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Hi melissa1, I'm happy to elaborate on what I said, but the tabula rasa comment is pretty much just what it is; I was encouraged to proceed in my graduate career almost as if I had never attended Tufts. I've taken that advice and it's done me well. I do, of course, discuss it at pertinent times - if I worked with a particular person, took a certain course, and I do allude occasionally to my thesis research, but all in all I am currently a student elsewhere, am exponentially better off here than I ever was there, and I act accordingly. The reputation of the program varies. You'll find that many who think the program has a good reputation are simply allowing Tufts' very good undergraduate reputation to color what they perceive of the Classics graduate program. Some graduate alumni, particularly those who went through the philology track, found success after, but my experience of the archaeology students is that those of us who did succeed had to kick and claw to do so. I have seen several give up and leave the field entirely, one even without earning their MA. All but one of the faculty I worked with at the time are no longer affiliated with the university. Such a faculty turnover reflects very negatively upon a department, not to mention the damage it does to those attempting to do graduate research. Currently, to my knowledge, the department has one TT faculty member who does archaeology but is rarely in residence, and otherwise they have not been able to secure funding to get a single additional archaeologist for longer than a year at a time. There are good MA programs, but Tufts is no longer one of them. I would recommend looking closely at Arizona and FSU, both of which have had success with students moving on for PhD programs, but evaluate them carefully; their situations are both far from ideal. Taking on an MA is a difficult choice; it can handicap you in the future. I would strongly recommend doing a post-bacc program, excavating in the summers, and applying for PhD programs rather than taking on an MA. If I could do it all over again, this is precisely what I would do. -nike

I have to agree with Brandi's last point - don't be afraid to take time off if your current options aren't ideal (speaking to the OP, but also to anyone else in a similar situation). It sounds scary, and feels terrifying at times when you do it, but trust me, there is nothing wrong with it. There's no reason you need to be in a program consecutively, BA -> MA - > PhD. Time off can actually do yoou a lot of good (extra maturity, perspective, money (!), sometimes new contacts you wouldn't have made otherwise). And this is the point that I cannot stress enough - this is your future. The degree you earn now, or the time you spend in a program (say you don't finish for whatever reason) - *that* is something that follows you and defines you for the rest of/a large part of your career. Don't make this decision lightly, and definitely do not make it because you feel like you have to do *something* so you might as well go to X university - you don't! Only go somewhere when the situation is good for you and all signs point to yes, this is a good option.

crazyhorse, I apologize for the delay in getting back to you. That said, I do not appreciate being called out in, as you say, a public forum. Being a PhD candidate, I have demands on my time that don't always allow me to reply to inquiries such as this immediately. I did receive an email from the OP, who I replied to; I have been looking for the time to get back to you. My information comes, as I said, from being an alum from the program with connections to multiple people still in the loop. Every faculty member who worked with material culture when I left a few years ago is no longer associated with the program, but for two who work with material only very tangentially (and one of these is frequently out of the country and has not allowed students to graduate in the past-at all, not temporarily-based on his lack of availability and guidance). The rate of faculty turnover has been catastrophic for the program, as not a single one of these people has been replaced, due partially to poor leadership in the department (hopefully a thing of the past) and a lack of support from the administration. My understanding of the current situation is that one adjunct taught archaeology classes last year, and that person, I believe, is not returning. Another one-year VAP has been hired for the coming year, with no assurance that they will continue on beyond this time. The simple fact is that this situation does not allow for one to pursue graduate studies in archaeology; aside from the fact that the courses offered must be very minimal, the presence of a single faculty member for one year means it is virtually impossible to write an MA thesis, something that is generally required for PhD applications (not explicitly stated by programs, but being accepted with an MA without a thesis is unheard of), much less does this mean that a professor will be able to set your comprehensive exams (Tufts exams are based upon your coursework, not a reading list, and requires input from the faculty who taught your courses in order to tailor the exam to what you learned). I am glad to hear that some have been able to move on recently, though the programs you list - Harvard and Columbia - are philologically oriented, and I can only assume they have accepted students because of their philological training, as the philology side of the program remains relatively stable. Harvard, it is no secret, trains its archaeology graduate students as philologists first, so while the name of Harvard has cachet for sure, their reputation for material culture is not strong. Even their own faculty members have told prospective students this. So while it is good that others have gone on, their situations are not ideal for some who look at Tufts' program. I use the word disgraceful because the situation there is underhanded. The OP mentioned not being able to find out who their faculty members are, and I expect this is directly correlated with the unstable situation for archaeology there. Additionally, the reputation of Tufts is not good, and I say this as someone who is saddled with a degree. I was no underachiever whilst there, and yet the association with the program has been a detractor all around. Since moving on to my PhD program, I have been encouraged to "think tabula rasa" and not continue to advertise my connection to the program. My experience is that this is smart advice. My experience is just that - my own personal experience. I know many who have moved on since the program, though the vast majority of these come from before the faculty shakeups of a few years past. I have seen several of my friends fail in attempting to get into PhD programs, due to faculty turnover, lack of name recognition, and the growing knowledge of the situation there. Knowing this, I felt I should pass on the information so anyone looking to attend could make a more informed choice, that's all.

