I am currently taking Chinese I as a freshman in HS and am having a very hard time. I would like to take French next year, but I was wondering whether taking 1 year of Chinese and 3 years of French would hurt college admission chances.
Most schools are only looking for three years of language (or less) so for the most part you should be OK.
Did you take any foreign language in middle school?
if so , what language? Can you continue that? Ofthen you would then start in French 2 or Spanish 2 in HS and then could get to the 4th level which is what colleges want.
While true, the OP, as a freshman, is emailing questions to colleges like Princeton and Stanford.
Some of these top schools recommend 4 years of the same language. That said, given an option of having poor grades in Chinese versus better grades in French, then the latter is preferable. As the OP progresses further in HS, takes the SAT/ACT and determines whether or not these top colleges are still an option, s/he can, at that time, look for ways to accelerate in order to achieve level 4. Even then, it’s probably not going to make or break an application. But it’s too early to think about now.
I think that there is a limit to the extent to which any student should let university admissions dictate their life in high school. If you take 4 years of Chinese in high school, then the very highest ranked schools are still a high reach. With 3 years of French and good grades and test scores, there will be many very good universities that you can choose between.
You should take the language that you want to take, participate in the activities that you want to participate in, keep ahead in classes, and attend a university that appreciates what you have done. Bonne chance.
@DadTwoGirls Wel spoken; thank you!
I took Latin in middle school, but that is not offered at my high school. @bopper