Effect of fluency in multiple languages to med school acceptance?

oelizas

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Hi everyone, I know that this question has been asked many times, and I've been doing some research but everything that I have found is either outdated or not exactly the answer that I am looking for.

Essentially, my goal is to stand out in the flood of applications that med schools receive every year. I am going to major in Cellular/Molecular Biology (not because I think that med schools expect it, but because it is what I'm interested in), so obviously my application is more likely to blend in among the thousands of other students with the same major. I was wondering if I also majored in Spanish, and I was able to reach the level of fluency, would this make me stand out? Or at the very least, will it allow me to compete with other applicants who may also be fluent as Spanish becomes a more commonly spoken language?

I wouldn't just be doing this for medical school, and I've read the "do whatever you like" answer plenty of times. I love the language, and being bilingual is something that has always been important to me. I do not, however, want to sacrifice my grades in the hard sciences for something that won't give me an edge. (Still, I would obviously not be relying on Spanish to get me into med school) What I'm asking is whether or not it would make a difference, or if it would make me stand out at all.

If not, what other types of interests or activities could make me appear more well rounded? I'm very interested in oncology, so I already plan on getting as much experience as I can in that field. Is it more impressive for your ECs to have a direction/focus when applying (lots of hours of shadowing, volunteering, research in a few areas), or to have fewer hours in lots of different fields?

Sorry if this seems like a lot of dumb questions, I really appreciate any help or guidance that anyone can offer. Thank you!

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actually the data on this is very clear. fluency in another language is a factor of low importance as AAMC surveys have shown see link to data in my post

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That is a great resource, thank you very much!
 
As Gonnif noted, they probably don't care much if you can speak multiple languages. What would be interesting is if you used your fluency as part of an activity. Maybe find a way to apply being bilingual in the service of others, such as translation at a clinic or for educational purposes.

In this competitive atmosphere I am sure there are a number of people that have done something similar, but I definitely feel like it stands out as a "not-so-cookie-cutter" EC. Maybe you can find an even more creative use for your fluency, knowing multiple languages is only a positive.
 
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It is definitely as plus, but the reality is, many applicants know at least one foreign language (either took classes or spoke at home).
Especially in CA, all pre-meds around me speak at least one foreign language, and many of them have some experience to demonstrate that (medical interpreter, foreign mission trip, etc).
 
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May not be useful for getting into med school, but it will be useful in med school.

Even as a current M2 it has definitely been useful already. There's the obvious benefit to your future patients, which is important. But it will help you stand out as a student as well. My school's hospital/free clinic has a lot of Spanish-speaking patients, and it is a pretty sweet spot to be in when you are the one student who can take a history without waiting for a translator to show up or even translate for the attending on the fly. The clerkship coordinator for my top choice specialty already knows me by name and (I think/hope) likes me because I translated for her at our student run free clinic on a tough case. This connection started some other conversations with her about opportunities for me in that specialty in my next couple years that will def come in handy.
That's amazing, did you major/minor in Spanish and study abroad or did you grow up learning it? I'm curious to see if I could get to the point of 100% fluency just from the major and a semester abroad. I'm just finishing my third year of Spanish in high school now (I'm a junior) so I know most of the grammar, but I think that studying in Spain would really help me to achieve fluency with daily practice.
 
It is definitely as plus, but the reality is, many applicants know at least one foreign language (either took classes or spoke at home).
Especially in CA, all pre-meds around me speak at least one foreign language, and many of them have some experience to demonstrate that (medical interpreter, foreign mission trip, etc).
Would volunteering in medical setting while studying abroad in Spain or Mexico count as the demonstration of a foreign language?
 
That's amazing, did you major/minor in Spanish and study abroad or did you grow up learning it? I'm curious to see if I could get to the point of 100% fluency just from the major and a semester abroad. I'm just finishing my third year of Spanish in high school now (I'm a junior) so I know most of the grammar, but I think that studying in Spain would really help me to achieve fluency with daily practice.

Study in Mexico, Central America or South America rather than Spain. The accent is different and you end up with the Spanish language equivalent of sounding like you are from London. The more opportunities for immersion, the better. You want to get to the point where you are dreaming in Spanish.
 
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Would volunteering in medical setting while studying abroad in Spain or Mexico count as the demonstration of a foreign language?
Yes. Using your learned Spanish to help patients is a perfect example of taking what you have learned into your potential career. That's awesome!
 
