Do colleges accept latin as a foreign language?

[Quiver0f10]

I am curious if anyone has used latin to meet the requirement and if you had any trouble using Latin? Thanks!

[Susan C.]

My husband took Latin in high school, and his college did not accept it. He had to take Spanish in college. The college said the foreign language had to be spoken.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Is there a difference between which language is accepted for entrance requirements versus the language requirement for the college degree? Ds16 is thriving in Latin - he hated taking Spanish and begged for Latin and plans to take 4 years of it. I hope I do not need to start cramming Spanish down his throat before college. If they want him to take a modern language for college graduation, I am fine with that.

[Carol in Cal.]

When I was in college, some masters and PhD programs required proficiency in a modern foreign language in which their literature tends to be published. IIRC, chemical engineering masters candidates had to demonstrate proficiency in either French or German, because a lot of chemical engineering papers were published in one of those two languages. At the time there was debate in the department as to whether to encourage Arabic as an option as well, given the oil and chemical companies who had major facilities in Arabic speaking countries, but the idea was not pursued because there were not the plethora of major scientific journals in Arabic to draw on.

 

So knowledge of a modern, major foreign language may be a follow on requirement even if it is not an entry requirement, and it's worth checking if you're pretty sure what major your child will pursue, so that you can gear some of his studies accordingly.

[rose_king]

:lurk5:

[Tiramisu]

So funny that this came up. My mother was just telling me that when she was in high school Latin was not accepted as a foreign language for the high school graduation requirement. I was really surprised. It was the only time I'd ever heard this--until now!

[Jane in NC]

It is my understanding that most colleges accept Latin. I believe that the service academies do not.

 

My son recently attended a scholarship competition weekend at a liberal arts school where a positive comment was made about the fact that he was enrolled in AP Latin. The professor noted that many students find Latin to be "too hard" of a language to study. To each his own?

 

The usual advice: when in doubt, contact the college.

 

Jane (whose high school Latin was accepted by her undergraduate college for admissions)

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you all. I will have to make some calls :)

[Gwen in VA]

And sometimes the unexpected happens.

 

Dd took Latin in high school and did well enough on the AP exam that that score fulfilled her college's foreign language requirement for college graduation.

 

Problem -- the grad program she wants to go to required (past tense) four semesters of either French or German for admission to the program. She is already double majoring and doing a minor, so she just couldn't deal with the grad school requirement.

 

Well, she just checked the grad program's website a few weeks ago and they have dropped the modern language requirement! :D Dd is so happy she didn't turn her life upside down to try to fit in four semesters of French!!!

 

So you never know.....

[zootle]

Check the colleges your Dd is interested in. Some colleges will take it, others won't. Some colleges will even accept sign language as meeting the entrance requirement.

Cindy

[G5052]

I have two B.S. degrees, one required 4 semesters of French or German, the other had no language requirement but suggested 4 semesters of any language. This college (a state one) had no language requirement, but suggested 4 semesters of any language in high school. My graduate program had no language requirement.

 

Go figure...

[KnitWit]

Every college we checked with accepted it.

[Kareni]

My now college freshman was accepted by eight colleges. She had five years of Latin and one year of Ancient Greek on her transcript. Her AP Latin score of 5 would have fulfilled her foreign language requirement had she so chosen. Instead, she's continuing Latin as her plan is to major in Latin or the Classics.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you everyone !

[Yolanda in Mass]

My son is looking into Grove City College, and they very clearly state that it must be a modern spoken language.

 

Yolanda

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[creekland]

It had to be a modern foreign language in colleges we considered. That said, I suspect someone doing very well in Latin (and in other courses) could get exceptions made. My son has 4 years of Spanish and 1 of French at the high school level, so it wasn't really a concern of ours. Calling colleges you're interested in is the best suggestion.

[Chris in VA]

Just wanted to add two things--

 

My husband's Ph.D program required proficiency in spoken French and German, and reading ability in biblical Hebrew and Greek. Good thing he had had some French in college!

 

My son took one semester of Latin in hs, and did 2 "sort of" :glare: years of French. If he had become proficient in French, he could take French in college. His cinema program offers a FREE--yes, FREE--semester at top French college for cinema after graduation if you speak the language. Too bad he doesn't, 'cause, boy, that would look nice on a resume and be tons of fun. But he will just take latin in college, b/c foreign languages are really, really tough for him. Removing the pronounciation component helps, somewhat.

