<p>So when I came to my school I chose Spanish as my language elective, but there was apparently no space so I got shafted into the Mandarin class. The problem is that the Mandarin teacher was absolutely horrendous. But the first year was all right, so I decided to stick with it and it just got exponentially worse. Mandarin III was just absolute hell. Also, as a non-native speaker who knew absolutely nothing about Mandarin or any Chinese language going in, I am not allowed to take AP Mandarin at school. I have to pass some sort of test to get in, and I know this is a weak excuse for college since they'll just be like - you should have studied for that test! But it's basically like the teacher only lets native speakers into the class. One time a Cantonese person studied really hard to learn Mandarin but she got kicked out of AP Mandarin because one day she forgot how to say "computer" or something silly like that. Basically the only people who have ever taken AP Mandarin at my school are without fail all native speakers, because int hat class they have to write essays and speak in Mandarin the whole time, and its' nigh impossible to learn that much Mandarin in just three years, as it is an extremely difficult language in comparison to something like Spanish.
Sorry for the super long explanation, but anyway so I only got up to Mandarin III.
I am a rising senior, have gotten straight A's, have taken eight AP tests with three self-studied, and am planning to take four APs next year, which is not super rigorous but I have to because I'm in orchestra and journalism.
How badly is the fact that I only had three years of foreign language going to hurt me for top colleges? Should I do everything in my power to try and take some online Mandarin class to get credit? I'd say that my level of Mandarin knowledge would be about equivalent to someone in the middle of a good Mandarin II class.</p>
<p>You only had 3 years of foreign language!!! How dare you!!! You don’t deserve to go to college!!!
(Sarcasm) lol
I think 3 years is recommended for most universities so I think you’ll be fine. Besides I doubt many schools offer Mandarin so it’s a bonus to learn a language that isn’t derived from Latin (I think Mandarin isn’t derived from Latin) so it wont hurt you. In addition, I attended a college admissions conference (QuestBridge) and they told me to tell your story. In your app, mention that only native speakers that AP Mandarin because the teacher is horrible. I mean don’t make that your personal essay but I mean if possible let them know, they want to know!
Best of luck!</p>
<p>Lol, don’t worry so much. I took Mandarin for 3 years too, but I got up to AP. The point is, you have met language requirements for all colleges. None of them (that I know of) require four years.
If you’re still worried about it, you could try taking a language over the summer but I think you’re good right now.</p>
<p>There are only a few schools that wants 4 years of foreign languages.</p>
<p>What schools are you aiming for?</p>
<p>unless you are aiming for major in Chinese in universities, I doubt this will impact your chances at all.</p>