Which language to study?

[Spinach Dip]

Short story: I have a 3.4/40, an MS in biochem, and 0 acceptances so far this year. One thing I am going to do over the next year (if I have the time) is study a second language.

I am NOT asking which language would be most useful as a med student/resident/doctor. The answer to that is spanish.

I am ASKING which language would be most impressive to adcoms and help guarantee an acceptance. Something close to home (french, german)? Something unusual (sign language)? Something exotic (swahili, ukranian)? Or something that will see the most use (spanish!)?

What are your thoughts?

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[487806]

Short story: I have a 3.4/40, an MS in biochem, and 0 acceptances so far this year. One thing I am going to do over the next year (if I have the time) is study a second language.

I am NOT asking which language would be most useful as a med student/resident/doctor. The answer to that is spanish.

I am ASKING which language would be most impressive to adcoms and help guarantee an acceptance. Something close to home (french, german)? Something unusual (sign language)? Something exotic (swahili, ukranian)? Or something that will see the most use (spanish!)?

What are your thoughts?

It's still Spanish. Hispanics constitute a large growing fraction of the (underrepresented) patient population, so knowing Spanish is key (and a major asset in medicine). @gyngyn will help you out more on this matter

 

[plumazul]

I can tell you that for my interviews this cycle, being fluent in French impressed no one. No one asked, no one cared.

 

[fungusman]

How about you update your "How I Raised My MCAT Score by 10 Points in 2 Months: The Spinach Method" thread before you learn a new language?

 

[The Buff OP]

Dothraki

 

[Burla]

Becoming fluent in any language in one year would be impressive to me.....................................................

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Short story: I have a 3.4/40, an MS in biochem, and 0 acceptances so far this year. One thing I am going to do over the next year (if I have the time) is study a second language.

I am NOT asking which language would be most useful as a med student/resident/doctor. The answer to that is spanish.

I am ASKING which language would be most impressive to adcoms and help guarantee an acceptance. Something close to home (french, german)? Something unusual (sign language)? Something exotic (swahili, ukranian)? Or something that will see the most use (spanish!)?

What are your thoughts?

Seems like a really low-yield plan. Studying a random language for 1 year will net you beginner level proficiency that you will quickly lose by the first round of exams during MS1. I doubt that will impress anyone, especially if it is unrelated to the rest of your activities.

Why not spend the year doing some service activity like AmeriCorps?

 

[deleted407021]

Spanish would be the most useful, perhaps unless you go through the military, then German would be nice. A year probably wouldn't be enough to get proficient with a new language unless you were dropped into a small Mexican town to fend for yourself. And being fluent in a language isn't going to "guarantee and acceptance". Many people, though not enough, are bilingual.

 

[Lya]

Besides GPA, what could be some of the weaknesses you could tackle?

And same here, being fluent in one of Asian languages didn't impress anyone during my 5+ interviews. No one asked, no one cared. One of them casually asked about my basic knowledge in Spanish, but I don't think being fluent in Spanish would have helped anyway.

 

[Lucca]

Everyone basically covered the admissions side of this already. If you want to start a new language just for the fun of learning something new German is pretty cool and the ladies love French.

German is just an awesome language though, such flexibility with words.

 

[MedWonk]

Short story: I have a 3.4/40, an MS in biochem, and 0 acceptances so far this year. One thing I am going to do over the next year (if I have the time) is study a second language.

I am NOT asking which language would be most useful as a med student/resident/doctor. The answer to that is spanish.

I am ASKING which language would be most impressive to adcoms and help guarantee an acceptance. Something close to home (french, german)? Something unusual (sign language)? Something exotic (swahili, ukranian)? Or something that will see the most use (spanish!)?

What are your thoughts?

Probably none unless you reach a reasonable level of fluency where you could hold a conversation that goes beyond greetings, weather and basic human necessities. You could do this if you traveled to the target country and spend an extended period of time immersed and focused on learning that language. Could be expensive, though. My Japanese/Portuguese ability made a positive impression, but I don't think it impressed them to the point of acceptance.

