<p>I am definitely more proficient at English than I am at Chinese. However, I learned to speak Chinese first. So when it asks me what my native language is, which one do I write?</p>
<p>Pretty sure they won't have any way of finding out, so you might as well just put English (or Chinese, if you prefer that).</p>
<p>i have the same exact dilemma. i feel like they're both my native language since i learned both around the same time, but most applications don't have the option of having more than one native language. it shouldn't matter too much which language you choose.</p>
<p>Same with me, but I believe that some schools will ask for TOEFL scores if you put down Chinese as your first language.</p>
<p>Which language did you mother speak to your when you were an infant? That would be the main basis for choosing one language over another as a native language. My children each have two native languages, but would probably mention the non-English language in the context of a college application.</p>
<p>colleges don't need TOEFL scores unless you attended high school where English wasn't the main language...if they asked for TOEFL scores everytime someone put down a language other than English as their native tongue, ~half the people applying would have to send it in...</p>
<p>Oh, well i didn't know about that... my bad :P</p>
<p>^^ Not necessarily; it depends on the school. My friend attended elementary school in China (and considers Mandarin her mother tongue), middle school in Spain (fluent in Spanish), high school in the U.S. She had to request TOEFL waivers from several schools, notably UMich.</p>