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[slink]

Do you kids today really call it 'uni'?

In the UK it's very common. But we're lazy.

[KeithHernandez]

I do.  Sometimes.

[wombat]

I knew it was a British thing but I've never heard it here before.

[Lister]

Uni is a very common European usage, and I've found it's typed a lot here, especially when in conversation with our friends from foreign lands, but not really spoken that often.

I always said "College" or "School," but I would usually type "Uni" online, especially since I was often speaking with people in Europe or Australia where College and University can mean different things.

[side_show]

Especially because I also want to take music ....film...

NOOOO!  Don't take film!  Film is the stupid, uglier cousin of theatre!  Boo!

Also, in regard to Arabic vs Latin... Arabic is indeed cool, and you could have some wonderful travels in the future if you learn it, but Latin is more practical, in the end (Latin and practical in the same sentence?  Huh?) - especially if you're studying another language in relation to your love of languages in general.  Learning the roots of your own language is infinitely more valuable in the long run... but that's all depending what you want to do with yourself in the long term.

[theinevitable]

oh, there is no question of Latin not being in the cards. I love Latin. I have taken it since I was in 8th grade. I am Gay for Latin, is what I'm attempting to convey here.

[wombat]

Latin is, um, charming, but I feel compelled to pop in here and put in a word for studying languages in which you can actually speak to other live human beings.  Especially since God knows Americans do not do enough of that, particularly in Chinese and Arabic.

[Hobot]

yeah. basically I am deciding on Arabic because it is the only language that has no Tick Marks against it.
I am at a loss. I love languages sooo much. But I don't think I'll be a language major. So taking more than 2 is rediculous. Especially because I also want to take music classes, and film, and economics, and psychology, and sociology, and and and *passes out*

As a Psych major, I'm more than a little biased, but I think that Sociology is a waste of time.  Basically it is Psychology without the science.  But if you really want to take it, don't bother taking Psych, too.  You should take as many interesting classes as you possibly can before being assaulted by distribution requirements and prerequisites for your major(s).  Taking both Psychology and Sociology classes is redundant (and I recommend sticking to Psych).

[theauthors]

Maybe consider taking math for a moment! An Intro to Analysis course, perhaps (any theoretical one, really)...

[Mite]

My sister just graduated with a Chinese major (among other things, I don't really remember her whole list). I don't think she found it terribly difficult, though she's not exactly fluent yet or anything. She got to do a summer research project there last year and had a blast.

A friend of mine in college took Tibetan. It was a pretty language, for sure. Probably towards the bottom on the usefulness scale, though.

Final anecdote: my mom was a Russian linguist in the army in the 70s. They moved her from German to Russian because she had a high language learning ability, and Russian was hard. But she said the weirdest people at the army language institute were the folks learning Korean and Arabic.

And anyone recommending intro to analysis for a non math person is a sick fuck. I like you, theauthors.

[theinevitable]

yeah, I mean, I am certainly taking some Math and such as well. I can't really get away with taking all of the classes I listed. At least, not if I want to graduate.

right now my real quandry, meaning the one that actually matters, is this:
I want to be a psych major. I love psychology sooo much. But it seems silly to not go for the MD and be a psychiatrist.

am I willing to spend the next huge chunk of my life working my ass off, in order to be "Dr Daniel?" Wash U has, apparently, a fantastic Med School, so the pre-med program is super-intense. People disappear. All the pre-meds I talked to were basically insane and working their asses off. I know I have the ability (look inside! you know you can do it!) to work hard, but I typically don't do it. Hm.

[Mite]

I'm just full of relevant anecdotal information today:

My father-in-law is one of the world's preeminent rehabilitative neuropsychologists (helps people regain brain function after strokes, motorcycle accidents and the like). He gets to travel the world and get treated like a king, and he never got his MD - just (just!) a PhD. It's possible.

And he tries to get me drunk on scotch every time I see him. Great guy.

[V-Adore]

As a (former) Japanese major, I have to stick up for my language here. Japanese is only spoken in Japan, yes, but Japan is a reasonably influential and important country, particularly in science and business. It may not be as valuable as Chinese and Arabic in terms of employability, but it certainly does increase your employability; I'm pretty sure it was one of the major factors that got me into graduate school. Furthermore, in terms of difficulty, it is Serious Times due to the relative incompatibility of many grammatical concepts with English ones. Passive/causative/passive-causative verb forms, collective suffixes, on- and kun- readings, and politeness levels make gendered nouns and nominative/accusative/dative look like the Junior Jumble. I may be overexaggerating the case due to the infamous sadism of my college's Japanese department, but seriously, if you want a pure linguistic challenge, it's up there.

Anyway, Chinese (or one form of it, anyway) and Arabic are also pretty solid choices. Honestly, if you learn any language with a quintuple-digit-or-better native speaker population other than the non-Spanish Romance languages and possibly German, you will probably have a serious professional edge for it, and I'm sure I don't have to convince anyone gay for Latin about language learning's beneficial effect on your life. Rock on.

[Bozack]

I am moving to Montreal and I don't speak French. I'm taking classes, but...it is sad to be me.

Hey V! Welcome back!

And yeah, I've basically heard that Japanese is shit-hard. You're a better (wo)man than I.

[theinevitable]

yeah, I have wanted to take Japanese for a while. But I got scared away from it, basically.