<p>I'm a junior in high school right now, and I did not took any foreign language in my entire high school career. I was already very proficient in Chinese before high school, and my school do not let people take science and language at the same time, so I instant-picked science classes whenever course selection time comes around. Then I realized that MIT recommends two years of foreign languages. Are these two years of foreign language significant or are they trivial matters that don't really, well, matter? If the "foreign language" is essential can I pass up foreign language with a SAT II subject test?</p>
<p>Also I have a freshman friend whom I'm helping to plan out her classes over her next three years in high school to build a strong academic background for MIT. She is also facing the same problem. She wants to study engineering and physics, but her Chinese classes in school are taking the period away from science classes. Should she just scratch Chinese class in school and trade in foreign language classes for science classes?</p>
<p>I would say the best people to contact about this would be your school’s guidance counselor or MIT admissions. For the latter, I would wait until the end of March, just because they already have a lot on their plate. </p>
<p>It is a pretty strange situation to be in, but I think if you show proficiency in another language with an SAT II, then that will help considerably. Being a tech school, I feel like MIT would be much more happy to see you take as science courses as possible. That being said, I would still recommend you contact them or MITChris, who would be extremely helpful. </p>
<p>She should take the science classes at school, and take Spanish or whatever language as online classes on FLVS ([Online</a> High School | Online Middle School | Grades K-12 | Florida Virtual School](<a href=“http://www.flvs.net%5DOnline”>http://www.flvs.net)), Stanford EPGY, Brigham Young, JHU CTY, or some other accredited online/virtual school. Your school might even be able to add those foreign language grades to her transcript. I recommend FLVS - you can take classes on there anytime, and they are cheaper than the latter options.</p>
<p>Junglewoo, you may also want to consider brushing up on your (English) grammar, or have someone proofread your application next year. Engineering and science majors need to know how to communicate/write well.</p>