Is it beneficial to take two languages (Spanish and French) in high school to get into a better college?

Question

I am a Freshman in High School bound for college going into Spanish III and want to know if I would be able to get into a better college if I also took French. Would two languages look good on my college resume?

Answer 1

The answer is a definite maybe. Colleges look for students in diverse areas. If you have a gift for language and can speak and score well on AP and/or SAT II tests in 2 or 3 languages by the end of your junior year, spend your summers studying abroad, perhaps entering one of the foriegn language drama competition, and then express an interest in studying linguistics or linguistics and comparative literature throughout college, you will be an excellent candidate for one of the top universities.

Currently, high schools offer intensive science programs, rigorous math programs, increasingly expansive history and law curriculums, very few schools,however, cater to true polyglots. If you are one of these people, who can really excel in languages, entree into a top university could be significantly easier.

I would also suggest you look into non-romance languages as an area of study. Russian, turkish, Japanese, korean, icelandic, these languages are all pets of world renowned linguistics programs.

If, however, you just muddle through a second non-honors language program, lower your overall GPA and your rank, then I would say the second language is not that important.

Remember, entrance into a top ivy is highly competetive, maybe more competetive than just about anything else you have ever done. If you are not a top flight athlete, or have some other amazing charactaristic, you need to be an amazing student. that means choosing academic activity during the year, holidays, and summers over just about anything else.

I coach and tutor students who are aiming at top colleges. This year My top three students all scored over 2300 on the sats (increases on the test ranged from 220-410 pts), all had amazing extracurriculars, ranging from national hockey team, publishing an econ paper on music downloads, and superior academics.

I mention this mostly to just set your expectations, and let you know what kind of kids you will be competing against for spots in top colleges. Every student has a different level of interest, and dedication, recognizing what level you are comfortable with and then setting your expectations to that level of dedication is really the sanest way to proceed.

if you want to talk about any of this, my email is [e-mail]

Answer 2

I am graduation as a Spanish major this year to become a Spanish teacher. It is a really good idea to have foreign language before college. Most colleges require that you take a foreign language once you are there....so if you already studied one you can sometimes test out of the class and get the credit for it. Also, if you have to take a foreign language class in college....it is 5x as harder- they cram Spanish1-3 into 2 semester! The pace is so fast and you don't have as much time to let things sink in. As far as needing a 2nd language, I don't believe it will give you an advantage....but it does look good knowing so many languages. You will be highly successful in the work force.

Answer 3

You would want to take a language not for the purposes of college, per se but for you and your future career. You make yourself more maketable if you have several languages that you can speak on your resume. You can get a higher salary alone just because you can deal with a diverse population...I don't know about French definately Spanish and possibly Japanese.

Answer 4

Taking a LOTE is great, and definitely looks great when trying to get into a college. But you shouldn't over do it. One language throughout your high school career is enough, two would be very difficult, you want to be the best you can at one. But, also you want to do other things too, such as extra curricular activities, sports, and other elective classes. Colleges don't just look at one thing, or just at who has the highest grades, they like well rounded students who will get involved in the community with in the college not just the academics. Good luck!

Answer 5

take one and really concentrate on it. i'd recommend spanish. i've been in spanish for 9 years now and its made things possible for me that hadn't been for people who don't speak. just yesterday i had a job interview completely in spanish! i took spanish all through high school and tested into second semester sophomore spanish in college. i scored myself 12 retrocredits, the equivalent of a fulltime student's minimum credit load for a full semester.

spanish also looks good on a resume, but only if you can actually speak it. it will give you an advantage in the job market and a higher starting salary. work on mastering one. once you really know one, the other northern european languages will come easier, because they all are somewhat similar.

Answer 6

i really don't think so, in fact, i would concentrate on just one. if you real good at once, then you can test out of spanish 1 and possibly 2 as a freshman, which will save you 6 credits. i've never heard of anyone getting benefits from an admissions committee for taking multiple languages though.

Answer 7

it doesn't really matter. Just get good grades and score well on the SATs.

On foreign language should be sufficient, although it is impressive if you can mention in your college application that you are fluent in three languages.