Credit Hours vs Courses

frenzymando

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I'm currently a junior in High school and I have not yet taken a foreign language. The academy recommends people to take 2 courses or 2 years of a foreign language, so that is where I am trying to get to.

A local community college offers a Spanish class over the summer worth 4 credit hours. This is equivalent to a course of Spanish at the college level. However, my school told me if I take this class they will only give me half a credit on my transcript. Will West Point accept the 4 credit hours as 1 course of a foreign language or will they only give me credit for half a course of a foreign language since that is what is on my transcript?
 
Most colleges recommend applicants have 2+ years of foreign language in high school. I'm wondering why you waited so long to take one, and why your high school counselor never suggested/recommended it if you have been on a college-path all along. How many foreign languages and how many levels are offered at your school? (ie Spanish 1 only or 1-5?) If your school doesn't offer anything, then that will be reflected on the school profile.

Besides that, I don't know if WP will look at your transcript and look negatively at 0.5 or 1 semester of foreign language. If you're asking about getting credit at WP for taking a college level class, likely no unless you test out of that class during Beast and I doubt one semester of any elementary level language will prepare you enough to test out at WP.

Perhaps talk to your FFR or WP counselor and see what they suggest you do.
 
Most colleges recommend applicants have 2+ years of foreign language in high school. I'm wondering why you waited so long to take one, and why your high school counselor never suggested/recommended it if you have been on a college-path all along. How many foreign languages and how many levels are offered at your school? (ie Spanish 1 only or 1-5?) If your school doesn't offer anything, then that will be reflected on the school profile.

Besides that, I don't know if WP will look at your transcript and look negatively at 0.5 or 1 semester of foreign language. If you're asking about getting credit at WP for taking a college level class, likely no unless you test out of that class during Beast and I doubt one semester of any elementary level language will prepare you enough to test out at WP.

Perhaps talk to your FFR or WP counselor and see what they suggest you do.
I tried to take Spanish my junior year but my schedule couldn't fit it in. I could have picked another language, I thought I would just take 2 courses of Spanish my senior year since my school works on an 18 week system where each course takes just 18 weeks. But now in my first 18 weeks I'd like to take AP physics(I didn't know this was recommended for the academy until recently) and I no longer have room to take a foreign language in the first 18 weeks, since I'm also taking Calculus, football(I have to take this because I play football), and JROTC(my leadership profile is weak).

I can take an online class during the school year as well as taking the class during the summer and that would give me a whole Spanish credit; Then in the 2nd 18 weeks I could get the 2nd credit. But that would make my schedule very busy during the first 18 weeks and would make it even more difficult to get the grades I'm looking to achieve.

Taking the summer class will allow me to go into Spanish 3, so even though I'm only getting half a credit, I'm learning what someone would learn by taking 2 courses of Spanish.

I'm not trying to get credit at WP I'm just trying to get 2 courses of foreign language to meet WP's needs. My school offers 4 or 5 levels of each language so I have no good excuse for not taking a foreign language.

Would not taking AP physics be a viable option? I've already taken Honors chemistry, AP chemistry , AP environmental science, and honors biology.
 
IMPO Physics (AP, honors or regular) is more important than a foreign language. Again, I suggest you talk to your WP contact specifically about the lack of a foreign language.
 
You might also want to check with your school counselor, I've moved around a lot and every highschool I've attended or thought I was going to attend required 2 credits of foreign language to graduate. I don't know have heavily things are weighed when they say "recommended" but I will say I never took computer sciences or programming which is recommended and my packet was fine. I feel though that it may doffer with foreign language because they are important. I would try to fit it in somewhere but definitely keep that AP physics. Also I believe the recommended foreign language is meant to be taken in high school. You also have to think about your plan B school. Almost every school o applied for other than USAFA required foreign language to be taken in high school but I also have to have it to graduate high school.
 
Taking two years of foreign language is very important. It's required at every college I've ever looked into. I had to squeeze it in back when I was in school in the late 80's. Our school only offered Spanish 1 & 2, and had only recently started offering it because of the new college requirements. Spanish 2 was only offered during one period, and I needed to take a class required jut to graduate during that period. The Spanish teacher was nice enough to let me take the class during homeroom. He gave me some individual instruction and a lot of homework to do on my own. Otherwise, I guess I would have had to take it at the "evening school" at my college. I would have had to pay extra for it, and received no college credit.

