We’ve taken a very similar # of colleges tours (and info sessions) as you between all our kids.
This exact question came up in every single of your 28 tours? In our tours and info sessions it was not a common question, unless we asked it. Or was there a reason you were asking it specifically? In any event, we had a reason to ask it and did so in roughly 1/3 of our tours/info sessions (and looked it up in additional cases) and consistently got the opposite answer as you. We must be touring a different type of school for our experiences to be so consistently different.
I could ask you the same. Probably not worth either of us listing every one. Here’s an example:
Note: “Four years of a single foreign language” under “Choosing high school courses.” It says nothing about pre-high school or cumulative through high school or course level completed.
This issue came up with several HS/college counselors with my older kids since both contemplated skipping foreign language their senior year after completing through level 5 junior year. They were strongly encouraged to do a fourth year anyway for this reason. We’ve had discussions on this with a couple people who have worked admissions at Princeton who were specific they are looking for kids to have stuck with a foreign language throughout high school in most cases, regardless of their starting level, unless they run out of opportunities to do so.
Not sure why this is such a controversial idea. If a student finishes Calc sophomore year but their high school offers Linear, Multivariable, Discrete Math, Stats, etc., many selective colleges would prefer to see them continue to their math curriculum. Students are encouraged to take 4 years of English even if they finish an AP before senior year. Etc. It’s about continuing to challenge themselves in the core academic disciplines if they have the opportunities to do so.
Of course there are no absolutes and most colleges make that clear, which is why they are often recommendations rather than requirements. My youngest is skipping foreign language senior year to take a second science. His counselor cautioned against it but he was determined.