I took Spanish for 3 years and I really don’t want to take it for another year.
How good will it look if start Chinese and do it for 2 years?
So I’ll have 3 years of Spanish and 2 years of Chinese. Better than just 3 years of Spanish right? Will it help a lot in college admissions if I do?
I heard taking 4 years of a language is what colleges want to see, but I’m horrible at Spanish(got B’s usually) so my GPA will drop if I do.
Do you expect to do better in Chinese?
I took Chinese 1 already last year, easiest A I ever got (my grandparents are Chinese).
If that meets your education goals, then go for it. You might want to make sure it meets your graduation requirements.
Take chinese classes at a community college or university to bring it up to level 4.
Well I already meet graduation requirements since my HS only require 2 years of a foreign language which I already have. If it will really look that good then I’ll take Chinese to level 4 if needed at a CC or university.
No.
If a college recommends 3 years of a foreign language, you’ll be fine. If a college recommends 4 years of a foreign language, that means 4 years of the same language, and you will be at a disadvantage in admissions.
Highest level completed is typically given more weight when looking at your foreign language course work or other proven knowledge.
If you are a heritage speaker of Chinese (i.e. speak it with family), it may have been possible for you to start in a higher level than level 1, allowing you to eventually complete a higher level than level 2.
I had this same problem.
It depends on where you’re going to go. Most colleges require 2. Many recommend 3. Highly selective places want 4. Where do you want to go? Where have you been looking? My projected language layout was going to be Spanish in 9th and 10th grade and Chinese in 11th and 12th. I already had Chinese in 8th grade. I was in my junior year when I realized that places want to see 3 languages IN HIGH SCHOOL.
So a frustrated and annoyed me decided to arrange for Spanish III in my senior year. That’s okay because I know that I still have four years of foreign language and three years of a single one. I’m good now and I don’t regret my choice. Besides, I could always insert the Rosetta Stone disk and do it independently. The one rumor/problem that I will point out since I’m Chinese and you say your grandparents are Chinese…I heard that some adcoms do not appreciate students taking the “easy language of their heritage.”
For me, it’s different because English is my first and native language, but if your family speaks Chinese around the house, it won’t look as impressive that you got an A in the class and a 800 on the subject test. I recommend that you stick it out, take Spanish III and maybe take Chinese at a community college, if available, to give yourself that edge and that instruction.
I don’t understand why people take one language for two years and then another for another two years, and end up being fluent in neither.
@TheDidactic
Not different for you, if you mark the Asian ethnicity or have a Chinese surname. English is my first and native language, and I doubt the adcoms will care.
Many of the most competitive colleges recommend 4 years of the same foreign language. Look at the recommendations for HS classes for a few schools you are thinking about applying to.
If you reach level 4 in Chinese at the CC AND have Spanish through Level 3, you’d be good and yes it’d be considered favorably, even if you’re a heritage speaker. However, 2 years of each would NOT be good since you’d still be at the elementary level for both (equivalent to 1 semester of College Spanish and 1 semester of College Chinese… not sufficient). And taking ONLY your heritage language as a “foreign” language is indeed frowned upon - foreign language + heritage language is good though.