@Sportsball
I do not want to derail this discussion since OP’s son has no specific schools in mind at this point but for the California UC’s and CSU’s, 2 semesters of a FL would meet the 2 year requirement.
AP scores can also fulfill the California school requirement but most likely not other selective colleges.
As everyone as stated, research needs to be done on a wide variety of schools to determine the best course of action for him.
I am the OP.
@Sportsball what grade is this student in now?
7th. We are just starting the process of figuring where to look for high schools.
Does an application to your county STEM school guarantee acceptance?
Why not start a language that you know the student can continue in HS?
Because his school starts languages in sixth, and you can’t switch during middle school.
Oh goodness no, it’s super selective.
So…sort of cart before the horse.
What other schools are you considering for him. What’s wrong with your local public high school?
Is this one of your potential athletic recruit kids too?
Yes, but is the student (presumably a non-California resident) likely to apply to or attend state universities in California (out-of-state tuition, no need-based financial aid for non-California residents)?
In case that still is a possibility, state universities in California are mainly concerned about level attained in terms of language other than English. AP 3+ counts, as do college courses that are considered equivalent to high school year 2 or higher (high school year 3 or higher is recommended for UC).
University of California A-G Course List has California community colleges and some online programs to show what level language other than English (LOTE) courses are counted as for high school equivalency. CTY at JHU is not listed, but Stanford Online High School is, and has up to LOTE 4+ (i.e. equivalent to high school year 4 or higher) in Chinese.
California community colleges usually have listed 1st semester = LOTE 2, 2nd semester = LOTE 3, 3rd semester = LOTE 4+ (most beginning / intermediate LOTE courses in public colleges and universities in California are 5 credits per semester).
Of course, colleges other than state universities in California may evaluate SOHS or college courses differently.
We had the opposite problem! We went from catholic middle to public performing arts hs. Our daughter took French 3-8th grade but when it came time to test out of language the French teacher said it didn’t count as real French classes. And her HS only teaches Spanish. She took Spanish 1 her Freshman year. Soph and Junior year she got into Musical and the MT program is an elective over the language. Chances are she will get in again for Senior year and there is no slot to take another year of Spanish. And 2 years later, she is not prepared as her Freshman year was completely remote. ( aka didn’t retain much)
Since it is a performing arts school she is earning an arts diploma and only requires 1 year of language to graduate in NY schools.
However, knowing most colleges require minimum 2 years we are scrambling calling admissions to the colleges and make sure they know our circumstances. Some allow you to take at their colleges, others want to see it before accepting.
So frustrated that prescreen could be scrapped because of this.
Can you target private HSs in your area that do have Mandarin if it’s that important to them?
Are you in NY? @sybbie719 is this true?
Then pick a school that offers it. We all have our deal-breakers. Sounds like you found his.
I will say the option to take language outside of high school leaves less time for socializing with peers. If he is advanced, he will do well with peers in years 3 and 4 of language and will develop deep bonds with those kids. Those kids will also be applying to top schools and are good friends to have.
We are probably moving before high school, so it’s not clear what our local high school will be. But the local high school options are fine. This school just offers higher level math and science and more math, science, and computer electives, which he would like. Realistically, if we want this to be a possibility we need to take that into account when we move, and it makes sense to sort out whether we even want the school, before we decide where to move.
Yes, this is my soccer player.
Yes, but that’s a huge price difference. It’s worth figuring out if the public is a good option.
If you are moving anyway…why not find a HS that offers Mandarin.
Because this school offers multiple years of math post BC Calc, and really top science and engineering classes.
Is the student on track to be able to make use of the higher level and expanded offerings in these subjects, compared to other high schools that also offer continuation of Mandarin?
Yes