<p>
</p>
<p>Two likely common possibilities:</p>
<ul>
<li>Foreign language instruction in elementary and/or middle school.</li>
<li>Heritage speaker, but not strong enough skills to place into a level higher than high school level 3.</li>
</ul>
<p>In any case, this is probably a common enough situation and frequently asked question that it is surprising that many colleges do not address this on their web sites.</p>