CC has long argued whether FL level 3 is sufficient when one started in middle school. My experience is the more competitive colleges are looking at the hs transcript.
Again, if they see 2 hs years then a stop, they want to see a reason that makes sense to them. Again, addl higher level stem rigor is a more acceptable reason for a stem kid than a humanities kid stopping. (Schedule conflicts can occur.)
You don’t want an adcom stopping mid review to ponder, go back to figure out. It’s CYA (cover your ***) to keep up with foreign language. Online, summer, or senior year can be fine.
Anecdotes aren’t necessarily informative.