The University I was accepted to is threatening to rescind me

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm going to be as neutral and factual as I possibly can:</p>

<p>I was officially admitted back in April I believe, and was also admitted to the Business School as a Freshman Direct. I have a clean record, didn't do anything that would rescind me, and fulfilled all the admission requirements. Except for foreign language.</p>

<p>Because my high school didn't offer Chinese, I decided to take it from an independent institute. My teacher formerly taught at Lakeside (Bill Gates' high school), and put us through roughly the same curriculum. In 10th grade, I took the HSK, which is the Chinese Proficiency Test. It is China's official test, and is harder than the SATII because the test is administered in Chinese (while the SATII is in English). It could also be compared to AP for a benchmark.</p>

<p>I got an "A", which is highest possible score. (to get an "A", you need to have studied about 800 hours of Chinese; or four years) Regardless, the admissions department (well, to be more precise, one of the lead admissions counselors) believes the HSK is not proof that I am proficient in Chinese. He sent me an email in the late afternoon of September 13th and required me to get back to him September 15th or else he would rescind me. I sent him an email explaining the situation and also scanned a copy of my certificate, but he was adamant about me taking the university's own Chinese proficiency test. I talked with other admission counselors from my university, and they were surprised that the HSK wasn't accepted. However, they don't have the authority to do anything about it because he is the lead counselor.</p>

<p>His main problem, he said, was that I had to have taken my foreign language at my high school. When I checked the rules of admission, there is nothing stating foreign language must be done at my high school, just during high school.</p>

<p>I don't mind taking it, but over the past two years I haven't been actively using my Chinese (I've been speaking, but not reading and writing as much). I'm taking the test on the 24th, so I hardly get any time to study. I'd also probably have to cancel a few of my day-long upcoming freshmen events, and eat a cost of $80+.</p>

<p>Does a university have the right to rescind me even after I've registered for classes, bought the textbooks, and paid for my first quarter of housing (over $2k)? Do they also have the right to send me the notice days before I move into the dorm?</p>

<p>I just want to hear a perspective other than my own. As of now, I've tried all I can to get the counselor to see that the HSK is solid proof. The only way I can get out of taking the proficiency test is if the Chinese department says the HSK is good enough, proves it to him, and he accepts it.</p>

2

<p>Obviously I don’t have any authority on this, but my heart goes out to you. This is clearly unfair, and to give such a notice so late in the ballgame seems wrong. I wish you the best of luck.</p>

3

<p>just do the chinese test, but it will be more helpful if you tell us which school. I did not know that university requires foreign language courses, i thought they are “recommended”</p>

4

<p>Can you contact your high school and ask them if they can give you credit for three years of foreign language based on the HSK? Also, how is it this was overlooked when you were initially accepted if the University has a rigid three-year language policy? Can you track down the admissions officer who reviewed your application or perhaps talk to the Dean of Admissions?</p>

5

<p>Does your admissions letter cover this issue?
I can’t tell from your comments…have you reached out to someone in the college’s Chinese department for help?</p>

6

<p>My high school counselor accepted it, but not as credit. He allowed me to waive my high school’s language graduation requirement. I wouldn’t have decided to take a language outside of my high school without making sure I would be able to get it waived.</p>

7

<p>This is BIZARRE. Many colleges want you to take a foreign language at their school as part of the core curriculum or gen ed program. But to require Chinese for admission? Who is this? </p>

<p>Or is it a matter of him challenging the veracity of your application, an integrity issue, when he learned you hadnt taken the courses at your high school? A letter from your teacher can likely persuade him that you have done the work as stated.</p>

<p>A letter from your high school may also help. </p>

<p>And as a last resort, take the exam. All you need to do is get a passing score. Not ace it.</p>

<p>I know of situations where very prestigious scholarships and offers of admission were yanked when someone lied about extra curricular activities and offices held, like President of the Glee Club, and got caught, but never this.</p>

