Do I need to take spanish/foreign languages for med school

amd123

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I'm currently taking Spanish in High School, but I'm taught to read and write the language and not to actually speak it.

Are foreign languages necessary? What are recommended ones?
My native tounge is Urdu/Arabic. I taught myself english so I'm guessing Spanish should be easy too.

I'm interested in learning Japanese. Will it be able to help me or not?

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Nope, it's not required as far as pre-requisite courses to get into medical school.

The typical classes needed for med school are:

1 year of General (Intro) Chemistry
1 year of Organic Chemistry
1 year of Biology
1 year of Physics
1 year of college English

All schools require those courses, and a couple require a semester to a year of math (can require calculus but not always) and even fewer require other courses like psychology.

However, taking a language in college is never looked down upon, especially if you can become conversational in it. If you are interested in Spanish, then take it in college. But don't do it only for admissions. Take it because you are interested in it. It will help show you're well-rounded and not just a science bookworm.
 
I'm currently taking Spanish in High School, but I'm taught to read and write the language and not to actually speak it.

Are foreign languages necessary? What are recommended ones?
My native tounge is Urdu/Arabic. I taught myself english so I'm guessing Spanish should be easy too.

I'm interested in learning Japanese. Will it be able to help me or not?
Well, they're not pre-reqs but imagine a guy knowing 3 languages vs. a guy that only speaks 1. They both are applying to med-school and both of them have the same level of achievement except one of them speaks more languages than the other--I am pretty sure which ever med-school they are applying to, the one who speaks more languages will be the strongest candidate. As far as learning languages like Japenese or other languages that are not that common in the U.S.--you probably won't need them--try to learn the languages that are most commonly spoken in the U.S. or at least in your state. Overall, speaking multiple languages is a plus.
 
Well, they're not pre-reqs but imagine a guy knowing 3 languages vs. a guy that only speaks 1. They both are applying to med-school and both of them have the same level of achievement except one of them speaks more languages than the other--I am pretty sure which ever med-school they are applying to, the one who speaks more languages will be the strongest candidate. As far as learning languages like Japenese or other languages that are not that common in the U.S.--you probably won't need them--try to learn the languages that are most commonly spoken in the U.S. or at least in your state. Overall, speaking multiple languages is a plus.

Hmmm well as someone who speaks 3 languages, I don't think it has helped me too much as far as getting in. It never really came up in conversation, although I believe there was a field for it on AMCAS. Anyway, languages don't hurt in general, and they're certainly useful if you're planning on going to med school in an area that has a lot of international patients. Like, going to Columbia med and not speaking Spanish will probably limit your ability to talk to the vast majority of patients. Other than situations like that (where you're going to med school in a predominantly x-speaking area and you're fluent in x) however I don't think it makes too much of a difference. Just an "oh cool" when someone is reading your app.

BUT, you shouldn't do everything just to get into med school, so by all means, keep up with whatever language you want, enjoy it, and try to go abroad cause it's fun :D
 
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