Language academic padding

[AMF]

Hello,

I had a meeting with the graduate coordinator at a public school I did not get into recently. I was told that the concern of the admissions committee was that I had not had enough academic work in the target language (Spanish, which was my undergrad major). My wife learned today that she has been accepted into that institution in a different field. Should she accept that offer, it seems to me my two best options to pad my academic work in the language would be to.

1. Try to attend Middlebury this summer. The benefits I see being the possibility of some sort of funding and my wife might consider applying as well. (I've always wanted her to learn it too).

2. Attend that institution as a Non-degree-seeking student and take 9 credits in the field. The benefits being working with the faculty so I they had a face and experiences to put to my application next year and knocking out my reading language class (an extra 3 hours for 12 total).

The later was the graduate coordinator's suggestion, but needing to pay out-of-state tuition prompted me thinking of Middlebury.

Any of your thoughts on the situation would be appreciated.

paz,

AMF

[see_bella]

If your undergrad major was Spanish, what they mean you don't have enough preparation in the target language?

[AMF]

Basically, I attended a small liberal arts school, tested out of the 100 and 200 level classes, and graduated with a 25 credit major and 2.9 in major. We had no honors program and didn't even have a senior seminar. Basically, I took a bunch of general survey courses, but nothing in depth.

Edited March 7, 2012 by AMF

[rising_star]

Hmmm... I guess you should weigh the costs and consider a multitude of options. Middlebury is supposed to be amazing but, it sounds like you'd be going into debt to attend. If you're already moving to a particular area, why not see if you can get a job at the local university or one nearby? Many university jobs come with benefits that include free or reduced tuition, which would eliminate the need to pay out-of-state tuition. And really, you should go ahead and ask that specific program how taking 9 hours as a non-degree-seeking student would affect your chances of getting in there.

[AMF]

Thanks for the reply,

There a quite a few things up in the air, including another application to different university that is nearby. I did ask that, and the response I got was that the grand majority of people in my sort of situation that ended up doing work in a non-degree-seeking status ended up in the PhD program. Thanks for the suggestion about trying to work there. I don't know why I didn't think of that.

Gracia y paz,

Aaron