[LittleIzumi]

Interesting. So I suppose ASL doesn't count either, as it's not technically foreign or written. We are probably doing French too, but I didn't even think about this for the ASL, in which we are more fluent.

[Night Elf]

There are state universities in Georgia that accept Latin and ASL. My dd17 is taking Latin.

[avdelp]

Hi! My daughter was just accepted at and will be attending Grove City College next year. Their requirement for a "modern spoken language" does NOT apply to admissions. Latin is fine for a foreign language to be admitted to the school. If your child wants to get a BA from GCC, they require 3 years of a modern language in high school OR 2 years of a modern language at GCC. If your child is getting a BS degree, there is no foreign language requirement anyway. Either way, Latin is fine. The worst case scenario would be that your child would have to take a modern foreign language at GCC for their BA if they took Latin in high school. Hope this helps!

[cintinative]

Okay, I know this is an REALLY old thread but can someone update this for me? I just saw something on FB today that basically indicated that "Let them know that you are aware that colleges may not accept Latin to fulfill a foreign language requirement and that their student may need to study a more contemporary foreign language to satisfy college admission requirements. Latin typically isn't studied to fulfill a foreign language requirement."

Huh? This is news to me.  

What schools really don't accept Latin (other than the Air Force Academy)?

[Farrar]

54 minutes ago, cintinative said:

Okay, I know this is an REALLY old thread but can someone update this for me? I just saw something on FB today that basically indicated that "Let them know that you are aware that colleges may not accept Latin to fulfill a foreign language requirement and that their student may need to study a more contemporary foreign language to satisfy college admission requirements. Latin typically isn't studied to fulfill a foreign language requirement."

Huh? This is news to me.  

What schools really don't accept Latin (other than the Air Force Academy)?

This goes around homeschool groups all the time but other than the service academies, I don't think this is actually an issue as I've never managed to get anyone to cite a school to me beyond the service academies. It may be the case that some schools prefer to see a modern language. Just like some schools prefer to see AP Calc BC and not AP Stats or, ahem, no AP math at all, but they're not going to not count it as the four years of math they require if you have algebra, geometry, algebra II, and pre-calc. And presumably if your kid is applying to St. John's or Hillsdale or something, they'll love it and it's anything but a drawback. In fact, any school with a classics major will likely not even bat an eye.

[Farrar]

Adding one more thing to this that there is a secondary issue here. When you're talking about admissions, these myths go around that students with Latin or ASL don't meet admission requirements. That's by and large not true.

But a lot of universities do not accept Latin for their *own* foreign language requirements. They specifically require a modern language. So you'll see places that don't take Latin *credits* or don't take them to fulfill the general ed language requirement even if they give credit. So that's a different issue. If you want that requirement checked off before college, then you may need to choose a different language to focus on.

[Lori D.]

Just adding:

Not true about ADMISSION requirements. The ONLY school that does not accept Latin is the Air Force Academy (they want 2 credits of a Modern Language). And almost all colleges accept ASL as the high school foreign language credits.

Just be aware that if either of these languages were done as DE, that some colleges don't accept the ASL as meeting their DEGREE requirement for Foreign Language for various reasons, and some colleges don't accept the Latin as meeting their DEGREE requirement for Foreign Language as they want Modern Languages.

So if you do DE in the hopes of knocking out both high school to college admission requirements AND advance foreign language credits towards a degree, either don't do Latin or ASL, or check the future 4-year school to see if it will be accepted for credit towards the degree. 

Edited April 17, 2021 by Lori D.

[Reefgazer]

My DD was admitted to all colleges she applied to with 3.5 years of Latin.

[stripe]

Many defenders of the time-honored system of requirements for admission to college, which gave first place to Latin and Greek, have seen the passing of that system with regret. But the regret has been gradually tempered by the warrant of experience, and there are few who would wish now to return to the uncompromising demands of the old education. The consensus of educated opinion recognizes the wisdom of denying disproportionate emphasis to subjects, however noble in themselves, which would take the time that of right should be devoted to subjects essential to the understanding of the needs and movements of the new age. 

from “Greek or Latin for Admission to College,” by John H. T. Main, The School Review, 1908

https://archive.org/details/jstor-1076588/mode/2up

 

[fourisenough]

I sure as heck hope universities accept Latin as a foreign language for admissions purposes! DD will mutiny if she thinks I made her take four years of Latin for naught. 😅 Mostly joking as her love for the subject has grown since connecting with Anne Van Fossen; it’s no longer a slog!