Want to major in CS at Michigan LSA but can't stand the thought of the language requirement

Any words of wisdom from those that suffered through the language requirement at Michigan? My son is an aspiring CS and chemistry double major so applied to LSA versus engineering but does not want to “waste” 4 classes on language. Thoughts?

Pass/fail. That’s what DH did there with a by skin of teeth P.

Thanks definitely considering the P/F but learned you can’t do that for the final class. Did your D have any success placing out of any? Thought my son should do community college this summer and try to place out of first two terms if at all possible

Alas it was husband many years ago. Took all P/F but maybe they changed the rules. Did not pass out of any either.

Will he be able to place higher than the beginner level in any language, so that he can complete the requirement in fewer than four courses?

As a potential language major, I am a little offended haha

I’m not in college yet, but I have studied a variety of languages, and if he cannot test/place out of languages, I recommend he take Latin/Greek.

He doesn’t have to speak either language, but I have found that they require skills that STEM majors seem to have an affinity for. They’re very logical/mathematical in structure, and translating and writing sentences is similar to writing code. In fact, most of the students taking Latin at my school are heavy STEM-focused students. The language is more conducive to their learning style, which is why many of these students ultimately succeed in the subject.

Not to mention, UMich has an amazing classics department

Thinking if he studied this summer he might pass out of year

Thanks for the advice oPhillipos
Indeed he studied Latin In Middle school and liked it pretty well. He was worried that college level Latin would be killer though.

@roundabout12345 Latin gets easier as you keep going in the language study. It goes from hard grammar to reading texts (poems and prose) which is significantly easier since it’s less hard recall and more recognition of words

Why not switch to the CoE then? It does not have a language requirement.

^he wants to double major in Chem Alexandre

@roundabout12345 - as you mentioned, would make sense for him to study over the summer and that should help him test up out to a higher level (fewer remaining then).

I don’t see the practical advantage of a double major in CS-Chem. I’d rather major in CS in the CoE and take lots of Chemistry courses. It’s just as effective on your resume and for grad school.

learning a foreign language is useful and adds to your resume for pretty much any job. your son can always place out of the 4 semesters of foreign language assuming he is good at a language, that’s what my friend did for spanish. don’t cheat on the placement exam, I know a person who tried to place out of the requirement but got placed into the highest language class. learning a language is not that bad and I think that lsa wants students to have a broad liberal arts education not just classes focused on a career.

Wayandgarth, I meant major in CS from the CoE and load up on Chemistry classes without actually majoring in it.

Eeeee127, I agree that learning a second language is very beneficial, some people just struggle with languages. If that is the case, roundabout12345’s son may find taking 16 credits of foreign language very disruptive to his enjoyment of college life and to his GPA.

I don’t think a double major in chemistry and computer science is necessary at all. your son should just major in computer engineering in coe and take some chemistry classes. computer science is already very useful major on its own and adding a double major in chemistry is unnecessary

Thanks!

Absolutely do NOT take Latin. The first term is easy. The second term it becomes a time and resource hog that will leave you numb and bitter if you’re not a language major who is into Classics studies. My kid ended up giving it more hours of daily study than Calculus, English and Bio combined…and still struggled. Hated it so much she started over with Spanish One (and happily collected moderately easy B’s through the whole series with less than half the time commitment of Latin) Run away! Run away! Spanish is easy for English speakers and looks better on your resume. Opinions will vary…just my two cents. (Yes, UMich has an amazing Classics department…but if you don’t care about language and don’t want to forfeit half your life to pursuing excellence in a dead language…lol…stick to nice easy Espanol:) )

This strategy is not necessarily beneficial. Then he’ll be placed in a higher level, which will be much more difficult if he didn’t start from scratch at Michigan.

I like the suggestion of taking Latin or Greek because you don’t have to speak it. Michigan offers a lot of languages. Maybe he can find one that has some meaning to him so that he feels like he’s not just doing it for the requirement. Id there an ancestral language? A country where he’d like to study abroad?

^the majority don’t start from the beginning of their language at Michigan. I think he should place as high as he can and finish the requirement with as few language courses as possible but take them pass/fail. You don’t want to give up electives with extra language classes you don’t enjoy.

For LSA your last term of language cannot be pass/fail. You need a C.