Does this language hook give me a competitive advantage applying to HYP?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi there, I’m new over here so please be gentle(can I get some love from fellow trekkies? Who likes my name?). There was this talent I have (I hope I don’t sound too arrogant). See, I can speak a lot of langauges.I’ve sort of picked them up over the years due to different interests. All self-taught. Now before you prepare to type in ‘you should get them tested’ not to worry my friend, already there.

Let me just write them down to get them out of the way (Note: I will switch some data so as not to give my identity away to potential admissions peoples on these threads (although I suspect they’d too busy at their committees to take a peak here, but don’t worry, I’ll switch the languages with other languages of equal political and demographic weight/importance):

English- Native, duh

Turkish -very good (I sort of grew up with it, it was the inferior language to English as I grew up in the U.S. but I still can watch movies fine and read it well). I’m American-Turkish in case that matters

French- AP French- 5, won french subject award at my school

Spanish- AP Spanish LITERATURE- 4, Spanish SAT II-800, Won a 1st place state spanish contest at the advanced level

Russian- got certified at the B2 level by a Russian government regulated test (pretty much I can be a journalist in Russia with this).

Chinese- AP Chinese-3 (In my defence my spoken Chinese is horrible so all my marks came off the written section which I think is actually better than most Chinese-Americans).

Portuguese- one level below my Spanish but very good too, it’s pretty much a slightly distorted Spanish (or the other way around lol), not certified however.

Also planning to learn German (for Nietzsche, Kant, Freud, etc) and Japanese

That should make 7 proficient, 6 if only certified and 9 if we talk about overall.
In addition to this I have a History SAT II at 780, American History AP at 5, SAT composite at 1550-1600 (again, purposefully muddying it to hide identity), and I’m head of my school’s DECA club where I won a bunch of awards (like I’d consider myself easily top 5in my city’s entire highschool population and I live in one of the top 3 cities (by population that is). I’m at a pretty good private school and probably 8th in my class of 300 students.

On top of that, my native language, English is pretty good too, I was in an advanced writing class a year ahead last year and I blew the rest of my class out of the water.

My only worry is that I didn’t do anything astonishing like start a business or run an NGO or publish something on the huffpost, I mean I sort of just did what was easy and what I enjoyed, in a sense I sort of sleep walked into it. I really love reading, learning, philosophy, languages and politics.

Some other things I’m into: volunteering (I do something similar to the YMCA watch over kids program for a total of 100 hours ish), I also volunteer at a Green organization (again, I’m avoiding specifics) and I write for the student newspaper.

The reason why I’d like to get into HYP specifically is because of their insane endowments, I think they’d allow me to conduct research (travel, study on global projects, etc) in a way most other universities simply wouldn’t. I’d be happy to get into any one of them and I honestly have no preference as they all have insane endowments and brand-name never meant much to me.

And as for why I’m posting here, I’d like to know from some of the more senior members preferably whether I’d be a competitive candidate at these 5-7% acceptance rate universities. If you judge this profile as 25%, I’d consider that pretty good tbh and then maybe I’d apply, otherwise I wouldn’t want to risk rejection a mountain of paperwork in vain.

Thank you all in advance!
Live long and prosper.

2

With all your Star Trek references, why can’t you speak Vulcan? I say forget it. On a more serious note, I would almost classify your language gathering as an EC. Treat it as such, perhpas write your essay about it ( you have the bones of an essay in your post, IMO), and emphasize the role foreign language plays in your life. FYI, there are colleges that are better for FL than HYP, and you will probably have more opportunities to research FL at an undergrad level if you go to one of those colleges. Notably, Georgetown, Middlebury, and U Wisconsin. So aim for a few realistic schools as well. Your stats seem good, but this is not the chances forum, and your chances are just as bad as everyone’s when the acceptance rate is that low.

3

I don’t think the languages are a “hook” but it is rare enough (in the US) to know so many languages that admissions officers will take note of it and it will help your chances. That said, at HYPS you are up against every valedictorian and class president (and quite a few people who are both). Your proficiency in languages will likely get you some notice but it’s not a golden ticket.

4

Just because a school has a large endowment doesn’t mean they give it to undergrads to conduct research and travel. If the ability to conduct research is the reason for choosing those schools, you should investigate it further. I would suggest you contact the language departments of the schools you listed and some other less selective schools (which you will need to apply to anyway), and get more detail about research opportunities available to undergrads.

5

Unless you have also somehow attained Kolinahr, I don’t see it as much of a hook. Kidding! Actually, this looks like it is definitely something you can add to your extracurricular list this is both unique and interesting. I know of a few people who presented their experience with programming languages in a similar way. They were ultimately accepted to HYPSM caliber schools.

6

Kudos. I think it is an amazing accomplishment!

