<p>I plan to major in Chinese. I realize that you should major in what you enjoy, but, looking at admissions statistics, there appears to be very, very few language majors and I suspect most of those applicants are more traditional language majors like spanish, french, etc. Would a diverse major, like Chinese, add any significant "uniqueness" to my application. I realize that it wouldn't be too useful unless I was going to practice in China. Is it a waste devoting my undergraduate years to a language I will probably use for little once I graduate (considering I won't be going into IR or anything like that)?</p>
<p>I'd like to add that I'm American and I had never had any exposure to the language before college.</p>
<p>If Chinese at your school is anything like Chinese at Cornell, it's going to be crazy hard. Are you majoring in Chinese only because you think it'll help in med schol admissions?</p>
<p>My choice of major, honestly, has nothing to do with medical school. I enjoy Chinese, have been to China several times, and plan to return there to study abroad. I just want to know how practical it would be considering I will have very little use for it once I graduate.</p>
<p>you just answered your own question</p>
<p>That is untrue. First of all, my father, who is a doctor at a large private hospital in New York City said that with Chinese immigration rates soaring, Chinese will become more and more of a useful language as we head further into the 21st century.</p>
<p>Secondly, increasing amounts of med schools are looking for WELL-ROUNDED applicants, not straight science nerds who only took science. While, of course, there is a use for people who can rattle off a list of symptoms and treatments verbatim, a lot of med schools are interested in things like: how creative will you be as a doctor, when thinking of a treatment plan for patients? How much empathy/bedside manner will you have? What other skills do you have (like languages, for instance), that can help you relate to a broader patient base? How practical are you when it comes to utilizing your resources? These are all questions that can be answered with other majors.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about it, as long as you fulfill your premed requirements and get in SOME med experience (physician shadowing, lab research, etc.)</p>
<p>As long as you can keep your grades up in both your major and pre-reqs for med school, you'll do fine. Will it be super helpful at application time? Probably not. But it's not going to hurt you, either.</p>
<p>are you chinese? if you are chinese, it seems a little odd that you would major in something you are already familiar with (yes, i understand you don't speak chinese). All in all, just major in somethin you like. If you enjoy "chinese things" then there are other major like east asian studies or something that you can major in.</p>
<p>read "getting into med school" i think it's a barron's book.</p>
<p>it talks about acceptance rates for different majors.</p>
<p>it seems like biomedical engineering, english, foreign languages, and math all top the list at around 50% each.</p>
<p>I'm white, no chinese (or any other asian ethnicity for that matter) in me at all.</p>
<p>^ in that case, go for it if you really enjoy chinese stuff!</p>