Effect of Foreign Language courses on admissions Forum

[AdamSmithsGhost]

I have always wished to learn more languages and college seems like the perfect place to do that, especially considering that thanks to AP credits etc. I have a lot of room in my schedule to take courses besides the ones I need to take for my major. Now, I am definitely going to be taking at least one language, I already have started, however, as much as I'd love to add another language or even two more to a total of three I feel that this might backfire later down the road when applying to law school. Even if I work really hard and become a very capable speaker of the languages I learned, what worries me is that when I apply to law school that the admissions committee will look at my transcript and think that I took the language courses in order to have an easier schedule and boost my GPA. Yes, foreign language courses most often do translate into easy A's but that is not why I want to take those courses!

So my question is, do you think taking many foreign language courses during my undergrad could hurt my admission chances?

I can always do my best to learn them on my own time it just seemed that college would be the perfect place to get a strong background in them!

Thank you for your time!

[glitter178]

How far in a foreign language have you gone? 100-level language courses are easy... Just like most 100 level courses. 500, 600+ level plus classes aren't. Worry about your gpa and your LSAT score.

[The Gentleman]

So my question is, do you think taking many foreign language courses during my undergrad could hurt my admission chances?

I'm assuming from your post that you're a freshman/sophomore, in which case you should take classes you enjoy and do well in them. It sounds like you have a genuine interest in foreign language, so go ahead and take those classes. Just make sure you walk away with A's.

And to answer your question, law schools won't penalize you for taking easier classes. Tougher majors (engineering/math/science) will sometimes get a boost, but getting the highest overall GPA is still the best idea for someone considering law school.

[worldtraveler]

What school do you go to where foreign languages are easy? I took 4 langauges in undergrad. It wasn't a problem for admissions and they certainly weren't easy classes.

Take a hard one if you're so worried about that.

[Eugenie Danglars]

I took seven semesters of Asian languages and three semesters of European ones. It killed my GPA, but it was fun, and the languages are definitely the most useful things I learned in college. Plus, it looks great on your resume

[Hedwig]

Foreign language courses are not easy. As for 100 level courses, yes, they're probably similar in difficulty to any other 100 level course you take. However, once you move up to second, third, fourth year classes, the level of difficulty rises.

[uci2013]

From my perspective language courses are far from easy. Anyway language courses will not be held against you. And if you have interest in international law work or even in public interest language skills often give you an edge in the job hunt (not having language skills I am seeing this now). Also if you learn a language like Chinese, that is valuable to the business world; in can help for firm jobs. So if you like languages I'd say go for it and enjoy.

[rso11]

Language skills can be a huge asset. As long as you don't just take 5 languages through the 100-level or something (which DOES look like GPA-boosting dabbles), I don't think this should be a problem. I would recommend that you pick a few and really excel at them.