Have you had any kind of physics yet? Is there another type of physics offered that doesn't conflict with the Spanish class? Could you take it at the community college? I'm pretty sure all schools are going to require the two years of a foreign language. In my opinion, getting the two foreign language classes somehow is a must. AP Physics and JROTC look good and help you out, but (as far as I know) they are not must-haves for admission at the SAs or colleges. If you think you're going to go to Boys State, that's looked on as favorably as the JROTC from what I understand. Maybe you can figure out a way to juggle your schedule.
 
Taking two years of foreign language is very important. It's required at every college I've ever looked into. I had to squeeze it in back when I was in school in the late 80's. Our school only offered Spanish 1 & 2, and had only recently started offering it because of the new college requirements. Spanish 2 was only offered during one period, and I needed to take a class required jut to graduate during that period. The Spanish teacher was nice enough to let me take the class during homeroom. He gave me some individual instruction and a lot of homework to do on my own. Otherwise, I guess I would have had to take it at the "evening school" at my college. I would have had to pay extra for it, and received no college credit.

Have you had any kind of physics yet? Is there another type of physics offered that doesn't conflict with the Spanish class? Could you take it at the community college? I'm pretty sure all schools are going to require the two years of a foreign language. In my opinion, getting the two foreign language classes somehow is a must. AP Physics and JROTC look good and help you out, but (as far as I know) they are not must-haves for admission at the SAs or colleges. If you think you're going to go to Boys State, that's looked on as favorably as the JROTC from what I understand. Maybe you can figure out a way to juggle your schedule.
I can take it at a community college but I would have to take 2 courses of it along with a class of it at my high school during my 8th semester to get up to 2 high school credits. I wouldn't like to take this path. If it becomes necessary to do that though, I will. I talked to the Spanish teacher at my school and she said she "feels bad" for anyone that has to take a college level Spanish course without any prior knowledge of Spanish. That scared me off from taking that route a bit.

Haven't had any physics. I could take AP physics in the second 18 weeks but then it would not show up on my 7th semester transcript(I would also probably explode during my 8th semester because I would be taking AP calculus, AP English, and AP physics at the same time). AP physics will also help out my class rank which could use some work. Does anyone know if the academy will look at the classes I'm scheduled to take my 8th semester and take that into account?

I have applied for Boys State, but even if I do attend, leadership will still be the weakest part of my application(I think), so imo it will be important that I take JROTC regardless of what happens.

Is it really that important to take 2 foreign language classes? I had no idea, no one's ever told that it was so important. I'm not trying to get into Harvard or anything. Besides the service academies, all of the schools I have interest in are not very difficult to get in to.
 
I can take it at a community college but I would have to take 2 courses of it along with a class of it at my high school during my 8th semester to get up to 2 high school credits. I wouldn't like to take this path. If it becomes necessary to do that though, I will. I talked to the Spanish teacher at my school and she said she "feels bad" for anyone that has to take a college level Spanish course without any prior knowledge of Spanish. That scared me off from taking that route a bit.

Haven't had any physics. I could take AP physics in the second 18 weeks but then it would not show up on my 7th semester transcript(I would also probably explode during my 8th semester because I would be taking AP calculus, AP English, and AP physics at the same time). AP physics will also help out my class rank which could use some work. Does anyone know if the academy will look at the classes I'm scheduled to take my 8th semester and take that into account?

I have applied for Boys State, but even if I do attend, leadership will still be the weakest part of my application(I think), so imo it will be important that I take JROTC regardless of what happens.

Is it really that important to take 2 foreign language classes? I had no idea, no one's ever told that it was so important. I'm not trying to get into Harvard or anything. Besides the service academies, all of the schools I have interest in are not very difficult to get in to.

Don't burn yourself out your senior year. Its our last chance to enjoy ourselves freely before cracking down at the academy. Like mentioned above foreign language in high school is pretty important. When you get to the USAFA a foreign language will be taken. Most colleges require you have 2 high school credits of a foreign language to apply. I would look for a course catalog online for your specific highschool and see what your requirements are to fulfill your diploma. Never forget that you also have to choose your courses based on what you need to have taken to graduate high school. I had to take 2 FL to be eligible to graduate high school. Aslo, AP physics isn't required. I never took it. I took gen chemistry and Ap chemistry and Hn Bio and Hn Anat and physio to fulfill my four years of science in highschool. I would see if you could take another physics or science to fit in that foreign language.
 
