This was a very thoughtful answer and thank you for those considerations. For me, I am just not sure what much else i could do. Between applying both times, I created an independent major in the language, volunteered in my local community with refugees, studied abroad twice and wrote a thesis using only sources with the target language. I also completed summer programs every year (Middlebury, ones in DC), and studied abroad twice. Would you mind reading my essays and see if there is anything I can improve on for next year? I will be a graduate student (If i get rejected from Boren and another language program I am a finalist for) so I am hoping maybe that will improve my application? Any advice? I know asking you to read them is a lot so please feel comfortable to say no. You've already provided a ton of useful information, so thanks for your consideration