<p>Yes ... Lawrence ... great suggestion. I meant to make it myself and then spaced out. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the suggestions. I am surprised at how many places I didn't even think about, and I thought I had been pretty thorough. </p>
<p>And I am sorry I didn't make clear originally that he does not need a Chinese major, just some language classes. Siliconvalleymom, I agree that it does seem a shame to cross off so many really good colleges because they do not offer any Chinese, and I briefly thought about suggesting to son that he think about study abroad instead of a course of study at college. I decided against that because I think this (studying Chinese) will really help him find his niche in college. He doesn't play sports, and while he does play in the band I'm not sure he will continue to do so in college. So while study abroad is no doubt essential to really learning the language and could probably substitute for college classes in terms of learning the language, it can't substitute for the experience of learning tpgether with people who are at his school, or for the extracurricular things that I think most language offerings come with (a Chinese table in the dining hall, for example). </p>
<p>Lunitari, yes, we are pretty much in the same boat. I've noticed that a number of LACs offer either Chinese or Japanese but not both. Earlham, for example, offers only Japanese--I was really sad about that one because in many ways I think Earlham would be a great fit for my son.</p>
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I agree that it does seem a shame to cross off so many really good colleges because they do not offer any Chinese
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<p>I can't tell you how many good colleges we scratched off due to a particular requirement of my son having nothing to do with academics. But this particular requirement was very important to him and I think made him feel much more comfortable. There are enough good schools with Chinese language programs that I wouldn't worry about the ones you have to reluctantly put aside.</p>
<p>Must his Chinese classes be for credit? If there are schools that he likes very much but is being forced to discount because they don't seem to offer Chinese, he could see if there are courses run by the language center or similar sort of like ECs. I am learning Polish language and culture in this way and it's very social and fun.</p>
<p>Oh, Connecticut is a great suggestion - sooooooo close to being my D's first choice, and I still have occasional twinges of regret that she didn't go there. It is strong in international relations and has one of the oldest Chinese programs of LACs.</p>
<p>Already - look at Furman, it has Chinese language under Asian studies and a CHina House and China study abroad with Furman faculty I think.
Furman is nearly a LAC, and would be a match for him I think.</p>
<p>connecticut college was one of the first LACs to have a chinese department
<a href="http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/factsheets/ChineseLanguage.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/factsheets/ChineseLanguage.pdf</a></p>
<p>study abroad is huge, and the college has some great connections in china.</p>
<p>St. Olaf has a great Chinese program (and study-abroad), but it's in Minnesota (across the neighborhood from Carleton).</p>
<p>"it can't substitute for the experience of learning tpgether with people who are at his school, or for the extracurricular things that I think most language offerings come with (a Chinese table in the dining hall, for example)."
I hope you/ your son are investigating how many students are actually taking Chinese classes at the schools he is interested in. The size of the faculty teaching Chinese and the number of Chinese majors will also give you a big clue as to how many students he actually would be learning Chinese with. I also want to mention that students CAN and DO CHANGE THEIR MINDS about what classes are REALLY important to them once they are in college. S ended up choosing a U with a stronger Music program than 2 of the Ivy's he was accepted at, because he was sure he wanted to take music classes from the caliber of teachers that train Music Performanc majors and he wanted to be around students who were as interested in music as he is[ music was not going to be his major however, just a potential minor]. After 2 years, all he has had time to take is private music lessons, not music classes, in part because of class schedule conflicts and the rigor of the requirements of his major. Just something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>Adding Grinnell College (Iowa) to the list. They offer 6 semesters of Chinese language instruction, very similar to Carleton College. Lots of overlapping applications between Carleton, Macalester, and Grinnell.</p>
<p>Bucknell has an East Asian Studies program...I know Bucknellians who are crazy about their school!</p>