I would suggest you
1° register for the next Chinese subject test
2° look right now for a foreign language class you can take in the Spring, looking at articulation for a summer class then a level 3 class either at the HS or at the CC level.
In addition, because your GC apparently didn’t know foreign language is a core class that’s necessary for very selective 4-year colleges, here’s the list of what “core” classes are for that tier of colleges:
4 years each of English and history/social science (if possible, AP English Langage and one AP social science/history)
bio, chem, physics, + 1 of these at the AP level (if possible, 2 AP science classes)
Math through calculus (honors, AB, or BC)
In addition to foreign language, UC’s will also require you to have taken one year of art or music. It can also be useful for other selective colleges.
Once you have all the core classes with A’s/mostly A’s, the next step will be your EC’s.
I am considering applying to UC’s but my goals are MIT, Caltech, Princeton, etc. I will also be applying to some relatively less selective colleges such as Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.
I am from Tennessee.
For those of you asking about why foreign language isn’t a requirement at my school, it actually is (as I stated in my original post). Kids at school are required to take a foreign language for at least 2 semesters, however, you may test out of it!!! I know several other excellent kids (perfect GPA, perfect test scores, maxed out APs, and plenty of EC’s) who are also bilingual and tested out of their foreign language requirement. They also took the AP test for their language and got a 5. We had all lived in a foreign country for several years of our lives.
My question is if waiving my foreign language might hurt me, even if I score a 5 on my AP Chinese exam. I didn’t really realize the significance of taking foreign language courses before, so I thought waiving the requirement wouldn’t make a difference. Several of my bilingual friends and I thought that a waive on our transcripts plus a good SAT subject or AP score would be more than enough to compensate for the language courses.
Please take the time and energy to construct a well thought out application list that includes not only reach schools but match and safety schools that appear affordable (run net price calculators) as well. There are tons of fantastic options out there if you take the time to find them.
Take the AP exam but try to study another language, preferably through the accelerated paths suggested on this thread. At this level of competition, yes it’s likely to hurt you because you took the easy way out and didn’t learn something to could have learned. It may not impact your results (or if t does you’ll never know) but you’d be missing a core class these colleges expect so IMHO better safe than sorry.
Do you know your EFC? Can your parents afford it? Talk about what they can afford. Then look for safeties they can afford and that you actually like. I assume you’ll apply to UTK + Honors but you need at least one more college, perhaps a better fit (go visit Rhodes?)