<p>Where are the top college Mandarin programs?</p>
<p>There is no ranking of undergrad East Asian Language Depts. (or, grad program for that matter, as far as I know).</p>
<p>See my post in this thread for some a number of universities that generally have good programs:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/other-college-majors/1051898-best-language-school-offers-full-ride.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/other-college-majors/1051898-best-language-school-offers-full-ride.html</a></p>
<p>That post didn’t mention any LACs, but some LACs with programs that are considered good include: Middlebury, Wesleyan, Hamilton, Oberlin, St. Olaf, Amherst, Trinity (TX). Also, check out Furman.</p>
<p>Strictly for language learning, Middlebury is among the very best. They have an excellent summer language school (~2 month immersion programs), to which you can apply even if you don’t attend year-round. A great way to get a strong foundation in Mandarin is to spend a summer at Middlebury followed immediately by a term or year abroad.</p>
<p>For a comprehensive Asian Studies program, you may be better off at a leading research university. Harvard, Chicago, Penn, Berkeley, or Michigan for example.</p>
<p>FWIW Cornell’s FALCON program is supposed to be great, it provides an immersion program not merely just in the summer, but during the rest of the year as well:
[-</a> Home](<a href=“http://www.lrc.cornell.edu/falcon/Home]-”>http://www.lrc.cornell.edu/falcon/Home)</p>
<p>Also, Oberlin has very good mandarin teachers, and has a good Asian Studies program (for an LAC anyway).
[Program:</a> East Asian Studies - Oberlin College - acalog ACMS?](<a href=“Program: East Asian Studies - Oberlin College - Acalog ACMS™”>Program: East Asian Studies - Oberlin College - Acalog ACMS™)</p>