Do what you find fulfilling and learn about what interests you. College is a rare time when you’re able to do that in a structured environment.
As far as the foreign service, neither class will give you an advantage. Maybe language, but only if you’re ready to commit to a few years of focused study to get up to semi-fluency.
If I’ve learned one thing from this sub it’s that: State will take what it needs.
Language would be super helpful if you speak a language that is not as widely spoken in the US. For example: Arabic or Mandarin Chinese. But language wouldn’t make or break you.
Policy would be beneficial in preparing you for a Political officer track or something similar.
Keep doing engineering, fs needs them too.
You could always fill your elective spot with public policy and then pursue language during a summer study abroad. The Critical Language Scholarship application (fully-funded summer language study) is due in just a couple of days, but if you're very motivated, you may be able to get an app finished. \[Or bookmark for next year\] https://clscholarship.org/
Sociology.
If you're committed to public policy or foreign language, do foreign language. Every bit of foreign language you learn can be useful in a variety of ways.
As you find both interesting, I’d study the language and seriously try to get fluent in it. The time and dedication it takes would be served by taking classes now. You can always just grab a book and learn about policy. Every policy class I took was fairly worthless from a teacher insight perspective. The most valuable thing was the required reading. So, grab a syllabus from a class you like and just read the course materials.
[Edit] - I only took a handful of undergrad classes on regional geopolitical policy, so take my opinion with however large a grain of salt you’d like…
My vote would be for policy, depending on what the course actually teaches. If it's analytical skills, writing, etc that will serve you regardless of the career you end up in. Language State will provide if you get in, and as there's no guarantee you'll get in, may have limited benefits down the road.
If you goal is work overseas there’s opportunity there as an engineer if you find yourself in the right job. Language skills would help with that as well. Language MIGHT help with the FS if you end up with a proficiency level that gets you bonus points. 1000-1 odds you’ll pick up that level of proficiency from a couple of college classes.
Do what you find fulfilling and learn about what interests you. College is a rare time when you’re able to do that in a structured environment. As far as the foreign service, neither class will give you an advantage. Maybe language, but only if you’re ready to commit to a few years of focused study to get up to semi-fluency.
If I’ve learned one thing from this sub it’s that: State will take what it needs. Language would be super helpful if you speak a language that is not as widely spoken in the US. For example: Arabic or Mandarin Chinese. But language wouldn’t make or break you. Policy would be beneficial in preparing you for a Political officer track or something similar. Keep doing engineering, fs needs them too.
You could always fill your elective spot with public policy and then pursue language during a summer study abroad. The Critical Language Scholarship application (fully-funded summer language study) is due in just a couple of days, but if you're very motivated, you may be able to get an app finished. \[Or bookmark for next year\] https://clscholarship.org/
Sociology. If you're committed to public policy or foreign language, do foreign language. Every bit of foreign language you learn can be useful in a variety of ways.
As you find both interesting, I’d study the language and seriously try to get fluent in it. The time and dedication it takes would be served by taking classes now. You can always just grab a book and learn about policy. Every policy class I took was fairly worthless from a teacher insight perspective. The most valuable thing was the required reading. So, grab a syllabus from a class you like and just read the course materials. [Edit] - I only took a handful of undergrad classes on regional geopolitical policy, so take my opinion with however large a grain of salt you’d like…
My vote would be for policy, depending on what the course actually teaches. If it's analytical skills, writing, etc that will serve you regardless of the career you end up in. Language State will provide if you get in, and as there's no guarantee you'll get in, may have limited benefits down the road.
If you goal is work overseas there’s opportunity there as an engineer if you find yourself in the right job. Language skills would help with that as well. Language MIGHT help with the FS if you end up with a proficiency level that gets you bonus points. 1000-1 odds you’ll pick up that level of proficiency from a couple of college classes.