<p>I'm in a bit of a quandary right now. I don't need to take a language in college as I've already placed out through AP tests, however, I decided to take a language so that I would be able to go to that country in two years for study abroad. After this quarter I realized that instead of being fun, the class was actually a lot more stress and pressure, and I actually want to do a different study abroad program more than going to Japan. The class stopped being fun, which was really disappointing to me as I took the language because I thought it would be both fun and educational.
Plus, because of the unit load, coupled with the program I'm already in, I would have to drop classes that are extremely selective and I probably won't be able to take in future, so that I can continue on this language track.
I realize that knowing a third language is extremely beneficial, educational, etc, and I probably will never have a second chance at picking up another language, but as I'm already fluent in two languages I feel as if I should be using the units to pursue other areas that I'm more interested in. However, I don't want it to seem to law/graduate schools that I'm giving up a language after one quarter because I'm a grade-grubber or anything like that. My parents say that I should do whatever I want, but I'm extremely confused right now so I would love opinions on this!
Thanks :)</p>
<p>i think it’s quite unlikely that law schools will think that you are grade grubbing. You’re just dabbling in a few languages. There’s nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>Drop it or audit it if they allow that. If you really have an interest in learning Japanese so you can converse and read basic signs, menus etc you can always take a night school class later. Knowing Japanese will open some doors for you, no matter what your major, but it isn’t worth the added stress if your courseload is already heavy.</p>
<p>No explanation necessary. If asked you can just say you found other course offerings more interesting and you already had two languages under your belt. I took some language courses at college because I liked having courses with steady homework and that used that part of my brain, but you can learn a language much, much more efficiently with immersion. Summers or a term abroad are better ways to pick up a language - and even then you’ll have to be careful to stay away from too many English speakers if you want to get fluent.</p>
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<p>I agree with your parents.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that any graduate school is going to hold against you the fact that you took one quarter of a foreign language and then decided to move on.</p>
<p>Your freshman year is a year or discovering what interests you beyond the subjects you’ve taken in HS. One young lady I know very well thought about law and womens studies, but ended up with degrees in molecular biology and IR and is applying to MD/PhD programs, the other had her heart set on Japanese and Asian Studies, but has now chosen biological psychology. There is nothing wrong with dropping a class after taking a semester of it.</p>
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<p>The schools won’t give a hoot. If that is the only reason you’d keep taking the language, drop it.</p>
<p>Great responses, thanks! I think I will end up dropping it --even though I did well in the class, it just wasn’t interesting to me anymore and I’m glad I could hear your guys’ opinions on this :)</p>
<p>Whew, I’m glad you reached this conclusion. Can you imagine how awful it would be to stay in relationships, jobs, housing, vehicles that you thought (at first) were going to be great but then turned out to be a lemon? Ugh? There are times when it is time to turn the page! Good luck.</p>
<p>This is why they’re called electives. You simply took the class because you wanted to take the class.</p>
<p>The only downside is that now you’ve derailed a potential major in Japanese. But since you discovered you didn’t want that anyhow it matters not at all. Better to have tried many things than to have stuck to a narrow path. Posters before me already said it all but I had to add my voice in favor of your decision. A win-win situation- you learned some Japanese, explored something you can’t easily do later and were smart enough to drop it now. Good luck- keep having fun in your academics.</p>
<p>While some might disagree with me, I think college is about discovery and you shouldn’t go through it thinking about what grad/law schools will think. Look at it this way… you spent four years of HS wondering what colleges will think of you, if you do the same in college and then in grad school (what will employers want), when do you ever do what YOU want and get to live your life? I realize I am extrapolating, but I think that if you truly embrace learning and wanting to get the most of the experience, it will all work out in your favor.</p>
<p>I’m actually taking the classes that really interest me now (regardless of what grad/law schools think) but I guess I’ve been stuck in the whole application mindset for too long so that aspect ended up being a concern. Thanks for all your wonderful responses. :)</p>
<p>I took language classes pass/fail - it took pressure off worrying about how the class affected my gpa - and still let me work on my language skills. That said, those classes were also fun - I probably wouldn’t have continued if they weren’t. Sounds like you’re not having too much fun… so why not explore something else? Take art history… or fencing… or a horror-literature class: something fun, and different and likely to enhance your semester & beyond.</p>