<p>I am a senior Spanish major at a small liberal arts college in the South. I applied to six graduate schools this past fall and I have already been accepted to three. I am waiting for three more responses. The problem is three of the schools are Latin American Studies programs and three of the schools are in Spanish Language and Literature.</p>
<p>I applied to:</p>
<p>Middlebury's CV Star School in Madrid- Spanish Language and Literature (accepted)
Saint Louis University-Madrid Campus- Spanish Language and Literature (accepted)
NYU-Madrid Campus-Spanish Language and Literature (pending)
American University- Latin American Studies (accepted)
Stanford University- Latin American Studies (pending)
Vanderbilt University- Latin American Studies (pending)</p>
<p>I am not interested in teaching Spanish in the future. I would love to prepare myself for a politics/business related career. It may sound like I should easily pick the Latin American studies programs over the language programs but its not that simple! :( I studied my entire junior year abroad in Spain and although my Spanish is very good, it is not completely polished. Part of me wants to go back to Spain for a year because I know that if I do, my language skills will be perfect. Yet, I am afraid to get a degree in language/literature if I do not want to teach. Most of the Latin American Studies programs require some coursework completed in Spanish, but I obviously won't be immersed in the language if I study in CA, D.C, or TN. Some of them don't even send you abroad for part of the coursework :( I am afraid I will end up specializing in Latin American politics/IR but I won't speak as fluently as other people in the field. What seems like the best route? None of my professors have really been able to outline what would be the best choice. I know I love Spanish and there is nothing more I would want than to study in Madrid, but with such a poor economy and limited jobs out there, I am afraid a degree in literature will open doors for me, but at the same time shut a lot of opportunities out. I should also mention I am interested in translating. American U offers a translation certification along with the Masters yet Middlebury and NYU also allow me to focus on some translation courses. I have not received any financial aid yet so money may be a small factor. I just need some guidance as far as career options after school. I don't want to make the wrong choice! Is it better to be specialized in something or just have really amazing language skills?</p>
<p>i would definitely go for latin american studies...it will have a lot more job possibilities especially since you don't want to teach...don't worry about your language skills...you can take spanish language courses as electives or audit them...or spend your summers in spain..if you get into stanford..by all means go there...school name is often more important than rank no matter what the program....good luck valuable!</p>
<p>well the three in madrid focus on language skills and translation...although they aren't "business" oriented, they would prepare me to work in a foreign market. the only one that is related to politics/business directly is American but I would not be immersed in the language, so I guess its a trade off between improving myself linguistically or obtaining a concentration in politics and not focusing as much on my spanish skills</p>
<p>If you want to study business, why can’t you study business in a foreign country? From my perspective, it doesn’t seem to make sense to waste the time and money getting a masters in a language if you aren’t going into academia or teaching it.</p>
<p>Congratulations, you just wasted a ton of time and money applying to programs that aren’t going to help you do what you want to do! With an undergraduate degree in Spanish, you should have gotten a year or two of work experience and applied to an MBA program with an international focus. You are going to be getting a master’s degree in an area that won’t make you any more competitive to the employers that are going to hire you. I’d go to the cheapest school and focus on not messing up the next time around.</p>