am i in trouble?

[surjski]

I have already submitted my AMCAS.... I checked german as a secondary language after taking several years in high school, having german family, etc.... I didn't realize that they wanted languages you were absolutely fluent in and although I can converse, I'd call it "getting by" and definitely not fluent. Problem is I've been reading horror stories on this site about them interviewing you in the secondary language and then rejecting when they find out you "lied" (even though i'd hardly call mine a lie.... more of an innocent mistake). has anyone been in this predicament and just been able to explain themselves to the adcom? is it worth calling amcas or the schools individually to clarify? thanks for your input!!!

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[wetlightning]

I have already submitted my AMCAS.... I checked german as a secondary language after taking several years in high school, having german family, etc.... I didn't realize that they wanted languages you were absolutely fluent in and although I can converse, I'd call it "getting by" and definitely not fluent. Problem is I've been reading horror stories on this site about them interviewing you in the secondary language and then rejecting when they find out you "lied" (even though i'd hardly call mine a lie.... more of an innocent mistake). has anyone been in this predicament and just been able to explain themselves to the adcom? is it worth calling amcas or the schools individually to clarify? thanks for your input!!!

hey, i checked the german box as well, and i am far from fluent. if you're really stressed about it, worry about it when you get interview invites. but honestly, if you can converse basically, i think you should be fine. the boxes did not say "total fluency"...i would think you should be alright.

 

[anomic]

I don't think that this will be too much of a problem. If they bring it up during the interview, just be honest. It is still impressive that you took a foreign language for that many years and you still must know something about it. I woudln't worry about it.

 

[nlyoung]

I did the same thing with Italian... I doubt anyone will interview you in the foreign language you choose, though. At least, I hope not. I can carry on conversations, but not medical ones!

 

[LJDHC05]

I have already submitted my AMCAS.... I checked german as a secondary language after taking several years in high school, having german family, etc.... I didn't realize that they wanted languages you were absolutely fluent in and although I can converse, I'd call it "getting by" and definitely not fluent. Problem is I've been reading horror stories on this site about them interviewing you in the secondary language and then rejecting when they find out you "lied" (even though i'd hardly call mine a lie.... more of an innocent mistake). has anyone been in this predicament and just been able to explain themselves to the adcom? is it worth calling amcas or the schools individually to clarify? thanks for your input!!!

I did the same thing for spanish, though my family isnt spanish. I was what i'd call "proficient" enough to scrape by for a week in Spain after about 8 years of studying. I never got called on it in interviews (I was a MD/PhD applicant), but I could definitely hold my own at that point. I didnt do the same thing this time, mostly because I havent spoken a lick of spanish in about 18 months and have forgotten so much grammar. just clarify the situation and you'll be fine

 

[surjski]

Thanks for the input guys!! I was just freaking out after I was browsing through the sight, reading the the thread about people who lie, and then found out I wasn't supposed to check a language unless I'm fluent.... hopefully, if I'm called out on it, the adcoms will be cool with the fact that nowone's perfect

 

[wowzer]

I checked the "gujarati" (hell yea i'm guju!!" However, I'm weird in that I can understand Gujarati perfectly, as well as write and read, but I can only speak short phrases. I don't recall AMCAS asking what you were fluent/conversational on, so i inferred it to be what language you have been around the most or grown up in.

 

[SNR02]

Hmm...this thread has made me even more nervous. I checked that I knew 3 other languages. I know English and telugu (my native language) absolutely fluently...but the other two are not as good (French and Hindi). I can totally understand people if they speak to me in those languages and can keep a conversation going for atleast an hour in french...but not for more than a few minutes without having to pause a lot in Hindi. I also cannot read or write well in hindi. What do you guys think? Did I do something wrong?

 

[surjski]

Do you think there's a chance amcas will correct things if you contact them directly, even if my application has already been verified?

 

[wetlightning]

no, they will not....

they told me that already about something else.

you'd have to directly notify schools.

honestly, surjski, you should be fine about your lang.