Credit hours/language vs. time to apply/prepare Fall 2016

[England]

I am in the process of finalizing my course load for Fall 2016, which is when I will be submitting my grad school apps, scholarship applications (Fulbright, Marshall, etc.), taking the GRE's, completing the second phase of my Honors Thesis, etc.  I would like your advice on whether I should sign up for 15 hours, which would include an elementary class in a second language (Italian), or just not take the language and stick with 12 hours. Given the amount of time I will need to fill out apps, tweak my SOP, a other tasks for grad school, I am not sure what to do.

I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by not taking a harder course load (do grad schools put as much emphasis on that?) or adding more language preparation, but I could see how just taking the three classes and the the 3 cr. Honors Thesis class would benefit me time wise for all that is required to apply.  Any wisdom from those of you who have traveled this path would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!

[Neist]

I can only comment for myself, but the work I put into my grad school applications was easily equivalent of a 3 credit hour course. Personally, I'd focus on making your applications better. You don't want to submit unpolished materials.

Do you really need the language prep? Will it be relevant to your graduate studies?

[rising_star]

I'll just chime in to say one thing. The scholarship apps for things like Fulbright, Marshall, Rhodes, etc. are due so early in the fall semester that you're working on them over the summer, not in the fall. I'm most familiar with Fulbright and the campus interviews for those typically happen in mid-September, so maybe a few weeks into classes. 

Without knowing more about the topic of your honors thesis, your preparation for doing it, and how far along in the process you are, it'll be impossible for anyone to say how much time that will consume in any particular semester. Similarly, we can't know about the workload for your other courses. So the question really is whether or not you need to take Italian now to prepare yourself for graduate school or if it's something you could take over the summer before starting or once you're enrolled in grad school. Again, we can't answer that, as Neist has said.

[TMP]

What do you need Italian for?  It sounds like an intro level course... which is going to be a LOT of work.  I'd choose between Italian or grad school.  I mean, unless it's one of those pesky requirements for graduation...

[England]

Thanks for all the replies.  Neist, what you described in terms of the amount of time that it takes to apply (and do it right) is exactly why I am hesitant to stretch myself too thin in terms of time.  rising_star, I knew I had to have the bulk of my Fulbright/Marshall application work done by the start of school; but after your post I went and read the Fulbright application instructions more carefully.  I didn't realize there was a separate institution interview before the app was submitted. Thanks for pointing that out. I am meeting with our Fulbright Advisor before the end of the semester to get set up for dates, etc. for the fall.  TMP taking the language was just to have another language on my transcript.  My honors thesis is pretty extensive and I want to give it a lot of attention in hopes that I can be chosen to speak about it at a conference. I've decided I am going to forego the language for now and concentrate on making my applications/thesis the best they can be.  Thanks everyone for sharing your advice!

[Sigaba]

5 hours ago, England said:

I am in the process of finalizing my course load for Fall 2016, which is when I will be submitting my grad school apps, scholarship applications (Fulbright, Marshall, etc.), taking the GRE's, completing the second phase of my Honors Thesis, etc.  I would like your advice on whether I should sign up for 15 hours, which would include an elementary class in a second language (Italian), or just not take the language and stick with 12 hours. Given the amount of time I will need to fill out apps, tweak my SOP, a other tasks for grad school, I am not sure what to do.

I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by not taking a harder course load (do grad schools put as much emphasis on that?) or adding more language preparation, but I could see how just taking the three classes and the the 3 cr. Honors Thesis class would benefit me time wise for all that is required to apply.  Any wisdom from those of you who have traveled this path would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!

MOO, your focus should be the honor's thesis (especially if it's going to be your writing sample), your statement of purpose, and developing further your relationships with the professors writing letters on your behalf.

If you take the language class, which I do not recommend, figure out if you can take it P/F or P/NP. 

 

[NoirFemme]

3 hours ago, England said:

Thanks for all the replies.  Neist, what you described in terms of the amount of time that it takes to apply (and do it right) is exactly why I am hesitant to stretch myself too thin in terms of time.  rising_star, I knew I had to have the bulk of my Fulbright/Marshall application work done by the start of school; but after your post I went and read the Fulbright application instructions more carefully.  I didn't realize there was a separate institution interview before the app was submitted. Thanks for pointing that out. I am meeting with our Fulbright Advisor before the end of the semester to get set up for dates, etc. for the fall.  TMP taking the language was just to have another language on my transcript.  My honors thesis is pretty extensive and I want to give it a lot of attention in hopes that I can be chosen to speak about it at a conference. I've decided I am going to forego the language for now and concentrate on making my applications/thesis the best they can be.  Thanks everyone for sharing your advice!

If you're hoping another language will boost your grad application, I would advise you show it in your writing sample. Grad schools want you to have reading/translation skills more so than conversational. Instead of the language class, teach yourself to translate Italian texts (relevant to your research, of course) into English.