<p>Will having studied Arabic for 1.5 years and Chinese 5 years formally, both at my high school be like a hook? </p>
<p>Is it common for high school students to have studied both?</p>
<p>Though I'm Chinese, I never studied Chinese writing until high school. Also I speak a minority dialect of Chinese, which is no way like the Chinese I studied in high school. </p>
<p>When I apply to college next year should I let them know that I'm not a Chinese native, or speak Mandarin Chinese at home?</p>
<p>I don't consider fluency in many languages a big hook. It's certainly a unique characteristic of the applicant, but it's not like colleges will say "oh we're short of arabic speaking people, so lets bend the rules for this kid." If you emphasize your different languages in your essays then colleges will know that you're a really culturally diverse person and will think of you as unique. I think on Common App they only ask what ethnicity you are (so you'll put Chinese) then they'll ask what you primarily speak at home. It doesn't ask if you're a Chinese native, and i doubt they'll care about what dialect of Chinese you speak.</p>
<p>they have far too many kids who are billingual for it to be a "hook". it's def. a plus i think, but not that important in the grand scheme of things. Now, if you speak multiple languages fluently, that's a big plus.
My friend who speaks Taiwanese, Japanese, Spanish, English and Chinese all fluently got a full ride to UC Berkeley (though she was rejected from ivies, etc). it's def a plus but it won't be a "hook" like being latino or an athlete will be.</p>
<p>Hmm....! I never mentioned that in my application lol. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. I am Chinese, but only studied Chinese till 3rd grade and I can speak three dialects, type, write, and read fluently. Do you think I should send college a note or it is not a big deal??</p>
<p>it's not a big deal... im sure with all the Chinese people applying, they have tons of kids who are able to speak in other languages.</p>
<p>I wasn't seeing it that way.</p>
<p>Chinese and Arabic, both are very in demand languages right now.
And the fact that I am studying both makes it a very unique and rare combination.</p>
<p>One of this year's Rhodes Scholars from Harvard is fluent in Mandarin and Arabic.</p>
<p>It's not like Spanish, and Taiwanese (which isn't really a language, it's basically Mandarin) and English, which isn't that eye catching.</p>
<p>But then again this was just a minor question. I'm not really going to even point it out directly in my application, they'll just see that I'm studying Chinese at school, and taking Arabic outside of school.</p>