Hello. I am currently an 8th grader going into 9th grade and I’m trying to choose a foreign language to study throughout high school. I’ve heard that studying Latin could help you better understand the roots of English grammar and vocabulary and, therefore, help me with the SAT. I’m not as interested in studying French or Spanish and would be more motivated to take 4 years of Latin. However, since a lot of people consider Latin a “dead language”, I’m afraid that universities would see little practicality in studying it. So would colleges prefer a modern language over a classical language such as Latin? Thanks!
No, they have no preference. What they prefer is that you take the number of years that they suggest and that you do well in the classes. And if Latin helps you with the SAT, well then, that’s a nice little bonus.
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Latin is fine in terms of college admissions. As one of the Classic languages, it may even be a bit subconsciously beneficial. At worst, it really doesn’t matter.
It won’t be of much use later, but honestly, after 3-4 yrs in HS, no one is really functionally fluent anyway.
I suspect you will perform much better studying something you enjoy, so Latin sounds like a good choice.
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Even for programs that require a modern language for graduation (SFS at Georgetown), I wouldn’t worry about having Latin for admission.
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My DS20 took Latin since middle school and he absolutely loves it. We don’t know whether colleges will look upon his 7 years of Latin learning positively or negatively, we do know he has a lot of fun learning the “dead” language and its associated rich history. We have a friend who got PhD in Classics languages and he picks up Spanish/French rather quickly because of his strong Latin.
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MIne loved Latin, too. It’s a legit language for admissions. Just make sure you can get in the number of years.
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Just a quick note though: knowledge of Latin no longer has any real impact on SAT performance. It did back when the test assessed knowledge of obscure “SAT words,” as one could use their knowledge of Latin roots to guess at their meaning, but those types of questions have not been on the test since the redesign a few years ago. I hope that wasn’t your main reason for wanting to take the language. Latin really is a fun language to learn, as it has forced me to think about how the English language is grammatically structured on a much deeper level than I ever had before. Also, if you happen to like history and/or mythology, that’s an added bonus because most programs will include at least some study of that, particularly if their students take the National Latin Exam each year.
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Of course, if your college major interest is something like classics, Roman history, Catholic history, Romance linguistics, etc. Latin may be a useful language to know.
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Yeah, Latin won’t help you on the SAT anymore, but it could potentially help you in medicine (many terms in medicine and psychology have Latin roots). If you like it, then by all means take it; it can’t hurt you.
But if you like French, Spanish, or some other language more, then take that – some people at my HS (maybe 10-15%, honestly) became semi-fluent in the language and were able to place into junior-level classes in college, so that’s also a benefit if you’d like to study abroad some day (although you can do that with Latin, too!). It is possible.
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Please don’t take Latin if your main interest in doing so is the benefit of knowing latin roots of words. It’s super easy to learn those without formal study of Latin.
If one’s goal is medicine (just mentioning as it was used as an example above), Spanish would be much more practical. In fact, any “live” language would be much more practical for the majority of professions and in life, IMO.
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I have never seen any analysis as to what language is preferable and has any edge in selective college admissions. Nor I have I ever heard about any language advantageous over another or felt that is the case except within the context of the application.
For example, it’s a known fact that serious Classics majors are often sought by colleges. Latin in that context would be a huge plus. A deep interest and great activity in an area that has a language that is helpful in that activity would be advantageous
Latin has the advantage that you don’t need to to learn to speak or understand it in verbal form. For those who have a good ear for languages, that advantage isn’t there.
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I took Latin forever many years ago, I enjoyed learning it. My DS took Latin 7th-10th grade. While he enjoyed learning Latin, he wishes he had taken Spanish in high school. His degree plan requires 3 years of a modern language and he started Spanish as a college freshman. It has worked out OK but earlier exposure to Spanish would have helped him. Spanish is so practical for many professions. My younger DS took Latin and then German and now wants to learn Spanish as he wishes to work in a construction related field.