 

[Lucca]

Also, consider picking up the guitar if you don't play it already. I've played for years and it is my number one way to manage stress.

Guitars are portable, the music/tablature is often free and easy to find. This is true even for classical music (which is what I play, usually, since I can't sing for crap and own a classical guitar) which is usually impossible to find for other instruments (for free).

Music is a language, basically.

 

[Gauss44]

I've been wondering something similar:

1. I enjoy traveling to the far northern areas of the world, including the Northern Territories of Canada. So, I was wondering if I were to learn one of the aboriginal languages of northern Canada, and volunteer to serve the aboriginal population up there, if that would help me get some extra money for medical school? Perhaps there's less competition for serving that area.... (Problem might be that I want to specialize and NOT do primary care. That might eliminate me as a candidate too.) EDIT - THIS #1 IS ABOUT QUALIFYING FOR A SCHOLARSHIP THAT REQUIRES A PLEDGE TO SERVE AN UNDER SERVED POPULATION UPON GRADUATING WITH AN MD.

2. I've spoken German forever as a second language and have thought about applying to a school with a sister school in Germany, so I could study abroad. I've wondered if that would impact my application in any minimal way? (I'm sure question #2 wouldn't make a huge difference. Maybe it would make a small difference.) EDIT #2 IS ABOUT TELLING AN ADCOM THAT I WOULD LIKE TO STUDY ABROAD AT THEIR SISTER SCHOOL WHILE IN MEDICAL SCHOOL.

Edits are clarifications.

 

[Lord Osis]

Klingon.

This surely will impress AdComs hard.

 

[Lya]

I've been wondering something similar:

1. I enjoy traveling to the far northern areas of the world, including the Northern Territories of Canada. So, I was wondering if I were to learn one of the aboriginal languages of northern Canada, and volunteer to serve the aboriginal population up there, if that would help me get some extra money for medical school? Perhaps there's less competition for serving that area.... (Problem might be that I want to specialize and NOT do primary care. That might eliminate me as a candidate too.)

2. I've spoken German forever as a second language and have thought about applying to a school with a sister school in Germany, so I could study abroad. I've wondered if that would impact my application in any minimal way? (I'm sure question #2 wouldn't make a huge difference. Maybe it would make a small difference.)

1. It will be an interesting learning experience. If you have an opportunity to do so for more than just a few weeks, it might be worthwhile--unless you have a major weakness like low MCAT score that you need to address.

2. It depends on what you end up doing in Germany. If it's just taking courses and relaxing, it might not be that meaningful--since you already seem to be fluent in German. If this is the case, I don't think it would impact your application much.

 

[drumstix]

Short story: I have a 3.4/40, an MS in biochem, and 0 acceptances so far this year. One thing I am going to do over the next year (if I have the time) is study a second language.

I am NOT asking which language would be most useful as a med student/resident/doctor. The answer to that is spanish.hought

I am ASKING which language would be most impressive to adcoms and help guarantee an acceptance. Something close to home (french, german)? Something unusual (sign language)? Something exotic (swahili, ukranian)? Or something that will see the most use (spanish!)?

What are your thoughts?

Didn't you get banned? I thought you were banned for some reason....

This is a silly thread. No language studied in a half assed fashion for one year will mean anything as everyone else already said. If you were a bona fide polyglot, then you'd be an asset. But a 101, 102, 103 knowledge of a language can be (and is) a bull**** unnecessary liability in some cases like in war zones lol

Spend your year in a better way. Not learning how to say "where is the bathroom?" in some obscure language and end up mispronouncing it and thereby saying, "it was very planet."

 

[knv2u]

Becoming fluent in any language in one year would be impressive to me.....................................................

If he immerses himself in it constantly, then it sounds perfectly normal and reasonable that he could accomplish this in one year. With this said, I do think that the second language is the hardest to learn in my opinion, because few native speakers thing about syntax and grammatical structures in depth. Once one has thought critically about the structure of language, then it is easier to find patterns and learning additional languages is easier (I'll assume a common or similar alphabet here and at least some similarities).

 

[Spinach Dip]

Didn't you get banned? I thought you were banned for some reason....

