<p>Hey guys!
I'll almost certainly be enrolling in CC, and I'm curious about the foreign language requirement - on their website it states:</p>
<p>"The requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:
2. Demonstration of an equivalent competence through the appropriate score on the SAT II Subject Test or Advanced Placement Tests.
3. Demonstration of an equivalent competence through the Colleges own placement tests (consult the department through which the language is offered)."</p>
<p>I've studied Chinese for 10 years and can fluently speak, read and write in that language. Does that mean taking Chinese SAT/AP will allow me to test out of the requirement? Also, the SAT provides Chinese as a subject while the AP provides Chinese Language and Culture as a subject. Do i need to take the AP instead of the SAT?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s not completely necessary that you do either, as you can take a departmental placement test once you get here. But either the SAT Subject Test or the AP will suffice, assuming you do well enough.</p>
<p>ah thanks! actually i’m kinda free now so i was hoping to take the time to test out so i have one less thing to worry about in Columbia.</p>
<p>Still, are you sure either the AP or SAT will do? Not too sure about the AP, but as i have taken Chinese as a language for 10 years i find the SAT Chinese ridiculously easy - i’m not bragging, but my schoolmates who learn Chinese at a level equivalent to mine take SAT Chinese just to get an easy 800 for the fun of it. Is the foreign language course at Columbia THAT easy? :</p>
<p>The point of the language requirement, at least as I understand it, is to gain proficiency in a language. For most people, this means getting through the fourth semester of a language (i.e. through Intermediate II). As you’re already above and beyond a baseline level of proficiency, I’d be willing to bet that you would find Intermediate Chinese II to be far too easy. I have a friend who took Chinese for seven years before coming here and he tested out of the language requirement with absolutely no problem, but I think he did it by way of AP.</p>
<p>no, for lang courses at columbia can be pretty tough - they are a lot of hours.</p>
<p>i’d highly suggest testing out if possible. take the SAT or the AP (either counts as you read above).</p>
<p>if you don’t wanna spend the money to do ap or sat - then the easiest way is to take the placement test on campus when you get to columbia - easy and painless.</p>
<p>I have the same question. Will a 770 on the Chinese SAT II Subject Test fulfill the language requirement? Or will I still need to take Columbia’s placement test?</p>
<p>^I think you’ll get a booklet over the summer that lists out the exact requirements.</p>
<p>can u take the sat II lang test in ur freshman year and still get credit for it?</p>
<p>i think some of the lang tests are only offered one month a year…</p>
<p>ah ok thanks for the quick replies guys =D
admissionsgeek - by “lang courses at columbia can be pretty tough” do you mean simply that they take up a lot of time, or are they difficult? I’d imagine the AP is harder than the SAT II, and it seems illogical that you can test out with either, unless the baseline score for the AP is lower?</p>
<p>oh and kelloggs i’m not sure about AP but SAT II with Listening is only available in i think Novembers.</p>
<p>PS anyone knows how to merge posts…?</p>
<p>exactly^^
so my questions is whether i can take the lang test in the november of my freshman year and still use it to opt out of taking a lang class. or is that too late?</p>
<p>you can take the non-listening SAT Chinese these few months but i’m not sure if it’ll be accepted.
The CC bulletin doesn’t provide an indication of scores required; i emailed Columbia via the generic undergrad email but i expect they’ll take at least a few days to respond =D</p>
<p>So can the SAT 2 be used as an exemption?</p>