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Study in Mexico, Central America or South America rather than Spain. The accent is different and you end up with the Spanish language equivalent of sounding like you are from London. The more opportunities for immersion, the better. You want to get to the point where you are dreaming in Spanish.
The dreaming might be a tall order. I was under the impression you needed to be completely bilingual to dream in both languages.
 
I'm not a native speaker and didn't have a major/minor or study abroad. Took 4 years of classes in high school, 1 year in college, and have been doing independent study medical Spanish in med school with a paid online program and working one-on-one with a professor who is a native speaker. My undergrad also had courses with spring break immersion trips, so I went to Central America a few times during college.

I've also been super lucky to have many opportunities throughout high school, college, and med school to work with native Spanish speakers in my own community in multiple healthcare settings and have supervisors/coworkers who were willing to help me practice and improve my skills and vocab. Also get a decent amount of practice with a few of my good friends who are native speakers. Altogether this has gotten me maybe 75% fluent in a casual conversation and probably 90% in a medical setting where I'm discussing things with patients in simple terms.

I'd highly recommend any experience where you're practicing regularly with native speakers, whether it's studying abroad or even just weekly volunteering in a Spanish-speaking community. That's what made the biggest difference in my skills.

That's amazing!! The best method to retain your Spanish is continuous practice with native speakers. Even better at a medical setting!
 
Negligible for your your med school application. Probably a bigger deal to residencies, which will actually want/need your language skills. Spanish is always a good thing to have. More specialized languages like Polish in Chicago, Bosnian in St. Louis, Arabic in Detroit would really make you stand out. I know my program would have recruited hard for an applicant with fluency in Polish.
 
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From a cynical perspective, I feel like most people I have met who aren't Hispanic overstate their Spanish fluency on their resumes. I think that is why participating in activities that demand language skill is the only way to demonstrate fluency.
 
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I'm finishing my third year of Spanish this year in high school. In public schools, I think that the next step would be Spanish IV, but I was recommended for my school's accelerated program that skips straight to Spanish V (probably the equivalent of AP Spanish). I was actually thinking about taking Latin instead, just because it's another language that I'm interested in and now would be the time to try it out. I'm realizing now that this might not look too good on my undergraduate application, one year of high school Latin will probably not help me a lot, and it will be a setback since my goal is to improve my Spanish as quickly as possible. I'm currently registered to take Latin, but it's really not too difficult to go in and change my schedule for next year. If my ultimate goal is to apply Spanish to volunteer work, would it be better to take Spanish V next year or does one year at the high school level really not make a difference?
 
I'm finishing my third year of Spanish this year in high school. In public schools, I think that the next step would be Spanish IV, but I was recommended for my school's accelerated program that skips straight to Spanish V (probably the equivalent of AP Spanish). I was actually thinking about taking Latin instead, just because it's another language that I'm interested in and now would be the time to try it out. I'm realizing now that this might not look too good on my undergraduate application, one year of high school Latin will probably not help me a lot, and it will be a setback since my goal is to improve my Spanish as quickly as possible. I'm currently registered to take Latin, but it's really not too difficult to go in and change my schedule for next year. If my ultimate goal is to apply Spanish to volunteer work, would it be better to take Spanish V next year or does one year at the high school level really not make a difference?
Studying Latin for one year is not a great choice. The reasons you study Latin are different from the reasons you study modern languages. In modern languages, you just want to pick up as much as you can so you can use it to actually talk to people; picking up the basics in a year lets you start using it right away, and then additional years of study just make you more competent. The reason you study Latin is to study the Classics (or maybe theology), which are extremely difficult to read and require years of study to even make any sense of, much less appreciate for their cultural value. You will not get even close to that taking a year of HS Latin, which is a fascinating language that introduces a lot of foundational linguistics concepts and rhetorical flair but is quite hard to learn.
 
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Studying Latin for one year is not a great choice. The reasons you study Latin are different from the reasons you study modern languages. In modern languages, you just want to pick up as much as you can so you can use it to actually talk to people; picking up the basics in a year lets you start using it right away, and then additional years of study just make you more competent. The reason you study Latin is to study the Classics (or maybe theology), which are extremely difficult to read and require years of study to even make any sense of, much less appreciate for their cultural value. You will not get even close to that taking a year of HS Latin, which is a fascinating language that introduces a lot of foundational linguistics concepts and rhetorical flair but is quite hard to learn.

I read this while I was in homeroom, and I went straight to my guidance councilor to switch to Spanish right after. I'm definitely going to stick with Spanish, it's more practical and applicable for what I plan on doing. Thank you very much for your response!
 
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