WTF?

This is a silly thread. No language studied in a half assed fashion for one year will mean anything as everyone else already said. If you were a bona fide polyglot, then you'd be an asset. But a 101, 102, 103 knowledge of a language can be (and is) a bullcrap unnecessary liability in some cases like in war zones lol

Spend your year in a better way. Not learning how to say "where is the bathroom?" in some obscure language and end up mispronouncing it and thereby saying, "it was very planet."

Where did I imply that I would only do this half-assedly or only take 101/2/3 at a community college somewhere? If I do this, I'm going to be 100% serious about learning as much as I can.

 

[drumstix]

WTF?




Where did I imply that I would only do this half-assedly or only take 101/2/3 at a community college somewhere? If I do this, I'm going to be 100% serious about learning as much as I can.

Muy biennnnnnn! Muito bommmmmm! Bonjiorno!!

 

[Gauss44]

My post was about things to do while in medical school or after becoming a doctor. I could tell the ADCOM or scholarship committee that I'm interested in doing that in the future. I added edits to clarify. It wasn't clear before.

1. It will be an interesting learning experience. If you have an opportunity to do so for more than just a few weeks, it might be worthwhile--unless you have a major weakness like low MCAT score that you need to address.

2. It depends on what you end up doing in Germany. If it's just taking courses and relaxing, it might not be that meaningful--since you already seem to be fluent in German. If this is the case, I don't think it would impact your application much.

 

[Spinach Dip]

Muy biennnnnnn! Muito bommmmmm! Bonjiorno!!

Besides, I'm already half-way to passing spanish101

"Donde esta el bano?"

See?

 

[knv2u]

.

 

[amad01]

Short story: I have a 3.4/40, an MS in biochem, and 0 acceptances so far this year. One thing I am going to do over the next year (if I have the time) is study a second language.

I am NOT asking which language would be most useful as a med student/resident/doctor. The answer to that is spanish.

I am ASKING which language would be most impressive to adcoms and help guarantee an acceptance. Something close to home (french, german)? Something unusual (sign language)? Something exotic (swahili, ukranian)? Or something that will see the most use (spanish!)?

What are your thoughts?

not knowing a random language didn't keep you from being accepted... although perhaps A's in spanish 1,2, and 3 at a CC would bump up the GPA ... que tengas suerte

 

[Pose]

I studied Arabic for years before applying to medical school, and it never came up during any interviews.

 

[Oso]

This is a terrible idea. Learn a language because you're interested in it, not because you think it will help 'guarantee' an acceptance. Plenty of applicants are fluent in different languages. No one will be impressed with one year of study.

If you haven't received any acceptances, I doubt it's due to a lack of a second language. Re-evaluate your application and address your weaknesses. If you feel like studying another language, then awesome, but don't expect it to do something magical for your app. Good luck.

 

[deleted407021]

Also, consider picking up the guitar if you don't play it already. I've played for years and it is my number one way to manage stress.

Guitars are portable, the music/tablature is often free and easy to find. This is true even for classical music (which is what I play, usually, since I can't sing for crap and own a classical guitar) which is usually impossible to find for other instruments (for free).

Music is a language, basically.

This. x100 Music uses parts of your mind that would otherwise not be utilized. Sometimes, it changes the way you think about things. And when you can make music with other people, it's fantastic.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Bub, adcoms were only mildly amused (maybe even mildly impressed) with my thirteen years of learning Spanish. One year of learning any language is going to get you absolutely nowhere.

 

[The Buff OP]

Brah, post an MDApps on here to see what you are working with. Furthermore, how good are your interview skills?

 

[LaurenMD]

I can tell you that for my interviews this cycle, being fluent in French impressed no one. No one asked, no one cared.

It's the luck of the draw! I had an interviewer drop into French during an interview

 

[eliteeli]

My fluency in Hebrew cam up on one interview... but I'm 99.9999% sure that didn't influence my application at all.

A better idea would prolly be to do some post-back (with sciences/math if your BCPM GPA needs a boost too) and try to get meaningful experience. ADCOMS seem to be most concerned with meaningful stuff, not BS.

