<p>I'm a high school student, and I speak 5 different languages fluently including English, Swedish, Arabic, Persian, and Kurdish. I'm currently studying French as well, does knowing these help at all in a college resume? I have put them to good use by tutoring people, translating for my uncle who works with DHL, and I'm also the editor-in-chief of my HS newspaper.... Do any of these help in getting accepted to say; Princeton? Any Ivy League college, really. Just wondering....</p>
<p>You have to have more than that, but yes, it’s definitely a big plus. Especially at a place like Middlebury or other elite LACs.</p>
<p>If you can proof your proficiency such as subject test or AP exam, that may help.</p>
<p>It’s certainly more helpful than, say, being really great at video games or being able to drink more beer without vomiting than anybody else in your graduating class. </p>
<p>But I’m not sure that being fluent in four languages other than English is four times as good as being fluent in one. In all of these cases, I am inclined to ask, “What’s in it for the college if they admit you?” They get a really good language student, with competence in some languages that are not so widely spoken in the U.S. And I’m sure they’d like to have one of those. But the university–even Princeton or Middlebury–would probably get more notice from your ability to dunk a basketball than from your ability to speak Farsi.</p>
<p>So my answer is: Helpful? Yes. Write your own ticket? No. But if you can read, write, speak and understand Farsi and Kurdish, there may be lots of interesting work for you after college in either diplomacy or intelligence.</p>
<p>Thanks you guys, that really helps, and of course I’m not saying that just because I know more than two languages that makes me eligible for a top tier college, I was just wondering if that would give my application a little extra spark :3</p>
<p>This is an unusual set of five languages and not one is a typical language taught in high school. So what I’m curious to know is how you learned and became fluent these languages and how you use them to keep up your fluency. There has to a great personal essay in there.</p>
<p>@slackermomMD</p>
<p>Well, my story is pretty weird, I guess, but so is everyone’s, if you think about it. No one person is quite the same. If you’re curious, just PM me, and I’ll tell you all you want to know.</p>
<p>Perhaps it would boost your application if applying to Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. Or if you were actually going to pursue the study of foreign languages at any University. Thinking that pure language majors might be on the decline due to all the emphasis these days on Technology and Science. They have to keep these departments alive.</p>
<p>@HarvestMoon1 </p>
<p>Thank you, I appreciate your opinion. I really have no idea what I want to major in. Can’t decide on one thing in special, except for English, which is my best subject. Unfortunately, my parents are those well meaning parents who push you in a certain direction with a selective blindness to your wants and opinions. I don’t want to upset them or anything, so I haven’t made a big deal out of them directing me in a specific direction, but the confrontation is coming soon, I’m sure of it, and the thought of hurting their feelings makes me uncomfortable.</p>