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Here's the deal: I am French Canadian and moved to the United States when I was 8 years old. I did not speak a lick of english when I moved to the states. When I was 18 I got my U.S. citizenship, so I am an American student and nothing near international. My question is if I would be with ethical boundaries to put on my application that english is not my first language (perhaps in a ds?). This seems like a shady practice to me that may be looked poorly upon by adcomms. Thoughts?

You could do it.

It wouldn't matter though.

SilverE2 wrote:You could do it.

It wouldn't matter though.

The main reason I want to do is not because I want to somehow seem like I struggle through english. I just thought it could make for a decent ds to add on. I have pretty average softs, so I though a ds showing that I'm not exactly a typical white, middle-class, male could at least make me stand out a little more.

zephyr36 wrote:

SilverE2 wrote:You could do it.

It wouldn't matter though.

The main reason I want to do is not because I want to somehow seem like I struggle through english. I just thought it could make for a decent ds to add on. I have pretty average softs, so I though a ds showing that I'm not exactly a typical white, middle-class, male could at least make me stand out a little more.

It won't matter.

English is technically your second language so I don't see how it can hurt. Do you still speak French fluently? Maybe you can emphasize the fact that you're bilingual.

English is my second language too. My English sucked until I was almost done with high school, and I'm still learning. I briefly mentioned my experience of learning a new language in my PS. On my resume I listed all the languages I speak.

same boat here, moved from Sweden when I was 8. I'm probably going to put English as my second language as well, but I highly doubt it will make any kind of difference.