Taking foreign language outside of student’s high school…for college admission

Do any of the high schools near you offer Mandarin? If so, do they also offer AP science and math? That would seem the easiest way to meet your preference. The magnet school doesnt seem to offer exactly what you want, and its curriculum can largely be duplicated at a good public hs

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That would definitely be an individual family’s call. I think it is likely that a lot of the younger OHS students have famiiies where either one parent doesn’t work, or works from home. So that would definitely be a reason why OHS might not work for you, unfortunately.

Have you heard of Startalk? It’s a free program funded by the U.S. government (National Security Agency) and often provides credit. Mandarin is one of the languages:

https://www.startalk.info/students/

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Sorry I meant to like this not laugh at you, but my thumbs are clumsy.

I am intentionally laughing at you. :crazy_face: :crazy_face: :crazy_face: :crazy_face:

Check out the very reasonably priced OOS tuition at Dallas College’s online Mandarin program:

https://www1.dcccd.edu/catalog/coursedescriptions/detail.cfm?course=CHIN

Also, consider applying for the summer NSLI-Y Mandarin when your son is old enough.

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Is 2 years FL at community college equivalent to 4 years in high school for many colleges throughout the country?

Generally, yes

That’s interesting…I’ve heard others say 1 community college class for 1 year of high school. And then for UC admissions it’s different than that! So confusing!

That’s true. But one cc class is generally one semester, allowing you to take 2 classes per year

Would the HS accept CTY Chinese 3 and 4 listed on the transcript? That’s the only way your son can be competitive if taking Chinese.
(ie., MS Chinese 1a+1b+2, HS Chinese 3+4 = competitive colleges’ requirement is fulfilled).

Otherwise, he can continue taking Chinese on the side but would have to take another world language at his school through level 4 or AP.

(The “minimum 2 years” requirement mostly exists bc rural HS may only offer 2 years, however competitive colleges all expect Level 4 or AP from students at schools that offer 4 years. Foreign language is considered a core course and strong achievement is another point of evidence for the college adcoms, since the skills it requires overlap some and differ in some respect both math and English - math for understanding of abstract underpinnings of functions and English for ability to express/understand.)

@tsbna44: wouldn’t your daughter studying in China provide her with enough language study that she could meet their 3rd year/college requirement?
It’d make more sense than taking just 1 year in another language.

My daughter is at a pickle.

She found a school in South Dakota with an online class - and was going to take Chinese three this summer as she’s required a third year for her major.

But despite an A- and an A in Chinese 2, the professor said she was not ready. I can only suspect that different schools have different curriculums - although I was surprised because this was a lower level state school in South Dakota.

So now she’s at a crossroads as she’ll be in DC interning in the Fall.

She can start a new language but doesn’t want to.

Or she might study abroad in China or Taiwan second semester but of course rumblings about impending war are scaring my daughter/wife.

So it may be back to Chinese after a year or starting a new language which she doesn’t want. Interestingly, she needs a 3rd year of language but the school isn’t offering Chinese 3 - so it’d be special projects.

All that said - that’s in college - and at least from the topic, it says high school - so if that’s the case - my daughter did only two years because the school didn’t offer the 3rd year - and she did fine in admissions.

Foreign Languages are usually quite strong at state schools, often times the schools are being publicly supported (financially) in their FL departments, especially those Languages that are deemed critically important (Chinese is definitely one of those).

As such, while it might be surprising to some - FL departments at State schools often are expecting a higher level of competency at each level fo FL instruction and may well by using OPI or some other internationally recognized standard to measure competency.

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There’s no way of knowing when a war would start but Taiwan is probably safer than China.
If she’s in Dc, what about a university in DC that offers Chinese 5?
G’Town has 2 options
https://bn-reg.uis.georgetown.edu/StudentRegistrationSsb/ssb/classSearch/classSearch
AU has 2 sections too
https://eagleservice.american.edu/Student/Courses/Search

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Here’s another program that might work well (for next summer):

https://www.rotcprojectgo.org/programs/indiana-university-chinese-abroad

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Thanks.

The program she’s in is a full time intern plus 2 classes they have. One is theater based and the other political. It’s the South Carolina Washington Semester.

The other worrying thing seems to be curriculum differences between different schools based on her summer experience.

She’ll have to make the best of what becomes avail. She was going with Case Western this Summer for Chinese but like so many study abroad faculty led trips, it was cancelled. This was after her school cancelled her first one.

Things have a way of working out over time.

Thx for the ideas.

If she wants to maintain her Chinese, she could always look for a Chinese tutor while she is in DC. She wouldn’t get credit, but she also wouldn’t lose ground while in DC.

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Let’s stick to the OP’s post folks.

Actually at several of our local community colleges semesters are split into 2 sessions, so you could take more than just 2 cc classes per year…which is why I wanted to clarify! Thanks for the info though!

@tsbna44 @sportsball Have you considered LanguageBird? It is expensive, but – from what I understand – it can be added via Principal Certification in high school to count for UC A-G. My DS 2027 is taking Japanese because he enjoys anime. It is not offered at our high school or at any community college in our area.

Edited to add: @sportsball