<p>Personally, I would go for the Physics. I agree with justbreathe who indicates the relative usefulness of taking math/sciences for foundation in high school as opposed to Mandarin. Showing that he has interest in sciences and is capable of performing at the highest level offered - a level that may practically be requisite depending on how competitive the schools he’s thinking about are - is also going to be much more helpful if he really does want to pursue engineering than a mere two years of Chinese will be!</p>
<p>I really do think it’s really great that your S is studying Chinese. It’s an important language and will only become more necessary in the coming years. But although his background in Latin means that it won’t look terrible on the transcript (it demonstrates passions beyond just engineering and shows that he has facility in and curiosity about languages), taking two years of Chinese in high school, as I’m sure you know, does not count for much beyond that indication of interest and certainly does not count for much more than one year in terms of college-level language ability. Is there any way he can do both - take the physics course but remain involved somehow in Chinese or Chinese culture?</p>
<p>Of course, I’m hardly qualified to speak, so take this as you will (:</p>