Italian is the second least popular AP exam…so obviously the pool of potential Italian majors and minors out there isn’t too substantial - despite the fact that every T50 college has an Italian language school. Any chance that listing that you plan on minoring in Italian is helpful in the admissions process? We’re always told how a college may be looking for “that tuba player for their band”, or some other obscure qualification. Don’t these T50 colleges have to fill up the seats in those Italian classes too?
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I think the operative phrase is: “planning to minor in Italian”.
I planned to major and minor in several humanities and science majors and ended up in a completely different area and, I really don’t think it will help your daughter to stand out from a deluge of applicants while students who currently possess skills in American Sign language (ASL) or Tagalog may have more of an advantage.
A musician, like a Tuba player or an Oboist may be needed for a band or orchestra but that would be in conjunction with the rest of their application. Does it mean that they will go to that particular college?
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None whatsoever
I don’t see that as a pressing concern, particularly since the vast majority of the teaching staff is not tenure-track.
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I agree with others that is not a hook of any kind - but could make for an interesting part of an essay about why Italian and her interests around the language. When visiting colleges, she may try to get time with an Italian professor or with someone in the department - a good place for the “why this college” essay too.
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Well, many schools don’t offer AP Italian, so its lack of popularity is likely a function of lack of access more than lack of potential interest. My daughter is minoring in a language for which she did not take the AP exam because her school doesn’t offer it. Her school doesn’t offer Italian, either, but it is certainly possible there are students who have interest in the language.
A tuba player fulfills a needed role for the school; a student pursuing a minor in X does not, so it is not really the same thing.
Unfortunately, the current trend is when they can’t fill seats, they just cancel the classes and downsize the department. Some colleges have a language requirement and fill seats that way, but foreign language departments tend to be vulnerable to downsizing and consolidation and I don’t see that getting a potential new minor would change that or have any pull in that trajectory.
Exactly this. It is great that she wants to minor in Italian and has an interest in language and culture. Perhaps a personal statement or supplemental essay or some relevant ECs would add something positive and unique to her application. If it’s something meaningful to her and she wants to highlight it, she should definitely do so. It’s not a hook, but it is part of her story, which is what she should tell her in application.
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And even the high school tuba or oboe player isn’t a shoe in for admissions…especially as a non-major. We know this first hand.
I doubt minors matter but a prospective Italian major could be relevant for admissions. I saw data for Harvard that admission rates were higher for people with intended concentrations in humanities compared to sciences. It is possible prospective humanities majors write better essays, or possibly universities want to ensure a minimum number of majors in these areas (Harvard does not even have an Italian or French department anymore, but a department of Romance Languages and Literature).
I think if a school was desperate for Italian majors (or minors) it would offer a scholarship to the student thus attracting more Italian majors to apply and fill all those empty seats.
There aren’t a lot of language departments doing their own admissions. The Italian department might want to admit a lot of students who said they were going to major/minor in Italian, but the admissions office doesn’t care.
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No. The only way it might help her chances slightly is if she were planning on majoring in an unusual boutique specialty major for which the university were well kniwn, and of which they were proud. Think folklore at penn, linguistics at umass amherst, or such.
Lot’s of top schools only care about intended major to the extent that it is relevant to the student’s overall application. i.e: if the student’s ECs and class work in HS are super STEM intensive, it would fit the overall narrative if the student’s intended major is in a STEM field. If, on the other hand, if that STEM kid is applying as a fine arts major, absent a strong arts portfolio, it might raise questions.
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Italian is common enough that it actually is taught in high schools and has an AP test. If you look at the list of languages offered by universities, the list is long. Wanting to study something like Ojibwe may be interesting to admissions, but not likely a minor in Italian.
No
Sorry for all the realistic no’s… But your daughter will land where she’s meant to be. It’s a saying but typically works out well. Just have her have safeties that she loves since it’s very realistic she could end up at one of them.
Good Luck.
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One other thing for your daughter to keep in mind, the minor in Italian, or any other language, is generally X number of courses beyond a certain level . So if she’s not at that threshold level, those classes needed to get to the threshold are on top of the minor requirements.
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I think your daughter will get into school based on her merits. Perhaps some majors could help but in general, if the school decides to admit her it will likely be based on profile.
They know many change or don’t follow through
on original ideas.
Good luck.
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Agree with everyone else. A minor in Italian will be super common and not a hook at all.
Is your daughter very proficient at languages in general? If so, she can consider applying for a critical language scholarship once she is in college.
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She could also apply to NSLI-Y right now
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I don’t believe that Italian is a NSLI-Y language.
I was building on @Lindagaf suggestion if this student is generally good at languages and FL interested in general, as Italian isn’t a critical language either (CLS program). Lots of students who do NSLI-Y and/or CLS are conversant/fluent in multiple languages.
Our second kid (he is not Asian) was accepted/attended a t-15 school. He had 4 years of Mandarin, spent part of a summer volunteering at a Chinese orphanage, was president of the Chinese club, and had several volunteer activities during the year promoting Asian culture. Additionally, on his application he explained how learning Mandarin helped him see culture differently; and explained specific programs he planned to pursue at the school that would foster his main major (engineering) and Chinese language.
If Italian is an interest the schools need to know how it will be used in the broader picture. What outside activities using Italian have been pursued and how/where will it be used substantially. Most T-50 schools are looking for difference makers. How will minoring in Italian make your college applicant a difference maker?
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Our HS has Spanish, Italian and latin, I’ve attended several NHS induction ceremonies, Italian always had the most students. I’m guessing this is regional.
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