I can share our local experience- when I was in public school, most kids applying to top colleges had 7 years of foreign language if they continued taking classes each year. Most did well on AP exams and such; I was placed at the seminar level my first year of college (and eventually majored in it).
My kids' school starts their language program a bit later; just this year they moved it to begin in 7th grade (was previously 8th grade). This is still starting later than the neighboring top public and private schools, who begin in 6th or elementary. We have also had some problems with keeping German in the curriculum; at the moment it has been "saved" but has been on the chopping block for two years due to declining interest/enrollment in the classes. We haven't reached end-of-high school phase yet, but it is my impression that most kids (applying to top colleges) continue on and have several years of foreign language when they graduate, though I may be wrong about this. So far, that is our plan.
