Premed- Foreign Language?

[zoeblogrow]

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Hey guys,

I'm gonna be an undergrad freshman next year, and was wondering how Med schools view foreign languages?

I am interested in taking Latin, but it's not very practical(heh cuz nobody speaks it...) So would Med schools still give any weight to this?

and does taking Spanish really give a big advantage in med school admissions? I'm asking this because Duke supposedly recommends at least 1 semester of Spanish.

Thanks

 

[TCIrish03]

Hey guys,

I'm gonna be an undergrad freshman next year, and was wondering how Med schools view foreign languages?

I am interested in taking Latin, but it's not very practical(heh cuz nobody speaks it...) So would Med schools still give any weight to this?

and does taking Spanish really give a big advantage in med school admissions? I'm asking this because Duke supposedly recommends at least 1 semester of Spanish.

Thanks

I would recommend mastering your studies of English first.

 

[FlowLimited]

Speaking a foreign language may get you some points IF YOU ARE FLUENT. The typical student who takes a few years of a language in high school and college is most likely not at a proficiency level that is impressive to med schools.

 

[silverlining1]

Hey guys,

I'm gonna be an undergrad freshman next year, and was wondering how Med schools view foreign languages?

I am interested in taking Latin, but it's not very practical(heh cuz nobody speaks it...) So would Med schools still give any weight to this?

and does taking Spanish really give a big advantage in med school admissions? I'm asking this because Duke supposedly recommends at least 1 semester of Spanish.

Thanks

I'm not sure how much of an advantage Spanish gives you, but I know that UCLA "highly recommends" 1 year of college Spanish. In addition, in the MSAR, UCLA's Selection Factors section:

We look for... service to their communities and to those who are underprivileged and disadvantaged, are culturally aware and are able to speak a second language, especially Spanish.

It seems that UCLA gives some sort of advantage to those who have learned Spanish, but I haven't found such a clear indication at other med schools. I think you will still have a broad range of schools to apply to regardless of what language you take.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey guys,

I'm gonna be an undergrad freshman next year, and was wondering how Med schools view foreign languages?

I am interested in taking Latin, but it's not very practical(heh cuz nobody speaks it...) So would Med schools still give any weight to this?

and does taking Spanish really give a big advantage in med school admissions? I'm asking this because Duke supposedly recommends at least 1 semester of Spanish.

Thanks

Med schools don't really care what you major in. Honestly. Your odds would be about the same whether you majored in Latin, bio, spanish or whatever. Spanish will be more useful in your career than other languages, so if you want a practical premed education this is the way to go. But I wouldn't count on it making the difference in admissions.

 

[Boreas]

I don't see the Spanish being a major factor in your application. It is only recommended, not required, and only 1 semester, which is most likely not enough to achieve fluency. Latin can be useful, some people think it makes learning the names of diseases easier, etc. Take whatever language you feel most comfortable with.

 

[TCIrish03]

Med schools don't really care what you major in. Honestly. Your odds would be about the same whether you majored in Latin, bio, spanish or whatever. Spanish will be more useful in your career than other languages, so if you want a practical premed education this is the way to go. But I wouldn't count on it making the difference in admissions.

All things being equal though, could it be a possible tie-breaker in Texas, Cali, AZ, etc?

 

[Law2Doc]

All things being equal though, could it be a possible tie-breaker in Texas, Cali, AZ, etc?

Perhaps. But I'd rather have one or two more points on the MCAT in a tie breaker situation. 😀

 

[zoeblogrow]

So TCIrish, are you saying that I should finish the english/writing requirements first before taking foreign language classes?

 

[CurlyQSue]

I was wondering the same thing about taking Spanish for CA med schools. I got credit for AP Spanish, so I passed out of the foreign language reqt at my university. I wanted to take a refresher course this summer, but it was cancelled at the last minute and now I am kinda screwed. Any advice on how necessary it is to take Spanish for CA med schools?

 

[TCIrish03]

So TCIrish, are you saying that I should finish the english/writing requirements first before taking foreign language classes?

No. Sorry, it was my smart-a$$ed way of criticizing "gonna" and "cuz"...all the shorthand "AOL chatspeak" stuff that annoys me, and has surprisingly crept into correspondence from students to professors. A tip: don't ever send an email to a professor that reads like a text message. I apologize if I am patronizing, but you would be surprised how often students do this.

To seriously answer your question, Spanish would have a benefit if you plan on studying and practicing in the south and west. Latin would help with roots and vocab, as well as if you wanted to broaden your interests beyond hard science (reading Virgil or Cicero in the original text is pretty cool). Aside from that, pick any language you are interested in. Any urban hospital will have at least a dozen languages you could never hope to learn.

 

[TCIrish03]

Perhaps. But I'd rather have one or two more points on the MCAT in a tie breaker situation. 😀

Hence, all things being equal 😉

 

[maestro1625]

just curious... why the hell would you take latin?

 

[zoeblogrow]

Heh maestro. I think Latin's kind of cool. Has anyone taken Latin in college? What is the relative level of difficulty?

 

[Jew Alcindor]

I'm taking it. It's a lot of memorization and repetition, basically. It's not even immersion (the Prof doesn't speak to you in Latin), so it shouldn't be that hard, but they seem to kind-of make it hard. From what I've seen, people either get Cs or As. Honestly, you could probably teach yourself a lot of the basics; just learning how to decline and conjugate would be a big leg-up.

On a different note, would it be worth it for somebody to take Spanish in summer school or something? Even if it didn't make a difference in admissions, it might be kinda helpful?

 

[DropkickMurphy]

So TCIrish, are you saying that I should finish the english/writing requirements first before taking foreign language classes?

Swing and a miss.......