Also, bear in mind that this is the US of A. TONS of people are children of immigrants or are immigrants themselves. Speaking a foreign language isn't very unique around here.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Even if adcoms would be impressed by a year of foreign language study, the fact is that learning a language just because you think it will strengthen your med school application is a recipe for burnout. A language has to be a passion. You need something to keep pushing you to study and practice every day. If you don't have that you'll never get very far.

Anyway, my recommendation would be Japanese. I really liked studying that language and would keep doing it if I weren't busy self-studying computer science. It's pretty fun learning to read and write again, you get that same euphoric feeling of "OMG THIS STUFF ISN'T GIBBERISH ANYMORE I CAN ACTUALLY READ IT OMG!" that you had as a kid when you first learned how to read the English alphabet. Also, the culture is really interesting, the language sounds cool, it's completely different from English, and it's full of funny little quirks (for example, the kanji for noise 姦 is just the kanji for woman 女 written three times over).

 

[orangeman25]

I really don't think you need to do any kind of work to improve that GPA (unless you had a downward trend going into the application cycle). That MCAT score is godly impressive and I think more than makes up for it. I'm so shocked you didn't get in this cycle. That really shouldn't be happening to a qualified applicant like you, I'm really sorry.

With that said, I'm willing to bet you are a poor interviewer. If you properly fix that skill, I bet you will get acceptances at literally any school you want.

 

[Spinach Dip]

A better idea would prolly be to do some post-back (with sciences/math if your BCPM GPA needs a boost too) and try to get meaningful experience.

*Has MS*
*Is currently interviewing for research positions*
*Is told to try a post-bacc*



I'm going to go cry in a corner now.

 

[RedPhys]

And same here, being fluent in one of Asian languages didn't impress anyone during my 5+ interviews. No one asked, no one cared.

Are you Asian? Seems like it would as uninteresting as me being fluent in Spanish (I'm Hispanic).

 

[rain4venus]

I think the most useful language will pretty much always be the one that's most helpful for getting in, but that's not necessarily spanish (although it usually is.) Some schools are located in areas that have much higher populations of people speaking some foreign language other than spanish. (like northern New England....not that there are a ton of schools there, but I bet French would be more useful at Vermont than Spanish)

OTOH, sign language seems like it would just always be useful, since deaf patients can spring up anywhere. I really want to learn some ASL, I've just been way too lazy for years and years so all I have is most of the alphabet.

 

[bakedbeans18]

Hungarian.
They have something like 42 distinct noun cases.
You teach yourself Hungarian, you might as well start writing that deposit check made payable to HMS.

 

[Hemorrage]

You know the app cycle is a game of Russian roulette when a man with a 40 doesn't have an acceptance

 

[DokterMom]

Spanish is looked upon favorably because it's so widely used and can demonstrate a commitment to service.

But I'd go with ASL because it too is widely used, but NOT as widely 'spoken' by physicians and also demonstrates a commitment to service to an under-served population. You'd also probably be able to 'get by' with a much lower level of fluency as well and would be less likely to be pop-quizzed by an AdCom member who knows the language.

 

[Stabley17]

None of them, unfortunately.

Then Latin.

 

[bakedbeans18]

You do not necessarily need to be fluent in another language in order for it to be a meaningful skill. I am by no means fluent in Spanish, but I have a pretty good handle on the language and hope to build on that foundation with medical terminology through medical school and residency. The same logic applies with regards to how your foreign language skills may be received by a medical school admissions committee. Keep in mind, knowing an additional language (and stating so on your application) is not going to be an ace in the hole necessarily - it wont guarantee you an acceptance. The only people who are ever guaranteed acceptance to medical school are those high school kids that enter the combined Bachelor's/MD programs.

For arguments sake, however, this does not mean you won't be able to use your new linguistic skills to your advantage in strengthening your application. If you can get a strong enough foundation in a given language (Spanish, Russian, Chinese, for example) you can seek out a clinical interpreter certification program, and subsequently you could use that either for employment or for a volunteer position in a hospital. I think that would make for one hell of an extracurricular, and it will demonstrate a commitment to working in a clinical setting, working with disadvantaged patient populations, as well as a commitment to lifelong learning (which is always a fun zinger admissions committees like to see on an application.)

