It is dropping French V next quarter that she will need to explain. And since it is because of the English class switch, that might need to be discussed.
She really can't take the AP French exam this spring. French is her worst subject (she got a B this last quarter, her only grade below an A-). The irony of this is not lost on her... she looked at me incredulously when I told her what the option was, and said "Wait... they won't let me move ahead and take an AP class in the subject I am best at, but they will let me self study in my weakest subject? What is wrong with these people?". I have no answer...
I am not worried about her recommendations. She will have a great one from her history teacher, her chem teacher would write her a good one, and her 10th grade English teacher will write her a great one (although he is ill, so not sure he will be back next year... but if he is, she will surely take one of his senior English classes as well). You really can't use THINK recommendations for college, that is just a 3 week summer experience; most colleges are quite specific about wanting them from your high school teachers (they will usually accept an extra one or two in addition to the required ones, but they don't want to be flooded with them).
I did call the school guidance counselor yesterday to chat about this. She said if D was applying to Ivies, skipping a semester of French V might cause a hiccup -- there are just soooo many qualified applicants, you don't want to stand out for something like this. But D is looking more at LACs (a couple top 10, some a bit lower ranked). And I just don't think it is worth having a miserable kid for the rest of this year for the sake of appearances for colleges.
