Freshmen year, my counselor advised me that foreign language classes weren't necessary... At my school, people may stay in a foreign language class for four years and still be very inadequate. Now I'm a senior without any FL experience, and most of the colleges I aspire to attend require or recommend FL. Does this mean I can't get in?
Unless a school explicitly requires foreign language experience as an application requirement, not having any experience isn't going to automatically block you from acceptance. However, it does mean that the other classes that you took in high school instead of foreign language will be that much more important - colleges are going to want to see what you did with that extra time and space in your schedule.
As our article about classes desired by the Ivy League states, demonstrating your ability to handle a rigorous courseload is extremely important, and foreign languages are often considered key to a rigorous courseload. However, if you filled up the space in your schedule with extra classes and activities in your "spike," you'll be able to show that you were able to take advantage of the situation.