Four Years of a Foreign Language?

[helpwithib]

I took Spanish 1 in 7th grade, Spanish 2 in 8th, Spanish 3 in 9th, and Spanish 4 in 10th. Would it look better to colleges if I continued on to DP Spanish HL or took IB/DP ab initio Chinese? I am entering 11th grade so I am subject to only take Chinese for 2 years. I'm asking about elite, highly selective colleges. Because I've fulfilled the requirement of 4 years of a language, I question whether colleges would want trilingualism or "advanced" fluency in 2 languages.

[khimberleigh]

Firstly, it only matters if you plan on studying languages at university otherwise it really doesn't matter how many languages you can speak.

Secondly, If you are planning on studying Spanish at university or another European language then take Spanish, if you are planning on studying Chinese or another Asian language then take Chinese.

Lastly, pick whichever subject you think you can get a better score at. Universities would prefer that you were bilingual and received a 6/7 in your subjects than if you were trilingual but only received a 3/4/5.

[Sceptyczka]

From what I have heard highly selective colleges tend to look down on Ab Initio languages. It takes more determination, in my opinion, to achieve a high level of fluency in one language than to speak two languages decently so I suggest you to continue with Spanish. Unless you are actually sure that you will achieve a higher grade if you choose Chinese Ab Initio (because, for example, you aren't that good at Spanish). If you are sure that choosing Chinese will provide you a better grade, choose Chinese. Otherwise I think that choosing Spanish B HL might be a better option.

It's really up to you, though. Languages don't matter that much if you want to major in something totally different. What are your other HLs? And what do you want to study at the university?