Foreign Language Major/Housing/Chance questions!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston University
1

<p>Hey everyone! I’ve been lurking College Confidential forever (love this site! :D) but I finally decided to make an account to post this topic. Anyway, I have a few questions:</p>

<p>I’m interested in attending BU and want to major in French. Probably a double-major, because I’ve heard that majoring in solely a foreign language is setting yourself up for poverty.</p>

<p>My questions are:
-How is BU’s Foreign Language department? (Or if it depends on the language, how is French Language and Literature?)</p>

<p>-I don’t know what to major in alongside French! I considered International Relations, but after some research, decided not to because 1) As an IR undergrad I won’t have many opportunities upon graduation, 2) it’d be a bit boring, and 3) employment in that field is a bit competitive. There’s also PoliSci, but that field doesn’t interest me at all. </p>

<p>My other subject of interest is writing, so I considered Journalism, but I’m not sure how practical the majors are together. (i.e. how well they complement each other, like French and IR would be a spanking combo). Thoughts on this, Journalism in particular?</p>

<p>-How difficult and hectic would my schedule be to double-major in French and Journalism/IR/PoliSci?</p>

<p>-I like to study languages and want to be trilingual by the time I graduate. I’ve taken 3 years of Spanish and will probably take AP Spanish next year. I’m nowhere near fluent but I’ve gotten 1st place in a language competition and my teacher recommended I skip a Spanish class to take AP next year. Should I stick with it in college or dip my feet into a totally new language? (Keeping in mind I’ll continue studying Spanish during college anyway.)</p>

<hr>

<p>So…BU offers specialty language houses. These questions are about language housing in general:</p>

<p>-Should I apply for one my freshmen year, or should I live in a regular freshman dorm first and switch later? Honestly I want to live in a huge residence dorm like Warren or West, in the middle of all the action. But I wonder if having the HUGE advantage of being constantly surrounded by French is more important.</p>

<p>-Even if I did apply, how likely is it for a freshman to get into La Maison Francaise?</p>

<p>-Should I try to live in one my Sophomore, Junior, or Senior year instead?
-If anyone has lived in one, what is it like? Non-native speakers of any language, were you overwhelmed? How did it help you learn the language? </p>

<p>-Are they nice places to live (La Maison Francaise, specifically)? Did you miss or yearn for the life of a traditional residence hall? About how many students of the languages are there compared to native speakers? How are rooms set up, bathrooms, etc.? How big is it?</p>

<p>-(I read about a strict prohibition of English in certain rooms. That sounds scary for a beginner of the language! LOL)</p>

<p>-If I don’t live in a language house, where else could I go in Boston to supplement my education?</p>

<hr>

<p>And I have some chance questions for BU. (: Here are my stats!</p>

<p>Incoming HS senior (class of 2012)</p>

<p>Academics</p>

<p>-GPA: UW 3.9, W 5.2
-Rank 10 out of 583
-IB Program, 9 AP classes taken so far. 4s and 5s in all
-My schedule is and will be pretty much all IB/AP classes
-AP Scholar with distinction award
-SAT: 2050 / 1340; M 660, R 680, W 720 (I plan to retake it!), ACT with writing 29</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>Member/Student Rep of IB Student Council (2 years)
JSU Member (2 years)
Memorial Hospital volunteer (2 years, year-round)
Key Club member -> Treasurer -> Vice President (3 years)
School Swim Team + Captain (3 years, captain 1 year)
School Volleyball Team (1 year)
Tennis Team (2 years)
National Forensic League Debate, Varsity (3 years)
1st Place in Foreign Language Competition (Spanish, plan to compete again next year :D)
National Honor Society Senior Liaison (1 year)
Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, Humana, Kiwanis (2 years)
200+ service hours
Part-time job at Wendy’s for 7 months and counting
Plan to release several games to Apple app store this summer and throughout the year
Run a website for teenagers (JoblessTeen.com), currently gets 1k-2k pageviews/month</p>

<p>And…yeah, I think that’s everything. How do I stand for BU’s full-tuition scholarships?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your responses!</p>

2

<p>As far as majoring in French/Journalism, I would honestly go for the IR/French major if you’re looking for practicality. They go together more. </p>

<p>I would definitely try and live in a large style dormitory your freshman year. This way you are with a bunch of other freshmen and are going through the same experiences. Definitely try and go for a brownstone your sophomore year though! Most are super nice, but I would want a solid group of friends first. I’ve heard the language houses are pretty cool. I know the Italian house cooks big Italian dinners every month!</p>

3

<p>I’m just a nosy parent, but since my D was in almost your exact position at this time last year, I have some experience/advice that may be useful. She is an entering BU Freshman who is planning on a double major in Russian and something yet to be determined…</p>

<p>BU’s language department seems to be fairly strong and at a time when so many schools are cutting languages out due to budget constraints (not French or Spanish however) you are wise to consider the strength of the language departments overall as it will certainly affect your experience. BU offers many different languages and has a grant through ROTC for five critical need languages (Arabic and some less widely spoken languages). The fact that they care enough to pursue and maintain major grants conveys a level of seriousness that makes me feel good about the department. If you are starting over on another language, and are willing to move out of Romance Languages, then these other languages might be interesting options for you. She has a fairly close friend that just finished his freshman year and he has spoken very highly of his experience with the profs in the language department. I will also add that she (and I) were quite impressed with her academic advising session in the foreign language department during orientation a few weeks ago.</p>

<p>In regards to scholarships, my D has nearly identical stats as you do and she received a half tuition university scholarship. Certainly, put yourself in the running for the full tuition scholarships such as trustees, but know there are others available as well (other students from her school also received substantial merit awards). </p>

<p>I’ll leave it to the students to tell you where to live. Good Luck with your college search!</p>

4

<p>Thanks a lot for the insight, shiningstar and evnsci (: . I’ll probably go straight for one of the towers for my first year. But now I’m considering Chinese & Business… Ahh, choices, choices!</p>

5

<p>bump bump bump</p>