<p>For SAIS, how much of the language requirement must a person have completed before applying in the spring of the sophomore year?
For a standard language like Spanish, French...Do sophomores who are already in advanced have a leg up? Or is it okay to complete the language requirement while in junior year?</p>
<p>I can’t specifically answer your question (I was in the joint degree program, but it was a long time ago and things change). I would ask the Political Science Department for specific advice. Don’t rely upon advice from unofficial sources.</p>
<p>In general, however, the more languages you have the better. Most SAIS students have at least two in addition to English. </p>
<p>By the way, the language programs at SAIS are very good and quite different from what you will experience at Homewood. At SAIS, language instruction is very practical and hands on, designed to prepare you to read and speak professionally and colloquially. You will not be studing literature at SAIS. On the other hand, unlike at Homewood, the language course are non credit, and therefore do not count toward the 60 credit hours needed for the MA. They are there to get you through the language requirements, or to enable you to learn an extra language for your own betterment. So for that reason alone, I suggest taking as much language at Homewood as you can. Language study is time consuming, and if you really need to take a lot of language courses to meet the MA fluency requirements, it will make your life much more difficult as a graduate student.</p>