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dissata

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  • Location
    Fort Worth
  • Program
    Classics

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  1. I only applied to two Ph.D programs also. Makes me very nervous. I know, I feel the exact same way! Best of luck to you!
  2. dissata

    sop + ws

    This is true for me also. I did talk with my profs a lot. Sometimes they were very helpful, other times I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Keep in mind that I am complaining "post application"... Many of my questions were eventually answered, it just felt as if the answers were unduly difficult to obtain. This goes hand in hand with the in-depth and scope question. Does relevant refer to recent or influential? For example, I could write a paper on Aristotle's poetics using S.H. Butcher, Gerard F. Else, Francis Ferguson, Lane Cooper, or Leon Golden. All of these men are highly influential, but none are particularly recent. I could just focus on more recent articles and books, but many reference or rely on these previous academics. You are right, it is easy to find information on writing a good SoP. I sort of lumped the SoP in with the writing sample, which I shouldn't have. Thank you! I need all the luck I can get! Great link. I had come across this early in my application process and it was very helpful, but for some reason I forgot about it. The survey is particularly nice (Especially as I go through my "I am doomed" phase.
  3. dissata

    sop + ws

    True. I suppose I should have been more specific; I have found it difficult to find admission and acceptance statistics in general for Classics. Some info can be found here, and there are a few out-dated statistics for a couple schools, but nothing that allows one to make an educated guess on one's chance for acceptance. The whole SoP and Writing sample process for graduate application seems very esoteric. When I have contacted schools about what length, depth, and scope my writing sample should be I am met with general and subjective guidelines such as "sufficiently in-depth" or "discuss any scholarship relevant to your field". Should my writing sample be a paper worked on during the normal course of my studies? What constitutes "relevant scholarship"? Many programs were hesitant to give me even a general page requirement. I wasn't looking for anything absolute. How hard is it to say something like, "Most successful applicants provide a writing sample around 15pp long, but, as always, there are exceptions"? This is particularly frustrating to me since I don't wish to apply to programs where I have little or no chance of acceptance. Scraping together enough cash has been difficult enough without the added worry about whether the entire process is futile. I understand that academic integrity is always a concern, but surely graduate schools or accepted graduate students could share what guidelines for SoP and writing samples are generally desirable.
  4. dissata

    sop + ws

    I don't know. I have been scouring this forum (and the web in general) for this information. A bit hard to come by, apparently.
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