High School Guide: Admissions, reviews, and advice

Maybe it just comes down to whatever generation you belong to. In my day, back in high school, you basically had to choose between basic or advanced German right out of the gate. That’s how they split up the classes...

mellowskipper said:What city are you located in?

Washington, D.C.—I meant to write that earlier but totally blanked, my bad.

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Kenneth Garcia9 said:Some kind of design direction?

Which high schools or specific majors actually have a future and offer decent paychecks (specifically for women)? I honestly don't have anyone to ask about this.

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Nathan Garcia said:Washington, D.C.—I meant to write that earlier but totally blanked, my bad.

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Mine is also an 8R—it’s pretty much identical to yours, judging by what you're interested in—except she’s really into computer science and sports. She's creative too, so maybe I’d suggest looking into the High School for Graphic Arts, specifically their web design track. The curriculum seems decent enough, and it'll still leave her options open if she decides to head to a university later on.
Give their website a look.

Kenneth Garcia9 said:Maybe it just comes down to whatever generation you belong to. In my day, back in high school, you basically had to choose between basic or advanced German right out of the gate. That’s how they split up the classes...

That’s possible, and honestly, sounds pretty good.
We ended up in that introductory track, but the pace was just... intense. I basically had to memorize every single thing—it was honestly exhausting.

Yeah. Math. Those general track students definitely had more options. Back in high school, we could choose from French, Spanish, or Italian, but they didn't offer anything like that for the math track; that was just for the general education kids.

Adam Diaz67 said:Yeah. Math. Those general track students definitely had more options. Back in high school, we could choose from French, Spanish, or Italian, but they didn't offer anything like that for the math track; that was just for the general education kids.

Spot on. We actually had three different languages to choose from back then too—German, French, and Italian. I think I was being pretty naive, thinking Italian would be an easy win, but man... the grammar was an absolute nightmare.

Kenneth Garcia9 said:Maybe it just comes down to whatever generation you belong to. In my day, back in high school, you basically had to choose between basic or advanced German right out of the gate. That’s how they split up the classes...

I don't think it works quite like that anymore. Sure, you can try to pick whatever path you want, but if you've spent four or five years grinding through advanced Spanish and it's right there on your transcript, you aren't exactly going to end up stuck in an introductory class.

I mean, honestly... where do you even start? Around here, things are just way too laid back. You’ve got kids who spent five whole years studying German in middle school, but then they just claim they're total beginners—and nobody bats an eye. They sign up for the absolute introductory classes and everyone just rolls with it. There’s zero verification, zero oversight. The German teachers are losing their minds over it, but hey, nobody’s really stepping in to help them out or fix the system.

It actually reminds me of my cousin—she was such a sweetheart—back about ten years ago. After spending eight straight years studying German as her primary foreign language, she went to enroll in high school and decided to switch things up. She picked English as her main focus instead, but since there wasn't an advanced track for German available, she ended up being placed right back into a BEGINNER class. It was just... well, it was a mess.

hiddendriver34 said:I don't think it works quite like that anymore. Sure, you can try to pick whatever path you want, but if you've spent four or five years grinding through advanced Spanish and it's right there on your transcript, you aren't exactly going to end up stuck in an introductory class.

It really is a shame, because someone might be genuinely interested in continuing with a language, but they miss the cutoff by just a point or two.
It would be amazing if the admissions process gave credit for a second language if the student wants to keep studying it—especially if those extra points help them reach the threshold for a specific program (particularly in high schools where everything comes down to tiny fractions of a point). Honestly, you have to absolutely love a language to want to stick with it through all that. 😬

And honestly, sometimes starting in a beginner class is actually a blessing. About ten years ago, I knew a girl who really wanted to continue with French, but since there wasn't enough interest to form an advanced track, they placed her in introductory German instead. They figured it wouldn't be fair to put someone with French experience into a total beginner class, but I really hope that kind of practice is becoming a thing of the past. I remember how much she struggled, sitting there trying to learn a language she had zero interest in.

Nathan Garcia said:Washington, D.C.—I meant to write that earlier but totally blanked, my bad.

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media tech

It’s a media play, really... though based out of a hub like Los Angeles, I suppose, but it’s definitely heading in the right direction

Larry Walker24 said:media tech

Seriously though, what’s the move with that degree if you don't get into a four-year program or something higher?

Susan James said:It really is a shame, because someone might be genuinely interested in continuing with a language, but they miss the cutoff by just a point or two.
It would be amazing if the admissions process gave credit for a second language if the student wants to keep studying it—especially if those extra points help them reach the threshold for a specific program (particularly in high schools where everything comes down to tiny fractions of a point). Honestly, you have to absolutely love a language to want to stick with it through all that. 😬

And honestly, sometimes starting in a beginner class is actually a blessing. About ten years ago, I knew a girl who really wanted to continue with French, but since there wasn't enough interest to form an advanced track, they placed her in introductory German instead. They figured it wouldn't be fair to put someone with French experience into a total beginner class, but I really hope that kind of practice is becoming a thing of the past. I remember how much she struggled, sitting there trying to learn a language she had zero interest in.

