Chinese at Stanford, Disaster?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>I'm going to join the Class of 2014 next year at Stanford, but I need help deciding what language to take. I took Spanish throughout high school and could have placed out of the language requirement, but I want to learn a new language in college. </p>

<p>I'm planning on being pre-med and am thinking about taking either Chinese or French. I'm concerned about how difficult taking Chinese would be and how adversely it would affect my GPA for getting into medical school. I would love to take either language, but I think taking Chinese might look more impressive and would present more opportunities if I ever wanted to work in biotech or do an internship in China. </p>

<p>I'm planning on taking rigorous courses and would like to start a language my first quarter on campus. Am I setting myself up for disaster? </p>

<p>(If it helps to know high school stats, I had a 3.84 GPA unweighted, 33 ACT composite, 5s on AP Spanish Lit, AP Bio, AP US History, and AP English Lit, 740 on math II SAT II, 720 on bio and history SAT II.)</p>

2

<p>i was trying to decide between spanish and chinese. from the people i talked to, the chinese classes are great and you will learn a lot, but it does take regular studying. also, they said that to really get a significant level of understanding, you should plan to take at least 2 years of chinese.
but this is second-hand info.</p>

3

<p>there was also one particular professor that someone told me to avoid if i took chinese…i dont remember which one it was.</p>

4

<p>I don’t mind taking Chinese for an extended period of time (or even minoring in it), but do you think it would still be possible for me to obtain close to a 4.0 taking it?</p>

5

<p>im not sure-ud have to get an answer from someone who has taken it
but close to 4.0 isnt necessary to get into a top med school.
stanford students are admitted to med schools like UCSF, Baylor, Stanford, JHU with GPAs around 3.8 as well</p>

6

<p>You can test out of Lang Req with Spanish, and take Chinese pass/fail if you worry about your GPA.</p>

7

<p>Look at the time required for studying a language, and also think about studying a language that has no overlap with the English and Spanish you know. I do not know how Stanford teaches languages, but at DD’s school, the first two years of her language require a five-credit class each semester. That class has two hours of lecture and five hours of recitation. It really locks up the schedule.</p>

<p>Another option is to take the language in the summer. Numerous colleges and universities across the country offer summer immersion programs. Chinese is very popular. If you take a summer course at a different university, the credits probably will transfer, but not the GPA. Soooo, you learn the language, but it does not affect your GPA.</p>

8

<p>Go for it! It would open a lot of opportunities for you and you seem extremely capable of doing well if you put your mind to it.</p>

9

<p>Take a look at this Stanford summer Chinese program with a component at Peking University :
<a href=“https://www.stanford.edu/dept/lc/language/courses/asianSummer/stanfordPekingOverview.html[/url]”>https://www.stanford.edu/dept/lc/language/courses/asianSummer/stanfordPekingOverview.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>I have had several friends take beginning Chinese. They told me that the professor makes it very hard on purpose so that students really commit to the course -apparently she scared off a couple students after the first day of class. Language courses (except for perhaps Spanish, which I hear is super easy) are very intense, especially due to the quarter system. Being a pre-med isn’t a piece of cake either --Stanford weeds out a large chunk of pre-med kids so you have to really fight for your grades in those classes. Of course, there are people who balance both Chinese and Pre-med and I would advise you to try juggling both and then drop if you decide the work load is too hard.</p>