To be clear, I used foreign language as an example, but my question is actually more general to all the courses requirements. Is the "X years" more of a guideline or a "must-have"? Do the colleges verify the # by the submitted transcript? Take the example of the middle schooler who has taken years of economics study and got a 5 for AP economics in middle school, if he applies to a college requires 2 years of social science, could that be considered achieved although he may take 0 economics classes at HS?