And honestly, how much sense does it make to have a girl who has been studying French for years sitting in a beginner class learning stuff like "I am, you are, what is your name?" She’s just sitting there yawning and wasting her time while taking up a seat that could go to someone who actually needs to start French from scratch.

It’s honestly heartbreaking that she has to learn German—which she doesn't even like—even though she'll technically learn something new. But wait, what about the kids who don't like English? Isn't it just as "tough" for them? Or the kids who hate math? Or history? Can they just swap those out for something they actually enjoy? Or better yet, can they just sit in class and review what they already know instead of being forced into something else?

I actually made the exact same switch back in high school. I had been studying German for seven years, but decided to swap it out for English as my primary focus—even though I’d only been at English for three years at that point. Looking back, it was such a brilliant move for my long-term education and career path, especially since my German was still basically at a beginner level. Honestly, I haven't regretted it for a single second; in fact, I even managed to pull an A in one of my classes without really breaking a sweat, or rather, 😁 without even trying! Besides, there were still 17 other subjects to keep me busy, which was more than enough to stay occupied...

hiddendriver34 said:And honestly, how much sense does it make to have a girl who has been studying French for years sitting in a beginner class learning stuff like "I am, you are, what is your name?" She’s just sitting there yawning and wasting her time while taking up a seat that could go to someone who actually needs to start French from scratch.

It’s honestly heartbreaking that she has to learn German—which she doesn't even like—even though she'll technically learn something new. But wait, what about the kids who don't like English? Isn't it just as "tough" for them? Or the kids who hate math? Or history? Can they just swap those out for something they actually enjoy? Or better yet, can they just sit in class and review what they already know instead of being forced into something else?

Look, it's an elective language course. If the only options were beginner German or beginner French, how hard is it to just ask if they'd rather take the easy French route—where they'll be bored but guaranteed an A—or go with German? It's not a waste of time; it’s an easy way to boost your GPA. That's how they handled it at my high school; they didn't have enough students for a full beginner German class, so they just asked the few kids who were interested and gave them the choice of an extra elective or an info credit instead. If it's labeled as an elective, we should let the kids actually have a choice.

Adam Diaz67 said:Look, it's an elective language course. If the only options were beginner German or beginner French, how hard is it to just ask if they'd rather take the easy French route—where they'll be bored but guaranteed an A—or go with German? It's not a waste of time; it’s an easy way to boost your GPA. That's how they handled it at my high school; they didn't have enough students for a full beginner German class, so they just asked the few kids who were interested and gave them the choice of an extra elective or an info credit instead. If it's labeled as an elective, we should let the kids actually have a choice.

Which specific school are you even referring to?
A lot of American high schools require two mandatory foreign languages. (And thanks a lot for that, because without foreign languages, we're all just totally unremarkable peasants, right?)
So, it isn't really an elective.
And, I mean, schools are slowly starting to realize this, so if you already studied a second language in middle school, maybe you should stick with it, rather than just picking something easy at the start just to secure a guaranteed A.
That's probably one of the weakest arguments I've ever heard.

First off, I want to touch on what Monster mentioned earlier. In the high school I attended, the general track included two foreign languages, but the second one was an elective—much like how math might have specific elective components. So, while it’s required, you actually get to pick which one you take, whether it's French, Spanish, Italian, or German. To be honest, I don't think I've ever heard of an American middle school that offers French as an elective. Plenty offer German, sure, but everyone I know who studied French had to do it through private lessons outside of school. I know some classical academies offered Latin or Greek, though. But hey, maybe there's one out there somewhere.

If a subject is labeled as an elective, then by definition, you should have a choice. We dealt with something similar in college with "required electives." If there weren't enough students to form a class for a specific course, you didn't just get shoved into a random one; you had to pick from the other options that actually had enough enrollment. I guess if that school only offered beginner French and beginner German, and this girl was already taking French privately, then I suppose her choice makes sense. But if she wasn't taking it through the school, it seems like they really should have offered her a beginner French option too. Like I said before, in my year, we didn't have enough people for beginner German, so those three or four students had to choose a different required elective instead, like algebra or stats. They didn't just force them into something else.

They exist. I can't say there's a ton of them out there—honestly, my memory is a bit fuzzy—but I could probably rattle off four or five right now if I had to. Maybe two or three over in New York City (could be more, who knows?), one down in Miami, and one in Seattle...

driftingranger2 said:Seriously though, what’s the move with that degree if you don't get into a four-year program or something higher?

Just like every other high school grad who didn't make it through college.