I am waiting to read @skieurope 's autobiography! He is so well-read on so many subjects!
I’m European, so not that impressive. Monolingualism is uncommon amongst the college educated on the Continent.
I graduated college in 2019.
When you say “this is MY vision”, I think this might be a red flag.
A few points:
90% of the test takers for AP Chinese pass the exam and 60% get the highest score of 5. It’s by far the easiest AP exam and no one really cares if the test taker was an 8th grader or a 12th grader when they took the exam.
My second point is, it’s fine to have high expectations for your kids but be careful about driving them too hard, too early. For example, one of my Korean-American clients has two kids and when she raised them she told them that they would be engineers and could not major in anything else in college. They are now engineers (civil and electrical) but they are pretty unhappy in their careers and never pursued their true passions in life.
Just be careful that what YOU want for your kids (and how you go about achieving it for them) may or may not be what is ultimately best for them individually.
Good luck to you and as a father of two kids, I can certainly empathize with you that it’s not easy being a parent.
Not trying to be harsh, but you said “this is my vision.”
It should not be your vision. You can guide him and support him, but it should be HIS vision.
I assume that your son is your first to college?
I am an experienced parent with a college grad and a current kid at college. I’ve been here for years and some of the saddest posts are from kids whose parents are forcing them to do things they don’t want to do. Things that the parent thinks their child should do. Your child will be who he will be. Where he goes to college really isn’t going to matter that much, though a good name can help. There are soooo many colleges with good names, and they aren’t just in the Ivy League. There’s a great book by Frank Bruni called Where You Go is Not who You Will Be.
https://www.amazon.com/Where-You-Not-Who-Youll/dp/1455532681
Here’s a true anecdote.
Kid A just graduated with a degree in Humanities this May from one of Harvard/Yale/Princeton. He has been unable to find a job. He has applied to over 20. He is intelligent and very well connected. I don’t know if Kid A is being fussy, or bombing his interviews, or applying to jobs he isn’t qualified for, or what. He’s a wonderful kid and his parents are mystified. Maybe he just needs to keep applying, or rethink his strategy. Maybe it’s all just the current circumstances.
Kid B just graduated with a degree in Humanities this May from a respectable Liberal Arts College. He has had three great job offers. Kid B decided to turn down a job that paid nearly six figures and had incredible benefits. Kid B would have been working with grads from Harvard and Columbia, among others. Kid B has had a job all summer working for a university and is leaving that position soon for a job at a prestigious institution doing something aligned with his long term career goals. Kid B won no awards in high school and didn’t get into the one Ivy League school he applied to.
I can tell you that both of these grads primarily did things they were interested in during high school. Both kids had support from parents. The main difference between these two grads is not where they attended college.
I’m wondering if “vision” isnt really what OP meant. Not the sense I driving a kid. Maybe he/she just meant “idea.”
Anyway, there’s a lot to learn about getting into an elite. No assumptions. But also no just throwing up your hands and thinking no one knows. Imo, one needs to be the right sort of informed. And never over confident.
I recall seeing a set of AP stats by grade, including “before high school”. Chinese had by far the largest pre-HS cohort.
You’ll see in the CB annual report, they call out “Total Group” and “Standard Group” for languages:
“Standard students generally receive most of their foreign language training in U.S. schools. They did not indicate on their answer sheet that they regularly speak or hear the foreign language of the exam, “
Chinese has fewer than 25% in the Standard Group - over 3/4 didn’t primarily learn the language in US schools.
This is why I get the sense that most colleges treat Chinese AP/Subject Test scores as they would a US born/raised student taking the TOEFL.
This exactly. If it’s his native language or a family language the courses and the test will have zero meaning or impact. He can state on his college applications that he is fully bilingual English/Chinese. That said, it’s excellent that he is choosing Spanish for his HS foreign-language requirement. Colleges frown upon choosing the family language to fulfill this requirement.