<p>If you did the work, have the certificate and can prove it, then your statement is valid and they have no right to rescind you. Unless you misrepresented when and where you took the courses/hours. </p>

<p>And decision done by the college will have the right of appeal.</p>

8

<p>If you want into the college then you have to do as they ask. Eat the $80 and frosh activities. Prove the college wrong by passing the proficiency test. End of discussion.</p>

9

<p>This does not seem right to me. The admission is conditioned on you maintaining your current GPA, not if you have satisfied their admission requirements. As an example, some schools require applicants to have min 3 SAT IIs. If you only took 2 then they could just out right reject you, but they can’t accept you and rescind you later because you didn’t take required SAT IIs. This is no different than foreign language requirements. You submitted your transcript at the time of your application, clearly if HSK was not sufficient, how did they expect you to magically do 4 years of foreign language in matter of months (your acceptance was in April). I would take out the acceptance letter, read the part about “you acceptance is conditioned upon you…” If they don’t clearly state it is conditioned upon you proving you have taken X years of english, science, math, foreign language, then they have no ground in using the foreign language as the ground to rescind your acceptance.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t take the test because if you should fail they would use it to rescind you (my daughter couldn’t remember multivariable she took last year). Get your parents involved if necessary.</p>

10

<p>Does your university have an ombudsman’s office? They can often help resolve disputes very quickly. The admissions officer who is giving you a hard time will probably listen to them.</p>

11

<p>This is odd.</p>

12

<p>How many months or years did you take Chinese at the independent institute?</p>

13

<p>Are you a native Chinese speaker or an immigrant from China? Perhaps they don’t have a system in place for giving bilingual students credit for being bilingual.</p>

14

<p>Which level did you take? [HSK</a> Levels and for Whom They Are](<a href=“http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/105441.htm]HSK”>HSK Levels and for Whom They Are)</p>

<p>At that same website a different page notes:
Terms of Validity of Chinese Proficiency Certificates
Chinese proficiency certificates are permanently valid. As a proof of Chinese proficiency for foreign students applying for enrollment into different types of schools at various levels in China, HSK scores are valid for two years from the date of examination.</p>

<p>I wonder if the validity of the certificate expired?</p>

<p>Does your university have a Chinese department that might be able to assure the admissions department that the test is internationally recognized?</p>

15

<p>The problem is you decided to take a foreign language outside your high school curriculum and with a tutor. I can see your college’s rationale to ask you to take a proficiency test.</p>

16

<p>Yes, but they should have asked for it before his acceptance. Most schools require a proficiency test to get placed out of a core requirement, not a condition to matriculate.</p>

17

<p>Why not just take their test?</p>

18

<p>Just pass the pathetic test and stay calm and cool. Don’t let that guy have fun by trying to irritate you and if things get out of control bring your parents into the matter.</p>

19

<p>I’m not accusing when I say this.</p>

<p>Is it possible that they believe there was fraud in your application? In other words, they see that you didn’t study at school, a fantastic test result shows up, and they want to confirm that YOU actually took the test. If that’s the case, I would imagine that a less than stellar result wouldn’t matter too much but a total miss on the test would confirm their suspicion.</p>

<p>Again, I’m not accusing you, just trying to figure out what the admission people might be thinking.</p>

<p>Good luck. I hope this all works out well.</p>

20

<p>If you go to a private college/university I think they have the right to basically make you do whatever they want to maintain your status as a student. That said, you have a case if they admit you, take your money, and then say, “We’re throwing you out immediately unless you pass this requirement that we said nothing about before. Oh, and no refund on your tuition.”</p>

<p>But all in all it’s not worth battling them over it. You’ve tried, the counselor guy won’t listen. The best thing you can do at this point in time is to just take the test. If you got an A on the HSK then I’d assume that even after a couple years of minimal writing/reading you should at least pass your college’s proficiency test, which is all that matters.</p>

<p>It’s unfair, I agree, and I hope you the best. But sometimes you just have to play the game.</p>