Should I take the 4th year of language despite being bilingual?

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm Chinese-American and I speak fluent Chinese, can read fairly well, but writing is more of a struggle. I will be taking the AP Chinese exam this year as a junior, and I have already taken the SAT Subject for Chinese and got a 790 (I know, embarrassing...but I'll live with it). </p>

<p>Currently in the process of figuring out my senior year schedule and I've only taken 3 years of Spanish. Our school doesn't offer Chinese, although I have gone to an outside of school Chinese "school" for 7 years and have graduated, but that just means I got a certificate and other than that, I don't see much significance.</p>

<p>I'm looking at some pretty competitive colleges... specifically Duke, UChicago, WashU, Northwestern. Applying to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford more for funsies ahaha because I really doubt I'll get in. Nevertheless, I'm hearing from counselors and classmates that 4 years of a language is something that I REALLY need to do... I'd prefer not to continue pursuing Spanish though. </p>

<p>So my question is, should I take the 4th year of Spanish? I know it might give me an "edge" and I know it is not "required but recommended", but to what extent does this play a factor in the admissions process? Does the fact that I know Chinese not really matter either? Will the colleges I'm applying to value this 4th year of Spanish or does it really not make much of a difference in my case, considering I have been exposed to a "second" language already?</p>

2

<p>I hope you’re being sarcastic/kidding about that chinese SAT subject test score…</p>

3

<p>If you get a 5 on AP Chinese, a reasonable college will likely see it as being greater than the proficiency of level 4 of high school Chinese language courses.</p>

<p>But then you never know for sure, unless it is explicitly stated on the college’s web site (like it is for University of California, where sufficiently high AP or SAT subject scores are accepted in place of high school language courses).</p>

<p>Obviously, taking level 4 of Spanish would mean that you will be proficient to that level in three languages instead of two, which should be a bit more impressive to an admissions reader (especially if you write essays about wanting to major in international type or comparative literature subjects and the like).</p>

4

<p>Oh, one more thing… Colleges don’t like to see kids take tests, classes, or whatever, with their native language. They think it is the kid taking the easy route and just learning what he/she already knows.</p>

5

<p>What are you planning on adding instead? Depending on your planned major, you may be much more competitive adding in a more accelerated class in another subject.</p>