If you have negative feelings about CB now, wait until you fork out all of the $$ for sending test scores, them not delivering them by the time they are supposed, paying for rush fees, and them still having delivery issues…
how on earth did one company end up playing such a significant role in college admissions?
TOP: D will take AP Mandarin next year as I mentioned earlier. Does it make sense to take SAT II Mandarin? I never thought about it until @payn4ward sent those links. Not sure which is more evaluative? (I think I made that word up. We can use it in our CCC ad)
Told my S about language conversation on here. He intends on being a cunning Linguist.
@BigPapiofthree I was waiting for that.
I think I may have mentioned this earlier…or perhaps it was IRL…but your child may want to take a language subject test AFTER deciding which school he will be attending, if that school has a FL requirement.
A friend’s son will be taking the Spanish Subject test this weekend, at the end of his sophomore year of college, so as to place out of his school’s FL requirement.
Obviously better to take the test while still enrolled in the course in HS. So just file that away for next spring…along with all the other college details cluttering our minds.
@itsgettingreal17 Thank you so much for your post. I feel like you asked the question I have for my son since he wants to double in Accounting and Russian. Do many people ask you why those 2 together? My son is getting tired of answering that over and over. He doesn’t say it but it’s written on his face.
Does he want to work for Bratva!?! (kidding, hopefully)
I tried to read on my phone today on break, but I don’t think I kept up very well. 11 hours of school is very tiring, but I did get a 100 on my first comp sci test.
I can order coffee, say please and thank you, I’m sorry, and excuse me in 4 languages, but that’s about it. None of the family is gifted in music or foreign languages at all.
I need to go upstairs and ask D17 if she’s studying. I may text her instead-those stairs look so tall, and I’m so pooped. Thank god it’s only one month of this.
I don’t have anyone on CC on ignore, but I recognize that CC would be ruined for some people if they couldn’t ignore people by making them invisible. I tend to skim the nincompoops, but I like to have the discourse be as unfiltered as the mods will let it.
@2muchquan, if your D is thinking about taking SAT subject test in Chinese, you might suggest that she takes a practice test and see what score she gets. My understanding is that SAT subject test in Chinese (as well as in Korean) have notoriously difficult curve. Apparently, many native speakers, incorrectly think an 800 in their native language will look good for them, take the test and drive up the curve.
The term “curve” is used incorrectly in this context. If one gets between 0 and X incorrect, one still gets an 800. However, the percentiles for an 800 are quite low; an 800 in Chinese is 64th percentile and an 800 in Korean is 60th percentile.
Yes. @skieurope stated it correctly.
For those following the entire concordance issue, Art at Compass Prep has reviewed the tables and has stated that he will not be changing his predictions bc real world data he and others have has not changed.
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/
Here’s to hoping he is right. (Fwiw, he said CB is releasing the tables June 3.)
@CT1417 that is interesting. In looking at admissions criteria what I have seen is that kids can place out of FL by a school administered test or in some cases a score of 4+ on a FL AP. None have said that it is the SAT FL test that is used. It would be nice to know if that is the case as kids could try it to see and just have if needed. Hmmmmm
How many years of a foreign language would a kid need to have at end of sophomore year of high school to get a score sufficiently high to test out of foreign language in college? All the kids I know who take a language AP class do so after senior year of high school.
@eandesmom – this was at BC. I recall Lehigh saying that they used subject test scores for placement purposes, but do not know if Lehigh even has a FL requirement.
I just mentioned as it would be something to consider for spring of Sr year, when the student will hopefully know where he will be going, and then be able to take the subject test if his college recognizes it.
When my son16 interviewed it was mostly the younger interviewers that asked about what other schools he was applying to and it seemed to be a way they figured out what he was about. So if you are interviewing at MIT as an engineering major and talking about other schools that are totally different and don’t even offer engineering it can tell a story. My son’s top choices made sense and he was fine with answering that question. The bigger issue was that most of the Ivy interviews were after he got EA acceptances so they were asking where he got in and then basically telling him why those schools were as good or better than theirs for what he wanted 
He wanted them to sell him on their schools and instead they were more like why bother you already have great choices.
@saillakeerie — the student has finished his sophomore year of COLLEGE and is taking the subject test this Saturday in the hopes of placing out of his college’s FL requirement. I do not recall the specifics but apparently the cutoff score is not terribly high.
I mentioned this here so that our children can consider this next spring once they know which college they will be attending and can decide to take subject test then, if needed, for FL exemption.
It is interesting, most of the schools we are looking at that allow for placing out of FL are looking for a test passing score that indicates 3 years of FL proficiency level, whatever that means. None indicate it as being a SAT subject test. For kids who take only 3 years, that might well be ending…now so spring of Sr year would not have it be all that fresh in their mind. A test that shows a 3yr HS level doesn’t seem to match up with the AP score of 4 or 5 given that the AP class would not be taken until years 4/5 of the language in HS.
A lot of schools have their foreign language subject test info on their websites. Some give credit. Some waive FL requirements. Depends.
http://www.baylor.edu/irt/index.php?id=74597
http://admissions.tufts.edu/apply/first-year-students/pre-matriculation-credits/
http://learningsciences.utexas.edu/studenttesting/sat-subject-test-latin
FWIW, most universities’ language centers will give a placement exam that serves the same purpose.
^^ right. It was implied on all our schools sites that it was their own placement exam.
Here’s Lehigh: http://catalog.lehigh.edu/informationofgeneralinterest/advancedplacement/
I saw Chem and FL subject test scores at a glance.
Boston College: http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/romlang/undergradprog/placement.html
I am not sure why I started this as I know nothing about FL requirements for any of the schools my current applicant is considering, but just wanted to pass the info along that I recently heard from a class of 2014 parent.