Hi CC!!
I’m american Chinese and my parents are from china. I however was born in the US and my first language is definitely English.
I went to Chinese school for a couple of years and will take the Chinese SAT II in November. I’m decent, but because everyone who takes it is Chinese, the curve is super hard.
I’m expecting like a 750-770. Will colleges look down on me? Because I had to learn Chinese in a school. My parents speak Chinese to each other, but I’m horrible and they have to use English to get me understand somethings.
I really hope no one answers that I shouldn’t take because my parents paid for me to be enrolled in a class. How can I tell colleges that I’m not a native speaker?
I honestly don’t think that you can, unless you explicitly mention it in your essays, which you may want to dedicate to something else. You could always take it to show your skill in the subject, but for some schools they will not count it as one of your two required subject tests for native/heritage speakers
I think it is not useful to your application. In general, it is considered to take the easy way out and not trying hard. People won’t understand why a Chinese’s native language is not Chinese.
I don’t think it’s worth it. Since you’re chinese, a high 700-800 on this test is expected by admissions officers. Doing well on it won’t be a plus, and doing bad will look bad overall.
I’m in a slightly different situation but will have to face this question soon enough as well. I am not Chinese, but I will begin studying Chinese next year (my junior year) and continue to study it in my senior year through courses at a community college and expect to complete 4 levels of college chinese. Should I take the Chinese SAT II, and when would be the most optimal test date? Currently my only SAT II is in Spanish (800), but I’m a “heritage speaker”.
There are no options; the SAT subject test for Chinese is only offered in November. Considering that the vast majority of the test takers are heritage speakers and an 800 is a 64 percentile, you might want to reconsider.
Oh, and for future reference, do not hijack a thread; it’s rude to the original poster.