@SculptorDad : Yes, sat 2 in heritage language (indicated on common app as 'spoken at home ’ vs… Understand/speak I think) + level 4 or AP in a real foreign language is the "ideal " combination for a highly selective school. (sat2 in heritage language is fine for very selective but not highly selective schools.)
Anything above that is extremely rare (among us educated students) - such as students accelerating in two foreign languages.
@annamom : this is an example as the issue is most common for juniors who took foreign language in middle or elementary school and/or language camp.
Typically, completion of level 4/ap junior year is common. At top 50/60 universities it’s a no brainer, students can use the period to orient senior year choices toward more stem, more humanities, art, etc. (but if you email one of these 150 or so that I know about, and they say they no longer consider level reached, but number of actual years regardless of Carnegie units achieved, please post here as a public service announcement.)
Completion of AP foreign language in 9th grade may indicate a heritage language or immersion so it’s trickier, ou’d have to give the exact situation to the college.
Completion of level 3 is not competitive for highly selective colleges but can be sufficient, depending on major, for state flagships or colleges ranked 50+.
Completing FL level 4 is important, but completing FL AP is up to the student (in the same way a student may or may not have calculus, or may orient his/her senior year differently than the standard formula of 5 core courses in each of the academic fields.)
Please note that 'minimal ’ is different from ‘competitive’.