USAFA admissions: languages

[USAFAMamaBear]

Thank for the responses:
- The AFA is one of the only SA/Colleges that specifically does not accept Latin. Son found that nugget by doing his own research which generated him switching to Chinese. Midwest Dad is correct in that is the AFA thought process, which is great if you check it before taking 3-4 years of Latin thinking it was the most challenging language option offered and one he excelled at.
- He has since followed up with UAFA rep at SA Academy day locally, who confirmed no Latin.
- The Chinese is though our school district and counts exactly like a regular class. he took it online since there are only a few teachers and they don't get to his HS. His schedule is full as well with other elective (NJROTC and Aerospace Engineering). he only has 2 "open" elective slots.

crux of my question is whether or not he will be looked at as only doing "minimum" language or if they will see a total of 5 years combined. Do you "red flag" an issue by asking? The weight of taking Chinese 3 next summer, and getting another B, may not be best choice.

My son is currently a cadet at the Air Force Academy. He started off taking 2 years of high school Latin, he too learned that the military academies do not consider Latin a modern foreign language (obviously), My son then took two years of French. They assigned him French at the Academy as his modern foreign language. Taking Latin definitely helped him to more readily pick up other languages, He has also taken Spanish. The Academy does not look down on taking Latin, And it will not hurt him in the application process. With my son the Academy saw that he had taken Five years of foreign language and they were impressed by that.

 

[Ranchinmom]

My son took two years of Spanish. He is a C4C and now taking Russian. If your son enjoys Chinese, then take the 3rd year, if he can master it pretty well he can move up and take it at the academy. Someone can correct me here, but I believe Chinese is a strategic language. He can minor it in at the academy.

 

[dav1y]

Just a quick question, but does the Academy only consider how many years of language you have taken in HS, or will they look at how long you have taken it your entire life? I've been taking Chinese for the past 10 years, but will they take that into consideration, or will they just look at the 4 years of Chinese I will take in HS? (still a junior, so I've only taken 3)

 

[FMHS-79]

Just a quick question, but does the Academy only consider how many years of language you have taken in HS, or will they look at how long you have taken it your entire life? I've been taking Chinese for the past 10 years, but will they take that into consideration, or will they just look at the 4 years of Chinese I will take in HS? (still a junior, so I've only taken 3)

The critical component will be how well a basic cadet does on their placement testing (taken during BCT), here's the detail listed in the 2024 Appointee Handbook:

Language skills are extremely valuable to future officers. Cadets are required to take two semesters of a foreign language while at the Academy or validate this requirement. Validation can be achieved by scoring 1+/1+ on the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) in any language not taught at Air Force Academy or by scoring high enough on the Air Force Academy placement test in one of the eight world languages taught at the Air Force Academy: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. You will take the placement test during Basic Cadet Training. Cadets wishing to take the DLPT should contact the Department of Foreign Languages no later than the first week of classes.