Does being trilingual help?

[bblbjj12345]

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I am a US/Brazilian dual citizen - was born in the US but grew up in Brazil.

I speak English, Portuguese and Spanish fluently. How much will the language skills help me?

Thanks!

 

[gyngyn]

Spanish is very useful in many areas. If you have used it to help others, it can be seen as an important aspect of an application.
It won't compensate for deficiencies, though.

 

[Catalystik]

I am a US/Brazilian dual citizen - was born in the US but grew up in Brazil.

I speak English, Portuguese and Spanish fluently. How much will the language skills help me?

Thanks!

Demonstrate your Spanish proficiency by using it in a work or volunteer situation.

 

[Jaigantic]

Demonstrate your Spanish proficiency by using it in a work or volunteer situation.

How significant is something like this? I also speak spanish and began volunteering in spanish speaking environments through several organizations ~4 months before I submitted my app. Given that this is not a huge chunk of time I was just wondering how beneficial it would be.

 

[Catalystik]

How significant is something like this? I also speak spanish and began volunteering in spanish speaking environments through several organizations ~4 months before I submitted my app. Given that this is not a huge chunk of time I was just wondering how beneficial it would be.

I can't quantify the impact, but I've seen demonstrated (non-native) Spanish fluency (seemingly) get candidates into schools where their stats would not have suggested they had much chance when the rest of their ECs were pretty standard. Of course, this is anecdotal, and your mileage may vary. I've observed the same to be true for the residency match, too.

 

[tbonez71]

How significant is something like this? I also speak spanish and began volunteering in spanish speaking environments through several organizations ~4 months before I submitted my app. Given that this is not a huge chunk of time I was just wondering how beneficial it would be.

I also started doing similar volunteer work about 6 months before app submission. It has come up in a few interviews, so they definitely noticed it. Of course I don't know how much consideration it got compared to the rest of my app, but these schools were in more diverse areas with Spanish speaking populations.