Spanish woes.

[rosebud1]

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During my first semester of freshman year, I got a CD in Spanish (my old school had a weird grading scale, it's sort of like a cross between a C- and a D+). The placement method put me in a class that was significantly above my education level, so I really struggled at the beginning, and I didn't even know that dropping the class was an option until it was too late. What makes matters worse is that my new school has a standard +/- grading scale, and they automatically marked it as a D+ on my new transcript when it probably should have been a C-.

😡

A year later (first semester of sophomore year), I decided to try taking another Spanish class. Since I had transferred to another institution, I couldn't retake my previous class to replace the credit, so instead I just took the next class in sequence. I figured that since things got better toward the end of the semester for my last Spanish class, I would be in okay shape to move on as long as I studied hard. I ended up getting a professor that couldn't speak English at all, and there were some issues there, so I ended up having to audit the class.

Clearly, I haven't been too lucky with Spanish. I've done really well in all my other classes (As and Bs, with an upward trend of almost all As for the past two terms), so I was wondering how much the CD (which is now unfortunately recorded as a D+) and the audit would affect me? Will the admissions people really care about 2 Spanish courses if the rest of my coursework is solid?

 

[FloatOn]

Que lastima, pero esta bien.

 

[chman]

Muy mal.

?Problemo? Es possible.

Does your school require a foreign language for graduation? If so I advise you retake the classes from numero uno.

I kind of think that you should do this anyways because 1) It shows that you do not give up. 2) Knowing a language, especially espaniol, is becoming almost standard now a days. Good Luck.

But as long as you are strong otherwise, it should not be the end of your app IMO.

 

[apumic]

Hola, Rosebud!
Lo siento. Ojala q AMCAS vaya a usar el "CD" en vez del "D+." El primero es de tu universidad primera, no? Si de verdad, estas bien xq es probable q use el "CD" AMCAS!
Estoy de acuerdo con chman. Si tienes q aprender una lengua segunda, debes tomar la primera clase de español. Bienfortunado! Cuando esperas q te gradues y entre a una escuela de medicina?

If you got through that, I think you're ready for 2nd year Spanish! j/k. But I suspect AMCAS will use your "CD" and I'd suggest going ahead and retaking Spanish. If you are need of someone to help you learn it, you should see if your school has a language center of some sort. If not, I am willing to help as would others who know the language, I'm sure. Show that you don't give up. You could also try taking a summer to study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country. Programs for some of the Latin American countries end up being SUPER cheap (I went to one for ~$3,000 total, including tuition, room/board, gifts for family & friends, airfare, mini vacations during my time there, taking my gf on dates while there, etc.)

 

[rosebud1]

Thanks all.

Foreign language at my current school is only required for liberal arts type majors, and very few others elect to voluntarily study a language, so our FL departments are pretty weak. I do have an honest desire to improve my Spanish, but I feel a bit skeptical about the idea of taking another class at my school - our department is just a mess and the budget cuts aren't helping. Ahhh...we'll see, I guess. The study abroad suggestion did give me some good alternative ideas though. I live in a fairly Hispanic-heavy city, so I was thinking...what if I try volunteering with one of the local Hispanic-serving mission groups? I'd get a chance to gain more exposure the language, while also immersing myself in cultural diversity and giving back to the community. Or even going on a mission trip to Mexico to build houses over the summer. Both sound like really rewarding uses of my time, and I think they'd (hopefully) prove to admissions that I do value the importance of interacting with other cultures...despite having one bad grade.

Anyway, now that I've written a novel (sorry!), I did think of another question:

Does AMCAS include religion classes in calculating your GPA? My first school was a Catholic institution, so I took a theology class while I was there and got an A. My current school (a secular university) dropped the grade and doesn't include it in my GPA. When applying, should I include it or not?

 

[chman]

Thanks all.

Foreign language at my current school is only required for liberal arts type majors, and very few others elect to voluntarily study a language, so our FL departments are pretty weak. I do have an honest desire to improve my Spanish, but I feel a bit skeptical about the idea of taking another class at my school - our department is just a mess and the budget cuts aren't helping. Ahhh...we'll see, I guess. The study abroad suggestion did give me some good alternative ideas though. I live in a fairly Hispanic-heavy city, so I was thinking...what if I try volunteering with one of the local Hispanic-serving mission groups? I'd get a chance to gain more exposure the language, while also immersing myself in cultural diversity and giving back to the community. Or even going on a mission trip to Mexico to build houses over the summer. Both sound like really rewarding uses of my time, and I think they'd (hopefully) prove to admissions that I do value the importance of interacting with other cultures...despite having one bad grade.

Anyway, now that I've written a novel (sorry!), I did think of another question:

Does AMCAS include religion classes in calculating your GPA? My first school was a Catholic institution, so I took a theology class while I was there and got an A. My current school (a secular university) dropped the grade and doesn't include it in my GPA. When applying, should I include it or not?

I would imagine that they do include theology classes.

I am glad you want to improve your Spanish on your own, but the problem with that is that it does not prove that you improved. Just something to think about. But like I said, if you are strong otherwise, you can probably overcome.