Will I have to take three years of a foreign language in order to get into UC Berkeley?

Question

I have already taken 2 years of Spanish and am a junior currently taking Spanish 3 Honors. However, it has become very repetitive and time consuming. Not to mention, it is the beginning of the school year and my teacher has already given me 60% on two of the homework assignments. Get this, I received these scores for not finishing one of the questions, out of fifty! I was planning on asking him before class started, but he wasn't in his room. After the bell rang, he marked it down as incomplete. I am fed up with his irrational grading methods and his inability to write/speak in English. Also, I've tried on several occasions to talk to this buffoon, but to no avail. He is simply too resilient about making a grade change. Who gives a rats banana about Spanish anyway? Why is it suddenly an absolute necessity to be able to actively communicate with Hispanics? I mean no offense by this, I am just flustered that's all.

My question pertains to whether or not if I still have a fighting chance of getting accepted to Berkeley (my dream). I have arranged to speak with my counselor to switch to the School Newspaper. Nonetheless, it is by far a much better class and certainly worth being apart of.

I have taken and received A's/B's(only a few) in the following:

Biology, Biology 2 Honors, Integrated Physical Science, Forensic Science, Geometry, Algebra 2 Honors, AA Phys. Geography/St. Req., World History AP, Spanish 1, Spanish 2, English 9 Honors, and English 10 Honors.

As of now I am taking Trigonometry, Honors Chemistry, US History (decided not to take AP even though I got a 4 on the previous exam), and Spanish 3 Honors (regrettably). The following semester, I will have Pre-calculus Honors, Biology AP, English 11 AP, and Newspaper, respectively.

Is this good enough so far?

I will take the ACT next month and have a few extracurricular activities under my belt. SO far, I've done community recycling, worked as a tutor, and volunteered as a chaperon on two trips to Japan.

Furthermore, I am a multicultural male, so I hope I would be considered for scholarships and/or substantial financial aid as my family is destitute.

Next year, I will take the SAT examination. Is it advisable to take the SAT II as well, and if so, what are the benefits? I hope to be able to score at least a 2100.

Please comment for any feedback would be immeasurably appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

wow.... that's really good, so far.

try talking to your counselor and switching to a different spanish teacher, if there is one. most colleges reccomend 3 years of foreign language, berkeley, i think four even. so, i reccomend that you put up with your spanish class. colleges like to see a sense of determination and continuation, which it seems like you've got! but stick with it. 2 years of foreign language is not enough. so hunn, i think you should talk to your counselor and have a meeting with your parents and spanish teacher, and find out what's going on with his class and unfair grading. if not spanish, then switch to something like french. cause you need at least three years, just in case berkeley looks deep into that area.

your other classes all seem top notch, so i wouldn't worry about that.

good luck on everything, darling. it seems like you're working very hard. keep it up! (:

Answer 2

A few things.....first, you don't seem to be taking many APs. This is not a problem if your school doesn't offer many, but it is a problem if it does. Your councelor will have to rate how hard your course load is in comparison to what your school offers. Getting into Berkeley will be tough if you don't get the hardest course load rating.

Second, your race and multi culturism can not, by law, be considered by Berkeley.

As for scholarships, don't expect much from UCs, expect a lot of loans. The better, by far, financial aid comes from private colleges. Aim for those if your family is poor.