So you try, and he may fail. If you catch it quickly enough and drop courses or activities, the failure wont do much harm. It sounds like you would regret not trying everything, and maybe he needs to see for himself how unmanageable it will be .
There were kids who managed 40 hour per week outside activities in 9th grade. None made it beyond 9th, but maybe worth a try. And mandarin wont be be that bad
Cty classes are by zoom and taught by cty staff (nearly all independent contractors) there is no cty “school” and there is no involvement with Hopkins faculty. I don’t think most high schools accept them in lieu of standard classes, as they are intended to be more like extracurricular classes. CTY is mostly known for their academic summer camps.
That could be but in the OPs contacts with colleges they’ve been positive.
I’m simply saying the programs administrators most likely have experience with this exact situation so they might be the best to speak with.
I never said to drop Mandarin. I suggested he take HS foreign language at his high school. Otherwise he is limiting his options. If the family can’t find a school where mandarin is taught…then an outside source for continuing this will need to be found (as well as the time to do so).
And most important. This parent is getting answers now for a kid who is in 7th grade. They need to keep a close watch on the tends in college acceptances…and meet the standards that apply for when this kid applies…which isn’t for 4 more years.
You know…there is nothing wrong with this kid learning how to make choices. NOW. In 3rd grade, one of my kids was accepted into a prestigious childrens choir that had a very big time commitment. Kid was also taking tap and ballet classes. The KID had to choose one of these because there was not sufficient time really in the week to do both. The kid chose. And that was that.
Making choices is a life skill.
It sounds like you’ve called several colleges that say your son’s two years in middle school and anything he takes from cty meet their standards. What you seem to be missing, is that meeting the standards is the minimum needed to be considered. If his competition all has 4 years then your son doesn’t compare well.
Also, it sounds like you are talking to engineering schools. What if your son decides he wants to be a math major? Math is in A&S not the engineering school. By not having him take foreign language at his high school, like the vast majority of other kids who are going to be applying to competitive schools, you are potentially limiting his options.
I agree with other posters. You seem to be trying to craft a plan that includes no disappointment now but instead could be setting him up for disappointment in the future. I really think he should drop the mandarin since it sounds like doing it on the side will be too much. Or, if it’s really that important to him, send him to a high school that offers it. It’s time to make a choice, not to bend over backward to accommodate everything a 12 year old wants.
Not all are. I’m saying that doing it all may be unrealistic. It sounds like a kid in a candy store. And then he’ll get to high school as see all the bright and shiny pennies that are EC’s. Oh look, MUN. Oh look, robotics. Oh look, squirrel.
Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, I am unconvinced of the efficacy of advanced language learning online. I know it would be ineffective for me. Perhaps someone with experience can comment.
So it can be done. Is it the best option for this kid? Maybe. Maybe not.
D20 did an intensive language program over zoom (due to Covid). She was picking up her third language (5th if you count music and CS as languages as well, 6/7th if you consider dialects) and was able to learn through that medium. She would not recommend that option unless there weren’t other options.
Those in the class for whom this was their 1st/only other foreign language struggled. Other polyglots did ok/fine.
Thanks for the feedback.
They don’t count.
I would agree that they don’t count as formal languages …but did want to put the fact she has experience learning multiple forms of language which definitely helped her pick up this new language over Zoom. 
Noted. Again, it really comes down to the individual. Even being a polyglot, I couldn’t do it. But maybe this kid can
I’m confused by this. I have trouble imagining a kid going from a few years of Mandarin to AP level just by watching some video
I realized I never answered the question above about whether Mandarin’s a heritage language, and maybe you’re assuming he’s got help at home. He doesn’t. He’s the only member of our extended family who has any experience with it.
No, I didn’t assume your family is a heritage-speaking family. Didn’t sound like it in your post.
In my two posts I recommended trying to find a Mandarin work-around. Others have suggested sources on how to try and do it. Self-studying while also using a tutor or online courses would be a path to testing AP Mandarin in 10th grade (adcoms want to see 4 years of FL, with two in high school, for a standard definition of “highest rigor” in FL).
For example, the Alliance Francais has French-language learning facilities in a few cities in the U.S. They help students study for the French AP exam when the local high school doesn’t have French. So kids will take French out of school - some will work that into their schedule with a school’s approval. Others just study two languages for a couple of years in school and do the AP test in one.
The two most important considerations, STEM course rigor and time for soccer, are easier implemented via the STEM magnate and your kid’s soccer league. You have an infrastructure of school and a team that your son can use. Studying language only needs a tutor, not physical labs or a separate sports field (of course, that tutor or class is an added expense).
Your kid will have to make choices, some now, some later. They will keep coming. He could take more language courses the first two years of high school, then more stem classes the last two years of high school (for example).
People on here are helping you to see some of the limitations now, so you can perhaps supplement the school with other strategies to try and meet as many of your desires as possible. But they won’t all be met (not enough hours in a day and a kid needs chill time, too).
Everyone responding to you has been through this path you’re on, in their own way. And their advice breaks down the considerations about high school class rigor and the accompanying time crunch that your child and family will face.
I feel like it’s 6 to 1 half dozen to the other.
On one hand, the classes in public school last a little longer (3.75 hours a week, vs. 2.75 at CTY), and there are advantages to being in person.
On the other hand, the CTY classes have a much lower ratio (cap of 12 to 14, whereas public is more like 30 kids per class) and the kids are there because they chose it. Since the majority of kids in our district take Level 1 and some take 2 of a language in middle school, the kids in Level 1 and 2 in high school are more likely to be kids who don’t have a lot of interest.
We homeschooled during the pandemic, and he’s done 1:1 or 1:2 virtual instruction for Spanish, which he speaks pretty well, and for math, as well as group virtual instruction for math. He’s done fine with all of those. We’ve always chosen live classes, and would continue to. Of course, a tonal language is a little different.
Does this mean that if he does take high school Spanish, he will start in a class higher than the year 1 class? (i.e. would complete year 4 or higher in less than 4 years)
Is your son continuing with the Spanish? And if not, why not? Seems like another language that he would be able to start at a higher level so probably wouldn’t be with 1st year students.
Also, students starting a language their first year of high school aren’t necessarily those who have less interest in languages. Opportunity and choices are diverse; they don’t always indicate interest or lack thereof.
His Spanish is much better than his Chinese.
All the colleges I see say they want “X years”, not “through level X”. I feel like 2 years of Spanish, even if it’s level 3 and level 4, or level 4 and 5, is still just 2 years.
Plus, he really wants Chinese.
True. I’m just saying that 30 kids vs 14, and even a few of the 30 are less motivated, might balance out the benefits of being in person. Both options are imperfect, but if those are the two options, I’m not sure that in person language will be significantly better.
It’s not. It’s really not.
It’s nuanced. But since Spanish is off the table, I won’t go off-topic to explain the intricacies.
We were told the exact opposite by 28 different colleges. They wanted foreign language completed through level 4. Both of my kids went to private universities. They took honors Spanish 4 in 10th grade…and that was the end. Like your kid, they had completed some Spanish in Middle School.
The colleges accepted this because the kids completed levels 3 and 4 IN High School.
If you are still considering Stanford OHS, they cap classes at about 12 kids and I think Chinese classes tend to have fewer than 10.
You do have to apply in the fall for acceptance in the following year though — even for single course students.