The Spanish department has implemented new and more rigorous eligibility requirements for students hoping to take the School of Foreign Service Oral Proficiency Exam.

Up until this semester, any student with at least a B-plus final grade in Advanced Spanish I and Advanced Spanish II could attempt the proficiency exam. To now qualify to take the Spanish Oral Proficiency Exam (OPE), students enrolled in Advanced Spanish: Transatlantic II (SPAN 2002) must possess at least an A-minus current grade at the time of registration for the exam and at least an A-minus final grade in SPAN 2001. Students will also need to have scored an A on their mock proficiency exam in class.

Cristina Sanz, director of the Intensive and SFS Spanish Program, said that the past requirements did not ensure that students were adequately prepared to take the exam.

“Prior to the curriculum renewal of the SFS Spanish program some years back, Oral Review, the course that follows Advanced II, had to be completed in order to take the OPE. We decided we would allow students to take the Proficiency Test at the end of Advanced II, but only those who were truly prepared, and so we instituted a minimum grade that, given grade inflation, is not truly representative of the level required for a simple pass in the Oral Proficiency Test any more,” Sanz wrote to The Hoya.

Sanz said that the department, in coordination with the SFS Dean’s Office, decided to edit the requirements because students were inadequately prepared.

“As there is a finite number of opportunities for a student to sit for the OPE, the team responsible for the administration of the OPE and I met earlier in the semester and decided that the criteria had to be more stringent, given the level of preparedness the team observed last year,” Sanz wrote.

The new criteria for taking the OPE will take effect immediately; the change will impact current students enrolled in SPAN 2002, who must register to take the OPE by Oct. 13.

One of these students, Sheryn Livingstone (MSB, SFS ’26), said that she is frustrated at both the timing of registration and the difference in format between the mock exam and the OPE. 

“The fact that you have to have an A-minus in the class at the moment of registration is really difficult given that when you sign up, there’s still around two or three months left in the semester before the end of classes, which gives a lot of leeway before grades are finalized,” Livingstone told The Hoya. 

“The second requirement that you have to receive an A on the mock proficiency exam also really upset me because the mock proficiency exam is a highly stressful situation because you’re working with another student, and that’s not truly indicative of how you might do on the real exam,” Livingstone said.

The mock proficiency exam involves two students interviewing each other about an article in front of their professor. This differs from the OPE, which consists of a twenty-minute interview with one student and two exam administrators.

Livingstone said that she thinks a more effective system to maximize preparedness would involve removing a quantitative standard set by a grade in favor of a more qualitative approach. Livingstone proposed a system where students meet with their professors individually a certain number of times and then professors recommend the students they believe to be prepared to take the exam.

“I think that would be a proper benchmark because then you are not just being judged based on your grades,” Livingstone said. “You’re being judged on the quality of your Spanish, which is what you’re being tested on in the proficiency exam.” 

Rachel Calderone (SFS ’26), another current student in SPAN 2002, said the changes could lead to issues in subjectivity, calling for a need to ensure equal standards across different class sections.

“It’s not a perfect system because different professors will grade harsher than other ones. Even though two students might be similarly prepared for the exam, one student might not be allowed to take it,” Calderone told The Hoya. “Having two or three professors grade the practice oral exam for everyone would be a good idea so that we know the standards are the same.”

Calderone added that she recognizes the positive impacts that the changes could have.

“Honestly, I think it’s a pretty good idea,” Calderone said. “It encourages people to not just take the proficiency exam because they want to see how it goes, but to wait until they’re actually prepared.”