<p>Lots of top selective colleges seem to say that when taking an SAT 2 in a language, you shouldn't take your native language (discouraged). I am half-Chinese and half-American. I was born in America, and as such, English is my native language. Anyways, when I was growing up, my mom (the Chinese one) decided to take me to Chinese school every Sunday. This started when I was very little, around 3 years old. So, I have developed proficiency in the Chinese language. My brother, who is a few years older than me, got an 800 on the SAT 2 Chinese and 5 on the AP Chinese test easily. I was just wondering if colleges would consider this my "native" language because I have been learning it since I was young, so getting an 800 wouldn't mean much. What do you think? (By the way, I really like Chinese and plan on taking it in college.)</p>
<p>I had a similar situation in which Spanish was my first language even though I’m Korean.</p>
<p>I ended up taking SAT II Spanish with Listening as well as two more subject tests just in case.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, taking an SAT II in your native language isn’t <em>that</em> frowned upon since even Dartmouth admits that it won’t harm your chances at all. However, consider taking a couple more.</p>
<p>I live in a community with a very high percentage of native Chinese speakers, and many of them take the Chinese SAT and score 800s. I’ve heard stories, however, of colleges asking applicants to take another SAT II because they wouldn’t count an SAT language test in one’s native language. So if you really must take it, take a couple of other tests too.</p>