (40% of the total exam time).

* The Reading section is 60 minutes in length (60% of the total exam time).

 

Most colleges that award credit for the Spanish Language exam award either two or four semesters of credit, depending on the candidate's test scores.

[tdeveson]

Don't waste all the work he's done so far! Have him take the CLEP. If he has had 3 years of Spanish, he might be able to pass at Level 1 or Level 2 and get college credit for it.

 

Yes! I actually did that myself years ago. Look through the list of CLEP subjects. I bet there are several things he can test out in one morning and get credit for.

 

This is an actual question from my Analysis and Interpretation of Literature CLEP. I still remember it because it was so dumb. A homeschooled kid can smoke several of those tests.

 

__________

 

"It was a dark and dreary night. The wind howled and the clouds scudded across the blah, blah," (You get the point.)

 

The mood in the above paragraph is:

 

1. cheerful

2. boring

3. funny

4. gloomy

_________

Edited September 3, 2009 by tdeveson

[Sandra in NC]

One of the best prep sources for CLEP we use is Instantcert. See http://www.degreeforum.net/

 

If you join ($20/mo) you also get access to the specific exam feedback and flashcards. (Discount code 85722 will give you a break on the fee.)

 

Sandra

[K-FL]

Don't waste all the work he's done so far! Have him take the CLEP. If he has had 3 years of Spanish, he might be able to pass at Level 1 or Level 2 and get college credit for it.

 

I agree. It may be required that he take Foreign Lang. in college--regardless of his major so it would be nice to have that out of the way.

[Sandra in NC]

I agree, get it out of the way, esp. since he doesn't like foreign language.

 

Many small liberal arts colleges give credit for CLEP.

 

In NC, there is a state school gives credit for a score of 36 on the German exam. The range for CLEP is 20-80; I think I could squeak out a 36 without even studying!

[kloumc]

Drop the Spanish! Three years of Spanish will look great on his transcript.