"Is it really that important to take 2 foreign language classes? I had no idea, no one's ever told that it was so important. I'm not trying to get into Harvard or anything. Besides the service academies, all of the schools I have interest in are not very difficult to get in to." (Sorry. I can't seem to get the "quote" feature to work right now.)

I think it would be good to sit down with a guidance counselor and talk about your schedule. First, as Rogers suggested, make sure you are meeting your requirements to graduate high school. Second, make sure you are meeting the admission requirements for the colleges/universities you are applying to. I have never looked at requirements for Ivy League schools, but I assure you, many state universities I have looked at required two years of a foreign language. (U of Alabama only requires one year.) After you've taken care of the first two priorities, you have room to try to impress the SAs. (Isn't there just an Honors physics or other Physics class that doesn't conflict with Spanish?)

By the way, if you have an opportunity to certify and serve as a lifeguard over the summer, that is another route to improve your leadership package. Maybe you can serve as a leader at football camps for kids over the summer. There's several ways to gain leadership skills. Just offering options in case you have to drop something to fit in what's required.
 
"Is it really that important to take 2 foreign language classes? I had no idea, no one's ever told that it was so important. I'm not trying to get into Harvard or anything. Besides the service academies, all of the schools I have interest in are not very difficult to get in to." (Sorry. I can't seem to get the "quote" feature to work right now.)

I think it would be good to sit down with a guidance counselor and talk about your schedule. First, as Rogers suggested, make sure you are meeting your requirements to graduate high school. Second, make sure you are meeting the admission requirements for the colleges/universities you are applying to. I have never looked at requirements for Ivy League schools, but I assure you, many state universities I have looked at required two years of a foreign language. (U of Alabama only requires one year.) After you've taken care of the first two priorities, you have room to try to impress the SAs. (Isn't there just an Honors physics or other Physics class that doesn't conflict with Spanish?)

By the way, if you have an opportunity to certify and serve as a lifeguard over the summer, that is another route to improve your leadership package. Maybe you can serve as a leader at football camps for kids over the summer. There's several ways to gain leadership skills. Just offering options in case you have to drop something to fit in what's required.
Wow I never knew this. Funny that you would mention University of Alabama, my brother currently goes there and it is probably my plan B if I don't get into a service academy.

Honors Physics was replaced with AP physics this year, and regular physics is basically a joke. I could take it but it wouldn't be anything more than a resume padder. I have a meeting with the college admissions person at my school on Monday. She can probably help me out with my schedule. Thanks for your input.

I can't swim very well so lifeguarding isn't really an option for me. My summer is already looking to be quite packed. I'm going to be volunteering at either a local hospital or habitat for humanity so I can get some more community service hours(I already have about 100 of these but I'd like to get to around 200. Is community service a big factor in the admission process.) I also applied to a few jobs recently, haven't received a response from any of them but if one of them falls through that's another thing. Then I got the summer class if I take it, offseason workouts on the weekdays the whole summer, Boys State, and SLE if Navy or Army accepts me. Not much room for anything else. Unless I get a 36 on the April ACT I also got some studying to do too.
 
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Don't burn yourself out your senior year. Its our last chance to enjoy ourselves freely before cracking down at the academy. Like mentioned above foreign language in high school is pretty important. When you get to the USAFA a foreign language will be taken. Most colleges require you have 2 high school credits of a foreign language to apply. I would look for a course catalog online for your specific highschool and see what your requirements are to fulfill your diploma. Never forget that you also have to choose your courses based on what you need to have taken to graduate high school. I had to take 2 FL to be eligible to graduate high school. Aslo, AP physics isn't required. I never took it. I took gen chemistry and Ap chemistry and Hn Bio and Hn Anat and physio to fulfill my four years of science in highschool. I would see if you could take another physics or science to fit in that foreign language.
Thanks for the advice. I do want to enjoy my senior year and I also need to have time to focus on the admission process.

My school doesn't require any foreign language classes to graduate, but you get an "Advanced Diploma" if you get 2 foreign language credits.
 
Thanks for the advice. I do want to enjoy my senior year and I also need to have time to focus on the admission process.

My school doesn't require any foreign language classes to graduate, but you get an "Advanced Diploma" if you get 2 foreign language credits.

My school required every to go advanced diploma and you had to have your parents sign off on you not being on ADV Diploma and they've only changed it this year. But I already filled the qualifications so I was like cool. And the admission process is a beast but I'm sure you'll get through it fine! If you have questions about the application, feel free to ask!
 
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