My kids all did CTY for years (one started in fourth grade, and once the kid aged out, went back as staff!) and although they did not do foreign languages, they knew lots of kids who did.
So I asked them- and as far as they recall, the kids who took FL were either doing it because their own school system did not offer advanced FL AT ALL (i.e. you could take French 1 and 2, but it went no further than that), OR that it was supplemental- so they were taking French all the way through AP at their local HS, and were taking Latin at CTY because it wasn’t offered at their own school, or they just loved learning languages.
I agree that calling CTY (their staff is usually very helpful with these things) to find out if they’ve seen situations like yours recently, and how they’ve worked out.
But I agree with Worried and PRDmomo1 and everyone else- take French in HS like everyone else, and continue with Mandarin as an EC however you can manage it. That seems a much less risky path than trying to patch together a transcript that says “Trust me, I took foreign language in HS. Here’s a bunch of supplemental material to prove it!”
One option you could consider is the Mandarin classes offered at Stanford Online High School. OHS is an extremely rigorous high school that offers Mandarin as one of its languages. Students can apply there as full-time, part-time, and single-course students. So he could apply to take just Chinese there, as a single-course student, if that is of interest. Since it is an accredited high school, I would think that wouldn’t be a problem with colleges. However, even though it is an online school, the classes are synchronous, not asynchronous, and the language classes meet three times a week, so the timing would have to work with his schedule.
If your son is also interested in/advanced in math and/or science, OHS offers courses that extend to post-AP college level in both of those subjects, as well as a core philosophy program that ends up being the favorite courses of many of the students who attend (even the STEM kids). Placement for most classes is by ability, not by age or grade level. Courses are taught in a college-style setting (so most courses meet twice a week M/W or T/TH. Language classes meet three times a week.
My son went to OHS for high school, and it was an extremely positive experience for him.
Student continues Mandarin to beyond the equivalent of HS year 4 through outside high school or college courses (that will be reported to college applications).
Student switches to Spanish or French and gets to HS year 4 at the main high school.
I will definitely look at SOHS, I looked at it before but decided that full time online isn’t for him.
I am not sure why colleges would look at SOHS and CTY differently though. The language classes, the accreditations, the affiliation with a top school etc . . . seem really comparable. The only difference is that SOHS also offers a full time program. So, accepting one and rejecting the other
I just learned that the magnet doesn’t have Chinese this week so I obviously am in the early stages of looking.
My opinion #2 but it depends on the college. 95%+ of kids aren’t looking to go to a top top school. So it’s unlikely this kid won’t either but one never knows.
I don’t think he can do CC during the day. The HS runs a block schedule with alternating days, so Monday could be A or B, and the community college runs on a M/W or T/Th schedule. I don’t think they could mesh. Plus the times don’t line up exactly, so one CC class would meet during part of 4 HS periods.
I think it also depends on the high school and the college where the Mandarin is taken. Honors French or Spanish are a well regarded high school would look better than Mandarin taken at a small community college or run of the mill online course. Conversely, regular level foreign language at an average high school wouldn’t be as impressive as Mandarin taken at well known university or online program.
My point is he can do both. But not taking a foreign language at his high school might be seen as having a “hole” in his college applications.
I the bottom line is that if your son doesn’t take 3-4 years of foreign language at his high school, it’s likely there are going to be certain colleges (especially elite schools) where he doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for admission. It’s possible that you can do enough advance research of specific colleges and universities that you think will interest him that he will still have options, and, with some luck, those options will be the ones he’s most interested in and he won’t feel limited.
But, a lot can change in four years - as other posters have noted - and it could be that in his senior year there will be schools that he’d like to apply to that have a language requirement he can’t meet. It’s a cost benefit analysis, I think. He really likes Mandarin, so maybe he’ll feel it was worth forgoing opportunities at some schools in order to pursue the language he really likes. On the other hand, he could have some regrets if it turns out that some of the schools he’s most excited about aren’t possible. The tricky part is you’re making a decision now that will affect college choice in four years and it’s super hard to predict.
In my state, North Carolina, the Department of Public Instruction offers NC Virtual Public School. You can register through your high school to take any classes that your high school does not offer. It shows up on your transcript as a regular class. We had a friend who took Japanese this way. I don’t know if your state offers something like this or not, but you can check it out at https://ncvps.org Might be worth investigating to see if your state has that option. They do meet synchronously and do online zoom meetings where they practice the language with the teacher.
Class on HS transcript does not equal class that colleges will count. Class at CTY does not equal class that colleges will count. Taking an AP test does not equal taking a year of language. Remember: His competition will have three to four years of language.
Competitive colleges don’t simply accept the transcript as is. They calculate GPA according to their own formula and they only include the classes that only want to include.
If he does not take three or four years of a language class IN high school, he proceeds at his own risk. Is he a gambler?
It really depends what type of college he will be targeting - hard to know this early - and how much he really wants mandarin. The problem is that you can’t know for sure how big a risk you are taking If he chooses mandarin now. Will he regret it when it comes time to apply to colleges? That’s the risk. There is no way to remove the risk. You aren’t going to get any type of definitive answer before you need to make a decision. No one can say that all colleges will accept this. No one can say that they won’t.
The safe and easy choice is to stop mandarin and start taking a language that his school offers. The safe and hard choice is to take a language in school and continue mandarin on the side. All other choices to somehow continue mandarin outside of school as his only foreign language are risky.
Applying to college is so stressful. Why add to the stress by unnecessarily limiting his options and/or having to go to battle to get his alternative-method classes counted?
This is great information for UC’s and likely other public’s. Gumbymom, for the UC’s, any 2 or 3 classes take at a CC would count correct? So a pair of summer school classes would meet the minimum in your opinion.
If the student does not want to take another foreign language, then taking four years of Spanish or French will guaranteed have an impact on their life, while not taking another foreign language ‘may’ reduce the number of college choices. If there was a path to check the foreign languages for most colleges, I would recommend that to my kids.