Kid has niche interest (German). How can I tell what colleges are looking for him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still dont think OP was asking who has a German dept

she was asking if it might be a hook at some places over others and how do you find out

My answer would be, start asking college reps when they visit your high school.

[Anonymous]

Stanford

[Anonymous]

German is not a "niche" interest. Having lived in Europe for years (and had my son in school there, in several countries), I can tell you that many, MANY European kids learn German as a second or third language, and they speak it fluently and at a level your American kid isn't going to learn in his high school. It doesn't make him unique at all.

And just out of curiosity, what is the point of an American kid being a German major?

I worked in Germany for a number of years. Most Germans are fluent in English and speak it better than many Americans. Americans who speak German rarely speak it fluently, even after years of high school and college German. What is he going to do "interpreters" of German (because Germans speak excellent English), and his German isn't going to be good enough to write and publish in that language (again, Germans speak excellent English, so no need or market for an American kid to become a translater). The advent of AI translation tools further reduced whatever tiny niche market there may have been.

Your kid can learn German and feel good about speaking it well to actual Germans, who will maybe be persuaded to humor him by speaking to him in German instead of in their excellent English. But this isn't a career path for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:German is not a "niche" interest. Having lived in Europe for years (and had my son in school there, in several countries), I can tell you that many, MANY European kids learn German as a second or third language, and they speak it fluently and at a level your American kid isn't going to learn in his high school. It doesn't make him unique at all.

And just out of curiosity, what is the point of an American kid being a German major?

I worked in Germany for a number of years. Most Germans are fluent in English and speak it better than many Americans. Americans who speak German rarely speak it fluently, even after years of high school and college German. What is he going to do "interpreters" of German (because Germans speak excellent English), and his German isn't going to be good enough to write and publish in that language (again, Germans speak excellent English, so no need or market for an American kid to become a translater). The advent of AI translation tools further reduced whatever tiny niche market there may have been.

Your kid can learn German and feel good about speaking it well to actual Germans, who will maybe be persuaded to humor him by speaking to him in German instead of in their excellent English. But this isn't a career path for your kid.

German is niche because nobody majors in it and some schools still care about humanities and don’t want their departments to die. That makes him unique. The rest of your “practical” major diatribe is precisely the mentality that makes German niche in the first place, but something tells me the irony is lost on you.

[Anonymous]

agree. it's niche ... as a major .. at a university. which was the question.

also, think this kid is doing more than learning German. linguistics is very in demand now

[Anonymous]

My career as American was working for a German company that wasn’t in a big city and no one out of 500 local employees were able to speak English fluently. They relied on me to speak German in technical STEM discourse with them. I don’t think that other poster knows what they are talking about. There are a ton of opportunities in business and in international relations with NGOs.

[Anonymous]

My friend's child is an archaeology major and as someone mentioned upthread German is one of two languages that where fluency is required for original research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My career as American was working for a German company that wasn’t in a big city and no one out of 500 local employees were able to speak English fluently. They relied on me to speak German in technical STEM discourse with them. I don’t think that other poster knows what they are talking about. There are a ton of opportunities in business and in international relations with NGOs.

SAP ? My husband minored in German and it helped with all the consultancy work he did in Germany.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think any really good college gives a rat’s behind about what an applicant says they want to major in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think any really good college gives a rat’s behind about what an applicant says they want to major in.

This is very wrong

Some majors are over and undersubscribed. You have to have the ECs to back it up. Nobody buys a gender studies applicant with a resume full of coding and hackathons. But a kid who shows interest in the history of Germanic languages? Sure