I had a question that was related to this thread, but I don’t think it would warrant its own separate post.
The school I go to has a 2-year foreign language requirement and only has 3 languages, one of them being French. However, I am self-studying another major language that interests me far more and which I am relatively more proficient at. If I dropped French after 2 years but continue to study the other language (for my own pleasure), would colleges see that as a negative?
Only if you can get some sort of external certification in that language. - could be from a cultural institute, from a test…
If a school has a three year FL requirement or 3-4 year recommendation, then dropping your high school FL after two years when more were available would be negative, yes.
A language outside of school would need likely need some documentation of a course of study and progress. I’m not sure just a test/certification would even help. Native speakers taking AP or Subject Tests doesn’t mean much.