 

[ufgrad00]

I don't know what your school's foreign language requirement is to move up in a class like spanish, but at my ugrad you had to take the SAT II to place in a class. I was born in the US and both of my parents are Cuban so as a child I had some minor background in spanish but I was very far from being proficient. Anyways, I took spanish 1 and got an A, but I am not gifted with languages so I really had to study; however, everybody had to take the SAT II to see what Spanish 2 class you would be placed in, anyways with my sub-proficient ability I scored too high on it because of 50/50 knowledge to luck and I wasn't allowed to take spanish 2 instead UF said that I was beyond proficient, and If I wanted to continue take spanish courses I would have to take Spanish Literature Junior level courses which are parallel to junior level English courses. Moral of the story, If you want to take and learn a foreign language and your school has a policy like UF, christmas tree or bomb the placement test. Unless you feel you can make a jump from freshman beginning course to upper-division intense literature course.

 

[Jew Alcindor]

Yeah, college language classes move really fast; like 3x the pace of a typical high school class.

 

[maestro1625]

I've still never understood the reason for learning a language with no practical value... mabye it's because I had some neighbors who used to have a bunch of Country Day School kids who would boast about their children's accomplishments every time we saw them. They were of course "top of their class in Latin" yet none of them could explain why their kids were taking the language.

 

[smq123]

and does taking Spanish really give a big advantage in med school admissions? I'm asking this because Duke supposedly recommends at least 1 semester of Spanish.

For many schools that are not located in particularly Hispanic-heavy areas, no - Spanish is not that useful.

In schools that are located in Hispanic-heavy areas, Spanish will boost your application, but only if you demonstrate true competence in the language. For example, taking 1 semester isn't enough to impress an adcom. Saying that you worked as an interpreter in your free time, did an internship/volunteering in a Spanish speaking country, or did a "language exchange" partnership will demonstrate that you actually do speak some Spanish. Don't stress it too much.

Anyways, I took spanish 1 and got an A, but I am not gifted with languages so I really had to study; however, everybody had to take the SAT II to see what Spanish 2 class you would be placed in, anyways with my sub-proficient ability I scored too high on it because of 50/50 knowledge to luck and I wasn't allowed to take spanish 2 instead UF said that I was beyond proficient, and If I wanted to continue take spanish courses I would have to take Spanish Literature Junior level courses which are parallel to junior level English courses.

That's quite a sentence!

 

[MahlerROCKS]

I'm a classics major, and I cannot tell you how amazing and beautiful it is to get to read some of the greatest masterpieces, and cornerstones of western literature, in their original text. It is impossible to appreciate the intricacies of Horace and Pindar, or even Homer and Lucius (not Cicero or Livy--they suck big time) without reading them in their original language.

However, outside of literature, Latin and Attic Greek (classical) are not useful. THE NOTION THAT KNOWING GREEK AND LATIN WILL HELP YOU WITH DISSEASE NOMENCLATURE AND ANATOMY IS HOGWASH! (sorry for using caps) Yes, a lot of medical terms are derived from Greek and Latin roots, but the medical terms are bastardized forms and perversions of the meanings of the original words such that being able to break-down the roots of a term will not help you understand what the term refers to

 

[zoeblogrow]

I'm actually trying to decide between Spanish and Latin right now. Spanish is useful, and I studied it during high school. But Latin is different and seems interesting

 

[littlealex]

I'm actually trying to decide between Spanish and Latin right now. Spanish is useful, and I studied it during high school. But Latin is different and seems interesting

When the Pritzker assistant dean visited my school, during the Q&A session she stated that people who are capable of speaking Spanish are given a slight advantage during the admissions process. At Pritzker, they find their physicians that are fluent in Spanish have 75% of their patients who speak Spanish as a first language. They lack Spanish speaking physicians and am making an effort to correct that.

And that is in Chicago.

I personally don't speak Spanish and I expect it to hurt me slightly at places like California and the southern States.

 

[ufgrad00]

That's quite a sentence!

Oops, yeah that syntax was pretty bad. I would make Faulkner proud.

 

[zoeblogrow]

If an applicant claims to be fluent in a language, how would the admissions committee verify this? Would they just take the applicant's word for it? Or would they try to "test" them during the interview or something?

 

[Boreas]

If an applicant claims to be fluent in a language, how would the admissions committee verify this? Would they just take the applicant's word for it? Or would they try to "test" them during the interview or something?

Well, I remember someone on SDN put on his/her application that he/she was fluent in Mandarin, and the interviewer actually started the interview speaking in Mandarin and tested the student's language proficiency by having some of the interview questions in Mandarin. After the interviewer was satisfied by the language ability, the interview went back to English.

 

[Jolie South]

Well, I remember someone on SDN put on his/her application that he/she was fluent in Mandarin, and the interviewer actually started the interview speaking in Mandarin and tested the student's language proficiency by having some of the interview questions in Mandarin. After the interviewer was satisfied by the language ability, the interview went back to English.

Do people put languages as EC's?

I thought about doing it. (speak African dialect and French almost fluently)

 

[silverlining1]

Do people put languages as EC's?

I thought about doing it. (speak African dialect and French almost fluently)

I speak two languages decently, but not fluently (Spanish and Thai). Since I did not feel I should check these boxes in the languages section, I created one "activity" called "Secondary languages" and explained my knowledge of Spanish and Thai as well as when I use them (Spanish at a free clinic, Thai with my family).

 

[Jolie South]

I speak two languages decently, but not fluently (Spanish and Thai). Since I did not feel I should check these boxes in the languages section, I created one "activity" called "Secondary languages" and explained my knowledge of Spanish and Thai as well as when I use them (Spanish at a free clinic, Thai with my family).

I checked French, but there was no selection for the other language (Fulfulde). I was just curious if other people wrote more in ECs in addition.