I’m currently a high school senior, taking Chinese 2. I took German 1 and 2 my 9th and 10th grade, but German 3 conflicted with my schedule, so I took Chinese 1. I really dislike my Chinese class this year, but I know I’m already at a big disadvantage not going past level 2 in a language. So my question is, is it going to look significantly worse to drop my Chinese class this year instead of just taking it. The only thing I could replace it with is a study hall, but I am also taking 5 APs this year.
The only college I’m worried about dropping Chinese for is Cornell, the rest of the ones I’m applying to I’m sure will be fine with it. The requirements for the school in cornell I’m applying to just says “foreign language recommended” but it doesn’t say for how many years so I’m not sure what that means. So any suggestions?
That Chinese 1 won’t get your anything. You are still at level 2 for a world language. So you had conflict with German 3 in Junior year and took Chinese 1? What are you going to take in senior? Or you skipped world language in junior completely (which is a very bad idea)? You could have caught up over the summer but it would be too late since you are a senior already.
You should have skipped the Chinese 1 and try a summer class or online class for German before senior year. Talk to your GC. It does not make sense to have such a policy for scheduling. Basically, you need to change 2 periods.
While correct, that’s all well and good, but hindsight is 20/20.
The best course of action is to talk to your GC, although I’m not holding out much hope on this one, since s/he should have advised you not to take Chinese I in the first place.
I’m assuming you mean engineering. I don’t think dropping Chinese will make or break your application, but if your GC is unable to resolve, s/he should definitely mention this on the Secondary School Report.
Actually it’s for their human ecology school, but yeah the requirements are the same. It was actually my GC that recommended I take two years of Chinese since I couldn’t take German 3, and unfortunately there’s no way to go back in time and change that decision now. So I’m thinking the best plan is to just drop Chinese and take an academic elective at this point, unless there’s some possibility I could switch periods and take German 3.
Thank you for all of the advice!
You could also look and see if a local community college offers German 2 in the Fall and German 3 in the Spring (college foreign language classes are WAY faster-paced than high school classes). You could use the study hall to study for the college class and record it as well as your plan for College German 3 in the Spring on your application.
