Three years of same foreign language

I finished Japanese 1 and 2 during freshman and sophomore year. Right now, I’m currently planning to take AP Chinese (Cause I’m a native speaker) in my junior year, but my Japanese teacher recommends me to take Jap 3 and just take the AP Chinese Exam instead because most colleges would prefer three years of the same foreign language. I wish I can do that but at the same time I don’t have space to fit AP Chinese & Japanese 3 into my junior class schedule, also I don’t want to forget my Chinese. Should I listen to my teacher?

Yes, listen to your teacher. Most colleges wan to see three years of the same FL. Find other ways outside school to keep up your Chinese.

Our advisor said not to worry about less than 3 years of a language, especially if you have native fluency in a language other than English.

If you aren’t admitted to you dream school, it will NOT be because you split your time between Japanese and Chinese.

Plus, if you have 5-7 hours/week to spare-- which is what you’d need to keep up your Chinese while continuing Japanese in school – you’d probably be better off investing that time in a passion project or finding a way to have an even greater impact with an existing EC.

I agree that you should listen to your teacher and ideally speak with the advisor/counselor at your school. They will understand your academics, college goals and the profile of students accepted into those schools. 2 years is the minimum for most colleges and the AP Chinese test may get you out of the language requirement once you are in college - but having only 2 years and this AP could keep you out of the colleges that want 4 years of a language study. Why can’t you take AP Chinese as a senior? Your best source is your current school and understanding their college acceptance profiles based on your goals. It is impressive you are learning Japanese and already speak 2 others languages.

Why not take Japanese 3 this coming year and AP Chinese in senior year?

However, if your heritage speaker knowledge of Chinese is already greater than that of AP Chinese (including reading and writing), then it would be a waste of time to take the AP Chinese course (though you can take the AP Chinese test to prove your knowledge to that level or higher). If you are a heritage speaker, you probably use it at home or otherwise, so it is unlikely that you will forget what you know now.

our advisors here would say don’t rely on your native language as a foreign language. If a school asks for 3 or 4 years of a foreign language they are more interested in you doing that in school then they are of you taking an AP test in a native language. They don’t offer Chinese at our high school but several native speakers do take the AP test as well as 4 years of another language (most commonly Spanish then French here) However you can also email admissions at schools you may be thinking about and get their input as well.

Thank you, guys! I appreciate your response!