<p>I am white, have been learning Chinese since third grade in school, and went on a Chinese exchange program. I was wondering how many people out there have similar stories to this and if this will make me stand out to colleges and help me get into schools that are more of a reach currently. I'm not sure how many people learn Chinese in high school so I don't know how unique it makes me.</p>
<p>It’s not unique and will actually harm your chances at getting into college.</p>
<p>really? c’mon man</p>
<p>i meet a young Caucasian teen last year, he conversed like a native from china, that was his hook got accepted to an Ivy.</p>
<p>So, if you want to learn Chinese, don’t be just book smart, make sure you are imerse in it</p>
<p>I’d say unless you’re planning on doing something with Chinese in college (major, minor, internships etc) and you can show through ‘passion’ and prove that it’s something you’d want to study/explore/use in real life, then having one student who speaks another language isn’t really going to help the university. So, of course it won’t hurt you, but I’d say it’s just something interesting.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it just be considered as a foreign language? How would it be different from all other students learning French, German, Spanish, etc?</p>
<p>I know it would still be considered a foreign language, but at least in my grade only 18 people (out of 315) take Chinese so I wanted to know if colleges looked at that as unique compared to the other people taking Spanish, French, etc.</p>
<p>A friend of mine, SanjayPatel on College Confidential, runs various programs entirely in Spanish, for Spanish-speaking kids. He has given TED talks in Madrid to the native population in Spanish. He even sings in Spanish. But he’s Indian and learned Spanish by himself. You know Chinese now, but what have you done with it? If you have proof of your passion, by using Chinese to engage in a program or activity, then you’ll get in.</p>