<p>I am a mostly A's and a few B's student and I recently dropped Chinese III Honors from my schedule for my junior year. I already took 2 years of the course. The main reason I dropped it is because I wanted to make space for a computer programming course. I am also studying abroad for 4 months this summer in Japan and then 8 more during my senior year. I would think that this would suffice for only 2 years of language courses at my high school. I plan on taking the Japanese language subject exam to show that I have achieved some sort of fluency in addition to my JLPT exams. I really hope I can get into the University of Washington but I am worried that only taking the bare minimum for foreign language credit could hurt my chances. Any advice?</p>
<p>Well I think it would be accurate to say that UW prefers students who have the opportunity to study 3+years of the same language (thus fulfilling the graduation requirement as well as the bare minimum CADR requirement) to do so. So yes, it does hurt your chances. </p>
<p>I’m not sure to what extent it would hurt your chances, though. The fact is, unless the Japanese study allows you to place out of Japanese 103, you will still have to take a language class at the UW to satisfy the language requirement for graduation. If you take Chinese III Honors, the requirement will be satisfied for graduation and you won’t have to take any language classes at UW.</p>
<p>My husband was admitted to the UW with only 2 years of French in high school, but he went to high school overseas, so it’s possible they were more lenient about his situation because of that. </p>
<p>If you’ve decided you like Japanese better than Chinese now, then you could always enroll in a community college over the summer and take intensive Japanese. It will be full-time for 8 weeks, but it is worth 15 credits that fully satisfy UW’s language requirement. I’m not sure when you would find the time, but it’s an option.</p>
<p>Well while in Japan I’m attending a Japanese high school and this includes intensive japanese. By the time I graduate high school it will have been 12 months abroad </p>
<p>I think you will be fine. I was accepted with only two years of foreign language completion, and know many others that have been as well. I know for the College of Arts and Sciences, it is a graduation requirement to have completed a foreign language through the third year. However, University of Washington clearly states in admission information that it is only necessary to have two years completed to satisfy their language requirement for entrance. That being said, certain majors may have a more strict language requirement through third year to be considered for that major, but since you would be a freshman, it isn’t something you would really need to worry about right away.</p>
<p>Yeah, this is a pretty unique situation. I think the best thing to do is to speak with a UW Admissions counselor. The UW website has drop-in hours as well as phone and email contact information. </p>
<p>Well the thing is I live in Florida so I’ll have to call or email. Thanks for everything!</p>