TL;DR - The take home message is that learning a foreign language (regardless of which language) is not going to automatically command attention to a medical school application. In order to make a splash with admissions committees via a foreign language, they will be far more interested in what opportunities the new language opened up for you, how you seized them, and if your new skills were viable enough for you to call upon them practically, such as working as an interpreter or teaching ESL, etc.

 

[repititionition]

*Has MS*
*Is currently interviewing for research positions*
*Is told to try a post-bacc*

I'm going to go cry in a corner now.

You ask other pre-meds for advice but expect sophisticated/knowledgeable/practical answers?

Listen man, I don't know how many interviews you had this year, but your numbers (no, not even the not-so-terrible GPA) aren't holding you back.

Your lack of foreign language ability isn't holding you back.

But the mindset that simply learning a foreign language might get you in? That could be holding you back.

Read between the lines - the AdComs certainly do.

Go do something incredible for a year. Something that moves an institution - public, private, for-profit, or charitable - forward. Stretch yourself (e.g.don't just join a lab because they're banging out pubs). Build something that will endure beyond your tenure there. These things set you apart as a desired applicant.

ETA: I had an interviewer drop in a second language casually and without warning halfway through a language (I've lived and studied abroad and reported my level of language ability in AMCAS). I think that there is a justified and inherent suspicion of people who claim to be in the top 1/3 of the AMCAS language proficiency rankings (I forget the categories just now and don't care to go look them up), and some schools are looking to catch those that over-estimate or over-report their ability.

At the same school, I heard an interviewer come in to the shark tank (interviewee holding area) and GREET a fellow interviewee in a language I'd never heard before. It turned out to be an African tribal language. The interviewee LMK later that she'd done humanitarian work in that part of the world, indicated it on their application, and that the interviewer DID continue to feel out their proficiency.

Just a cautionary tale for those that might embellish: this stuff does happen.

 

[repititionition]

You know the app cycle is a game of Russian roulette when a man with a 40 doesn't have an acceptance

No.

A 40 without an INTERVIEW? That's Russian Roulette.

A 40 without an ACCEPTANCE? That's causal determinism.

 

[music2doc]

Spanish. Is this seriously even a question? Anything else is missing the forest for the trees.

 

[Jennyfishy]

The languages I speak came up once briefly in an interview (the student interviewer asked "do you understand a lot of spanish" in spanish, lol), but my interviewers didn't bring it up otherwise.

I think being multilingual is a great skill to pick up just because it's fun if you're willing to devote a lot of time to it. Unless you're really immersed in the language, 1 year will really only be enough to be able to get around/have native people understand the gist of what you're trying to say.

Spanish and Chinese are probably the most practical in the US (One being reasonable to learn, the other...well, even native speakers say they have trouble studying it ). You can learn an obscure language like norwegian or something for kicks I guess.

 

[Boolean]

Python!
No, seriously. If you don't know already, learn a bit of programming. It will do WONDERS for you in research and beyond.

 

[solitarius]

I'm interested in learning Russian, but I already got in.

 

[nOchemallday]

inb4 learning a second language becomes another "unspoken" pre-med requirement

^ see what I did there

 

[Willy38]

Muy biennnnnnn! Muito bommmmmm! Bonjiorno!!

Nice portuguese ! Você pode falar ?

 

[drumstix]

Nice portuguese ! Você pode falar ?

Não muito, desafortunadamente. Estudei Portuguese faz 4-5 anos e não tinha oportinidade pra practicar-lo. Vôce é brazileiro?

 

[moop]

I'd never thought I'd see the day when Spinach Dip got 0 acceptances in a cycle. The number of people you've helped immensely with your MCAT tips (myself included) should be enough philanthropy for med schools to take you.

You deserve better, bro...












...so don't dick around during your year off thinking that learning language will bump you in. That's ridiculous and you know it.