<p>Hi Everyone,
My S did 1st through 6th grade in Swedish school, 7th and 8th grades in German school and started school at an American school in English in 9th grade. He is doing well, but not as well as if he had done school all of his life in English. We speak English at home, but he did more reading in Swedish and German until he started 9th grade. We still live in Europe and he has never lived in the US, but has dual citizenship.
What is the best way to reflect on this in his application? I think his SAT scores would be higher otherwise and his reading/writing were a bit lower, although math was strong.
Should his references mention this? Should he refer to it in an essay? It has definitely been a huge learning curve for him.<br>
Trying to figure out all of this from overseas and appreciate help! </p>
<p>I’d put it in the “additional information” section of the Common App. His counselor might also want to mention it in his/her recommendation.</p>
<p>Are we allowed to mention this to the counselor? I think he knows this. I don’t want to overstep any ethical lines. </p>
<p>American counselors would expect your son to provide them with a bullet point list of things that are important, including the fact he attended school in three different languages and that he started English medium schooling in the 9th grade only.
In addition, even if his high school is English-medium, if you’re living in a non English speaking country and since he’s attended non English speaking schools, it’s highly recommended to mandatory (depending on the college) that he take the TOEFL. Have him practice (the “compare and contrast the college lecture with the college textbook” essay is very tricky). Just the fact he has a TOEFL score will highlight he wasn’t taking classes in English before. Is he enrolled in ESL? If so, that should appear on his transcript, too.
In addition, if you think he can handle it, he could take the SAT Subject in German – scoring 750+ due to attending school in German for just 2 years would be good (that would also go under “additional information”).</p>
<p>Thanks for replying! He took the AP in German in 9th grade and got a 5, so taking the SAT subject seemed to be excessive. What do you think? He is not in ESL classes.
He took AP Music Theory in 9th grade (5), and AP US (4) and Bio (3) in 10th grade. This year (junior) he is taking AP Euro and AP Chem.<br>
I notice that his reading and writing skills are a bit more behind than where he probably would be if he had done all of his school in English. I think that this has negatively affected his SAT scores ( 760 Math, 610 Reading, 640 Writing) and his essay scores on the AP tests.<br>
He is pulling at A plus in Honors English this year. Should he still take the TOEFL? This is a good way to draw attention to his starting English just 2.5 years ago. He is looking to do a dual degree with music composition and some form of science. He loves school and would love an academic challenging atmosphere. We are looking at schools that have a dual degree program (Northwestern, Oberlin, JHU/Peabody, etc.). His SAT scores are around 100 to 150 lower than the 50th percentile.<br>
Also how can we show his fluency in Swedish on his application?<br>
I am grateful for any suggestions as I navigate this from Europe. </p>
<p>Some colleges will actually require the TOEFL since he lives in a non English speaking country, even if he’s a citizen and is not currently enrolled in ESL, so it’s probably safer for him to take it. (He’ll do great and won’t have to prep much, except to know the format. As previously mentioned, one of the essays is tricky.)
I assume he’ll take the SAT again? Has he tried the ACT?
Some colleges require the SAT subjects, regardless of AP. Since he can take up to 3 in a sitting (they’re one hour each), he could take any 2 plus German, since he wouldn’t really have to study for German. Foreign Language at the SAT Subject level is at CEF A2 level 
(APs are at CEF B1.) If he’as taken another language, he could do something rarer in the US, ie., try to score two 750s in two different languages (I know European schools often require two foreign languages, so he may well have Spanish or Latin or French at A2 level?)
The best moment to take SAT Subjects are in May and June Junior year.
In addition, it’s possible to take the ACT in September, right after the summer vacation.
Be aware that, practically speaking, dual degrees (BM/BA in particular) are very difficult to pull off. Go to the Music forum since the question has been debated a lot and there’s a lot of good advice there.
On the CommonApp, there’ll be a possibility to list languages: he’ll need to list Swedish there (and develop in the “additional information” box).</p>
<p>Re: TOEFL. That really depends on the school. Some colleges do not require it if you have a certain number of years in a school where English is the main form of instruction. Some still require it. We do not speak English at home, although I did go to a American-type school for 6 of the eight years before boarding school. I took the test to be safe. Like your son, I am a dual-national US/EU.</p>
<p>I would not recommend taking the SAT in German; I think it’s overkill, and some colleges suggest not taking the SAT test in a language in which you are proficient.</p>
<p>If your son has lived in countries other than Sweden, that would make a great essay topic, comparing life in various countries. I can’t think of another way to highlight his Swedish skills. A writing sample won’t help, since few people in the US speak Swedish.</p>
<p>Is he studying Swedish in school now? If so, that would show on his transcript. Plus as @MYOS1634 said, he can list languages spoken on the CommonApp.</p>
<p>skieurope: you did well taking the TOEFL. It won’t hurt for the schools that don’t require it while highlighting the fact you’re bilingual and it’ll be safer, as you say, for the other schools.
since OP’s son lived in Germany during childhood (I assume till age 11-12?), that wouldn’t appear in his transcripts and since he should take SAT subjects, it’d just be a third one he wouldn’t need to prepare for but would still be taken into account, ie., excellent return on investment. Colleges do not want to see a foreign language test in a native language though (ie., if you’re German living in Germany, you should not take the German SAT Subject. But if you’re not German and living 2 years in Germany, you’re absolutely allowed to show how well you learned in two years. Same thing for languages learned in other settings. The key is “learned”. Heritage speakers living in a non-heritage language country are also encouraged to take that language for SAT Subject, ie. Latinos or 2nd generation Chinese living in the US, and they often do hence the super harsh curve in these languages.)</p>
<p>OP: is there a way for your son to get an external certification for his Swedish skills (ie., Swedish cultural center certificate, examination, CEF scale certification…?)</p>
<p>Agree with others, don’t be afraid of the “additional information” box on the Common App. This is just the sort of thing it is for. What my kids did was give the item a header (eg, “Additional Foreign Language Information”), then bullet out the key points. Okay to tell the guidance counselor, too, there is nothing wrong with the info coming from two sources and it might give the GC some insight into his academic performance.</p>