My native language is English, but I also have been speaking chinese for most of my life as China is where my parents are from.
So I did a year of AP Chinese at school and landed a 5. Is taking a language that someone already speaks at home and only doing a year (but at the highest level) a negative for HYPSM?
Sure, my parents speaking it helps. But I didn’t use the language myself much until middle school when I did chinese classes. Should I mention that I grinded the language a lot in middle school to get to that level in 9th? I’m proud of my own progress and I don’t want AO’s to dismiss it just because my last name shows that I’m chinese.
(This meets the foreign language requirement at UCs and other schools btw)
HYPSM is looking for challenging coursework taken in HS. A single year of FL in HS will not be competitive; 2 years during HS is considered the minimum. Whether that is the reason you don’t get in is doubtful. But if you don’t get in, you’ll never know the reason why.
Speaking a second language in your home is a gift…but isn’t the same as learning a second language in classes. Plus, many colleges expect up to a certain level of coursework to be taken as meeting their admissions requirements…whether you are fluent or not in a second language.
My opinion…you need to take at least up to level 4 of some foreign language.
AOs do know that even heritage speakers of a language usually have to do some work to get a 5 on an AP (including English speakers for Lang). But, as with a lot of things in highly selective admissions, there is the obvious box-ticking purpose, and there is another layer underneath.
Knocking off an AP in a “heritage” language is a path that AO’s are very familiar with, and deals with the box-ticking side of the FL requirement/recommendation.
Challenging yourself to achieve some level of mastery in a fundamentally unfamiliar arena is the layer underneath. This was a well-enough understood concept at our HS that the academically ambitious anglo kids made sure that they got to AP Chinese, even if they started Chinese in Grade 9.
Reaching AP level in a heritage language isn’t the same as learning a foreign language.
Are you currently a freshman or a rising senior?
If a rising senior, you could try and see if there’s a college nearby (or online) offering more advanced Chinese classes so you can show more work at the HS level.
If you’re a current freshman, you could take another foreign language - right now, I know competitive Chinese Heritage students taking French, for instance. (At some HS, only Spanish is offered, and at others, there’s a broader choice, with Japanese and Korean also offered, and being chosen).
Finally, 1 semester college class = 1 year HS class, so you could take a completely different language and take it through level 3 or 4 in 3 to 4 semesters or sessions.
i placed into AP (level 6) early on in high school because i grinded it a lot in middle school (and sure, having parents who speak it helps but i’m still proud of the achievement).
should i have asked to been at a lower level to get more years?
Spanish was my first language and I gradually learned English at school.
My HS counselors knew that I spoke Spanish fluently and that the written grammar parts were difficult for me. They said that the colleges, including the UC’s, would expect me to challenge myself.
I didn’t apply to the ivies (it’s an athletic conference). The HS staff told me to pick another language that was completely “foreign” to me. I chose French. Never regretted it. It did challenge me and it did take a lot of study, but it helped me to learn how to approach a new language and culture. From what I understand, my old high school still requires native speakers to choose a language other than the home language.
In another thread, the OP mentioned going into 12th grade, so there is limited opportunity to start a new foreign language in high school. The highest level the OP can get to in a new foreign language (2nd semester college, probably equivalent to 2nd or 3rd year high school) would require taking it at a local college.
Foreign Language/Level reached is what colleges look at, so taking a lower level class would have been worse; will the Middle School classes appear on your transcript?
A solution would be to find a class at a college that offers a 4th or 5th semester class you can attend, although I’m not sure that would be available. A content-based (history, literature, culture, or “applied to professions”) class would show willingness to challenge yourself.
If you can’t find one, then, it is what it is.
“Ticking the box” means simply meeting the requirement. For the majority of US colleges, that is all you need. The schools that have to reject 95% of the people who apply are looking for students who do more than ‘tick the box’, or simply "meet the requirements, and instead push themselves to go above and beyond. @aunt_bea’s experience is a good example. The students at our HS who are introduced to Chinese for the first time in grade 8 and get a 5 in AP Chinese in grade 11 are another example.
The thing is, I think you know that, or you wouldn’t be asking the question. You are pretty much out of time to do anything about this particular element of your application. So, there’s no point worrying about it further. Your application will be reviewed as a whole, and you will never know what the pieces are that led to whatever the outcome is.
Agree that there is not much that can be done now (going into 12th grade). The following are options, but probably won’t change your college admission credentials that much:
More advanced Chinese courses at a college, if available and depending on the college’s placement guidelines / testing.
New foreign language 1st and 2nd semester at a college, if available.
New foreign language 1st year at high school.
No additional foreign language course work (use schedule space for some other academics of interest).
Probably best to choose between options 1, 2, and 4 above, depending on interest and schedule space / logistics.
1 year of HS foreign language will do nothing. So, 1 or 4 are the best options. Focus on other parts of your application, making them as strong as possible.
Like @aunt_bea I had a heritage foreign language (with skill gaps). I made sure I had an additional foreign language, and ended up taking advanced college coursework in both languages before I got into college.
At this point in time, I would just let the foreign language situation be. If you last studied Chinese (Mandarin?) in 9th grade and then don’t do any other coursework until you’re getting ready to apply to colleges, colleges will (or should) see through that. If they see that there was additional coursework at your high school in Chinese but didn’t take it, that will look bad. If you have a local college where you could have taken Chinese in 10th or 11th grade and didn’t do it, it will look bad. The only plausible explanation that might be given was that because of Covid you were avoiding college campuses, but if that’s not true, then I wouldn’t say that.
You have many strong components to your application. You may get into the most rejective schools, or you may not. I agree with @Blossom’s post on the other thread that your time would be better off looking for campuses where you are a likelier admit that have the elements of a college experience that you’re hoping to have, rather than trying to figure out if your chances are 2% or 3% or maybe 5%. You have a chance, but the chance of admission at the highly rejective colleges is very small. Give it your best effort but make sure you have a balanced list of schools to apply to where you would be happy to attend.
@Cool_Person_2 There is actual requirement/recommendation for taking foreign language course in high school, please check Common Data Set information for colleges you want to apply to. It is listed very clearly for each as “units required” or “units recommended”.
Congratulations on your accomplishment - getting 5 on the AP Chinese exam, but look at the broader picture. Talk to your advisor at school. Good luck!
I understand that you technically meet the requirements. However, admissions officers view foreign language as an academic subject and are really looking for achievement in a classroom setting throughout a four year sequence of a foreign language. Getting a 5 in an AP in a language spoken in your home is unlikely to impress.
Do you fall into some type of an exception with AP Chinese? Circle back to your guidance counselor to ask for advice. You could take a second course this summer or during senior year if needed.
Score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP Exam in Chinese Language and Culture, French Language and Culture, German Language and Culture, Italian Language and Culture, Japanese Language and Culture, Spanish Language, Spanish Language and Culture, Spanish Literature and Culture or Latin; score of 5, 6 or 7 on an IB Language A2 HL exam.
The OP fulfills the UC LOTE (language other than English) requirement in two ways:
AP score of 5, as mentioned above.
AP course counts as LOTE level 4+, which validates LOTE 3, 2, and 1 and therefore counts as “4 years”. See pages 18-19 of University of California Counselors .
Note that the above is specific to UC (and CSU, which uses the same LOTE validation policy). It may not necessarily apply to other colleges.