<p>I am planning on applying ED to Cornell College of Arts and Sciences (currently a rising junior). I've already chosen next year's courses, but looking at Cornell's freshman requirements I found that A&S requires 3 years of a foreign language. I just finished AP Chinese, so I only have 2 years... and nowhere higher to go. Does 3 years of a foreign language actually require taking the language for three years or just the proficiency people achieve after that, in which case I only need Chinese 3? This is really important: if I actually need 3 years I have to start a totally new language and need to rework my schedule, so please get back to me!</p>
<p>Just the level of proficiency. You have no worries there.</p>
<p>Call them to make sure.</p>
<p>You could do that, but if you search College Confidential, you’ll see that this question is far from new. It’s about proficiency, and not about the number of semesters you’ve parked your backside in a classroom chair.</p>
<p>You can call to make sure, but they are typically looking at the highest level completed (AP is generally considered level 4 or higher).</p>
<p>Yes, the colleges should really state clearly on their web sites that they mean highest level completed.</p>
<p>You have met the requirement based on completing essentially Chinese 4 (AP). However, be sure that you replace the foreign language with an academic course of comparable rigor in your schedule next year. Having a study hall (or fluff class) instead of another language (or labratory science, or advanced history course, etc.) will hurt your transcript.</p>
<p>You don’t mention your ethnicity. If you have completed AP Chinese sophmore year as a non-native speaker, it should look impressive on your applications. However, if you have grown up speaking Chinese at home, realize that this AP class is unlikely to impress adcoms.</p>
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<p>People say this all the time on College Confidential. But I kind of wonder whether it’s so, and I certainly question whether it should be so. If Paintallthestuff has mastered two languages by learning Chinese (or Spanish or Farsi or what have you) at home and by being educated in English at American schools, and he or she can carry on a conversation or read a newspaper in either Chinese or English, how is that less of an accomplishment, or less valuable to anyone, than my having sat through countless inane dialogues about Yvette and Jean-Claude seeing the sights of Paris from a bateau mouche?</p>
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Given the impact if you need to do it, or the consequences (denial) if you need to do it and don’t, why haven’t you called the college directly to ask?</p>
<p>@Sikorsky - I agree with the premise of your statement, although I stand by my original posting.</p>
<p>What makes your hypothetical student impressive is their integration into a foreign culture. However, it is not impressive that a student who has grown up speaking Chinese has excelled in AP Chinese or can score 800 on the Chinese language SAT II (although it might be quite impressive if they score 800 on the CR section as a non-native English speaker). Few AP French students would likely be comfortable casually perusing La Monde, pointing to how much more of an achievement it is to successfully become immersed in a foreign culture, rather than merely demonstrate a level of “fluency”.</p>
<p>In either case, OP has demonstrated mastery of a non-English language by completing AP Chinese and thus has fulfilled Cornell’s requirement.</p>
<p>rmldad: I am in fact half-Chinese. I spent kindergarten and first grade in China, but then I moved and lost most of the skills I learned there because there was little opportunity to practice anything other than speaking. When I got to middle school and started taking Chinese classes again, I realized I was well behind, and even had to use the textbooks for 3rd graders to build on reading and writing skills. So in essence I have the background that makes this an ‘unimpressive’ accomplishment, but I also had to work to get to the level of AP Chinese.</p>
<p>You do fulfill the language requirement but they may not be impressed due to your cultural link as they would not know the details.</p>
<p>What…because speaking two languages fluently is impressive only if you’re an American of European origin? Because Americans of European origin (of whom I am one) are notorious for being able to speak only English?</p>
<p>The OP is bilingual, and the OP can demonstrate that fact. Period. I don’t understand why folks feel compelled to minimize that.</p>
<p>On the other hand, being bilingual is a good thing, but not an extraordinary thing. Lots of people (other than Americans of European origin) are proficient in more than one language.</p>
<p>Being bilingual or even trilingual are good things. But trying to impress the admission officer is another thing. They want to see not only language skill but learning ability and willingness to take challenges. Being bilingual can clearly demonstrate your language skill but not necessary the others. For the same reason they look at course load instead of GPA alone. It is really not fair for those with a Chinese last name but not native Chinese speaker taking AP Chinese. But the admission office needs to pick the candidates that impressed them most.</p>
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How about because plenty of research and anecdotal evidence shows it takes little effort to learn a second language if you are immersed in it early enough. </p>
<p>Pretty much everyone has seen little kids of ages 5 or 6 that speak 2 languages completely fluently without a day’s instruction in either language. Nobody is impressed if you do something that pretty much anyone can accomplish. </p>
<p>Whereas learning a 2nd language as an older student (and the critical period may be around puberty or even earlier) is impressive because it takes a fair amount of work to get to even modest levels of proficiency. Most people that have taken 3 years of Spanish couldn’t order a burrito in Spanish if they tried.
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<p>I am not looking to impress with taking foreign languages, just to fulfill the language requirements. I don’t particularly like learning them, and am focusing on social studies and sciences. I can speak Arabic moderately well as well, and I do not have any links to that ethnically.</p>