<p>Okay. So, I graduate from the University of Washington this June, with a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Sociology. It took me until my senior year to determine that I'd like to apply to graduate programs in sociology--lucky for me, my grades are decent (3.75 cumulative, 3.9 in my majors) and I'm working on securing what I expect will be strong recommendations.</p>
<p>I've been poking around CC a lot these last few weeks, and I've seen thread upon thread regarding the importance of "reading knowledge" in French and German when applying to graduate programs, particularly those within the humanities. I took three years of American Sign Language in high school, which--at my university--meant that I got to bypass my school's foreign language requirement for undergrads. At the time, I was all over that: it meant more space for the coursework relevant to my majors, and it meant that I could graduate with two degrees in under four years.</p>
<p>I had no idea that proficiency in these two languages was so critical to further study (in retrospect, of course, I wonder how I could possibly have overlooked such a thing, but there you have it). What should I do now? Should I apply for an intensive summer course in French, before they kick me out for good? Should I pursue courses in French or German at a community college before applying? Or should I apply anyway, hope for the best, and try my hardest to get coursework in French and German completed during my first year as a grad student?</p>
<p>I think you’ll have to take a year off to prepare for the language requirements. You don’t want to shut doors at programs where you would otherwise be accepted. Your decision to attend graduate school and the subsequent determination to acquire the necessary language skills could become an important part of your personal statement.</p>
<p>A community college will unlikely give you the type of language instruction you’ll need at graduate school. You need something intense and thorough, with an emphasis on reading. Community college courses tend to focus on speaking and everyday vocabulary, and they generally aren’t as rigorous as four-year college instruction. You might want to look into free-standing academies and post-bac programs that specialize in such instruction. Although I don’t personally know of any, I’m sure someone with better knowledge will chime in.</p>
<p>It depends on where you live. In and around NYC, lots of universities have post-bac programs and you can take language courses there. For example, Columbia, NYU etc. It isn’t cheap, though. But these would be considered in good standing wherever you apply.</p>
<p>Do sociology departments require a reading proficiency in German or French? Look around their sites and look up their degree requirements. If there isn’t anything, then DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT.</p>
<p>Sociology is in the social sciences, not humanities, FYI.</p>
<p>Ticklemepink has a good point. Also even in the Humanities, unless it is Classics (which has very stringent language requirement) or some Language Phd, the requirements can be fulfilled after admission and prior to taking the qualifying exams. You definitely should check websites.</p>
<p>Also, isn’t it a little late to have not yet applied to programs? </p>
<p>Achat and ticklemepink have good points about whether language proficiency is necessary. I’m not familiar with requirements for sociology, although, like the OP, I seem to remember someone saying that foreign languages are required for it. </p>
<p>You may want to apply to programs that you’d love to attend. If you don’t get into any of them, THEN take the year to learn languages and strengthen your application otherwise. You can then apply to different programs next year.</p>
<p>You can usually fulfill the language requirement with coursework alongside your regular coursework or with summer language study after you are admitted to a grad program, and that also has the advantage of being free of charge. That said, the lack of language may (or may not) be a factor in admissions decisions.</p>
<p>There are programs that do not require a foreign language proficiency. It’s up to you to do the research. Go to the various college websites and read the program’s requirements.</p>
<p>[Sociology[/url</a>]
^Columbia University–no foreign language requirement–MA Sociology</p>
<p>I’m sure that if Columbia doesn’t require it for their program, you can find others.</p>
<p>Hi, guys. Thank you all so much for your responses.</p>
<p>I was actually already planning on taking a year between–I know that I’ll need time to get ready for the GRE and work on preparing strong applications. For some reason, I thought that was implicit in my original post: obviously, I should’ve been more clear.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that it’s extremely difficult to be admitted into most post-bac programs. Would I be better off heading for community college and hoping for the best? Would programs I ultimately apply to frown on a return to community college, since my community college transcripts would then have to be submitted alongside my coursework from UW?</p>
<p>Also, yes, I’m aware that sociology is a branch of the social sciences (hard to make it through as a sociology major without being aware of at least that much). I’d mentioned the humanities because French and German are prominent research languages in both the humanities AND the social sciences, and most of the threads I’ve browsed here have dealt with the importance of French and German when studying history, linguistics, etc.</p>
<p>Your original post asked for information regarding the foreign language requirement in grad school programs for sociology. The links that I posted for you are for excellent grad programs that do not require a foreign language.</p>
<p>I am applying for sociology graduate programs. A few programs have foreign language requirements, but these are usually in the language specific to the population you are working with. I saw (and I think responded) to a post about German and French here, but I have never seen those requirements listed in any graduate school information I have read. If you plan to focus on theory, then yes that would be helpful. Also, the requirement isn’t for admissions, it is for your MA, and you only have to translate one written page with the help of a dictionary.</p>