7

I think this is definitely very interesting, and should not be left out of your application. Certain schools (Middlebury, Georgetown, etc.) love language-learners and you have proven yourself proficient in many.

8

Along with Middlebury and U Wisconsin- Cornell, Columbia, UCLA, Stanford, and Indiana University are also strong foreign language program schools with over 40 different languages offered and innovative programs… take a look at those too…

Its really hard for anyone to chance you but it seems you have the testing scores and GPA (I’m assuming its above an UW 3.9 if you are 5th in a top private prep school) to be a viable candidate. Your proficiency and love of languages makes for an interesting EC, along with your awards for model UN, and writing…

Be careful though to not sound arrogant in your essays. Disclaimers such as “I hope I don’t sound too arrogant” don’t actually offset words like “I blew the rest of my class out of the water…” and “I’d consider myself easily top 5in my city’s entire high school population”

9

I don’t think it’s a hook because hooks are specific.

i just returned from Europe where I ran into multiple people who spoke multiple languages.

I know some students like that who will apply to those elite colleges with those skills.

10

Wow let me start by just thanking you guys so much, i didnt know this community was so responsive!

Additionally just some clarification. I do want to continue to learn foreign languages in uni, but my major/interest is prob going to be in int relation or smthn to that effect.

And sorry for the arrogant tone, i was very aware of that when i wrote the post. It’s something im working on but i wrote the post as such to convey the message without too much prolixity.

And thanks for all the tips on the essay btw.

On what I do with the languages. I’ve tried joining immigrant integration programs (most of the immigrants are Chinese, Spanish and French) but most of them required me to be 18 or above.
I do however regularly engage with people on skype in other languages and help them learn English. Should i mention that in some capacity?

I look forward to more responses. You guys are so helpful!

11

I agree that it is not really a “hook” but it is an impressive and an unusual accomplishment that will certainly add to your application. Still, IMO it is impossible to “chance” anyone for those hyper-competitive schools as acceptance rates are just so low – as I tell everyone be sure to come up with match and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be happy to attend.

12

“I wrote the post as such to convey the message without too much prolixity.”

Your stats alone convey the message without too much prolixity.

My advice would be to let your stats speak for themselves; in your essays convey your research interests and the global problems you are excited to tackle. Intertwine how language learning has given you a unique perspective to understand these problems and how you hope to integrate the languages in pursuit of solutions…

Agree w others saying to come up with matches and safeties that fit you -cross your fingers for HYP. Good Luck!

13

Have you considered using your love and knowledge of languages to study and work in international relations?

They could also come in handy at the executive level in global organizations, or in multiple positions within a company that markets or operates globally.

14

Sure, talk about the Skype sessions, but frame it as a regular commitment. List the number of people you communicate with regularly and their nationalities if possible. There are only so many words you can use on the Common app, so find a few different ways to list it and settle in the one that conveys the most pertinent info.

15

I’m not so sure about listing the Skype sessions… Rosetta Stone and many of the other self study language programs all offer that as part of their $$ programs so I really do not think that is an EC …

16

OP, I disagree with the suggestions that your accomplishments are not incredibly unusual. Crossing multiple alphabets/grammatical structures (tonal languages) is far from being a norm anywhere. It is an amazing skill. If you truly self-studied to proficiency across all 4 areas of language acquisition-reading, writing,speaking, and listening- for that many languages, it will be a huge draw for college applications.

However, you do need to be careful in what you say. AP level places a student into 200/300 level FL courses. That is not proficient in a language. It is functional. Proficient is really s higher level of language ability. B2 equates to intermediate-high/advanced-low…that would be proficiency.

17

I was curious how ACTFL equates APs and I need to address an error in my post. Apparently APs are supposed to be intermediate-high level proficiency. https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/SealofBiliteracy-ComparisonofScales-TalkingPointsv3.pdf

I guess I have been severely understating my dd’s level of abilities.

18

I should prob clarify the Skype sessions. You pretty much go on language communities online and try finding people whose native language is a language youre learning and who want to learn you native language (i will just say that as an english speaker you will be in high demand especially among Russians and Chinese, highly suggest it for those interested). It’s free and the experience is mutual.

Also could someone please explain to me what the verb ‘chance’ exactly mean as used in the contexts above?

19

@Mom2aphysicsgeek I think your real world assessment might be more accurate as son’s 5 on AP Language course only placed him into the 200 level course at IVY school. -Although it did exempt him from the language requirement if he so chose…

20

@runswimyoga Thanks for that feedback. My Dd did not take any FL APs, but she is fully conversant in French, writes equivalent to English lit essays in French, watches movies and read novels in French, etc. I was guessing her level was advanced-low, but based in the fact that APs are supposed to get you to int-high/adv-low, I am now wondering what her actual level is. I would guess her Russian is AP level and her French is light years beyond that.