SD, I'm sorry I didn't see this post sooner. I am an alum of the Tufts program and have current information about the state of the program and the faculty (or lack thereof- they currently do not have an archaeologist there on more than a one-year basis - this is NOT something that will allow you to finish the program in a productive way). Please PM me if you see this. As an undergrad institution, Tufts is selective and very competitive - for graduate work in Classics, it is *not*. The fact that they are accepting archaeology students when they quite literally have no archaeology program is disgraceful.

For those wondering about the possibility of being accepted without being at a prospectives weekend: the possibilities vary. At some schools, if you aren't invited out, you are basically rejected. I know this was the case at Brown a couple of years ago, as I was told as much by the chair when I inquired about the status of my application (why they can't just tell the applicants that, I have no idea). That said, there are schools who will not reject you outright because they're still pondering - someone not flown out might not be in the top tier of candidates, but certainly not out until that top tier makes their own decisions. This is the case at a couple of places I know of, and in my own program that has been the case for several of our current students (who, by the way, are mostly fantastic, so it goes to show that applications aren't always representative of who we are & become). So, the truth of it is - as always - it depends on the school, but there is reason to not give up hope just yet, should this be the boat you're in. Also, just fwiw - this whole thing is a bit of a game, and a lot of it relies on alchemy and luck. If this isn't your year, there's no shame in it. I was recently told by a professor that some of the best students he knows, from various programs, needed multiple years to get in. If you're really serious about the field, don't let anything get in your way -just keep working and improving and try again. I can say from personal experience that it can pay off big time.

Hi Lucan, I have a couple of things that I can add, based on my experience as a previous Rutgers applicant & acceptee. First, a dear friend of mine is an alum of the program - she not only had glowing things to say about the program, but she was placed in a tenure-track position right out of graduation (a place where she is very happy). At the APA/AIA meetings the year I applied, I met several Rutgers grad students and alums, all of whom had similarly glowing things to say - one of whom even said that, if he had to do it all over again, he would go nowhere else. I've never seen another school with such happy students, which is a huge plus for this program. Additionally, I met with the then-head of the department - Corey Brennan, who is currently director of the AAR - who was phenomenal. Finally, as he told me, at that time they had a 100% placement rate for their graduates, which is unheard of. I believe the program is small enough that they are able to give the support of the entire faculty (should one earn it!) when they put a candidate on the market - again, something that is unheard of, and really invaluable. I decided to go elsewhere, but only because my own subfield is not truly represented at Rutgers and I found a better fit - but this was specific to my research and situation. Your interests are a much better fit than mine ever would have been! I have no investment in Rutgers - I just had such a lovely experience with them, from application to acceptance, and even to today, that I wanted to pass it on. I haven't been as impressed with another program through their application process. Those affiliated truly do seem to love it. Hope the right decision for you is an easy one to come to!

dudgeonmaster, try not to stress just yet - it's still early. Decisions start in the first & second week of February, and those are the early ones. Some do notify in January, but they are rare. I'm at one of the schools that's been mentioned on the board a bit, and our faculty haven't done more than their own individual readings of the applications just yet - probably another week to three weeks before they start notifying first round candidates.

Lanthy, thanks for the offer! I'm visiting in a couple of weeks, so I'll get a feel for what I want to know a bit better after that point. But right now I'm thinking about housing - trying to set up times to see places when I visit. What are the spots to stay away from for housing, and where to aim for? I hear Clifton is almost all undergrads, and that Clifton Gaslight is more grad students, but still close to campus. I also hear downtown is pretty hit-or-miss, and can be really sketchy. How do students find housing - is there a campus office, or a set of realtors that are most helpful? Or is it more craigslist and word of mouth?

I'd like to see a thread about everyone's concerns about moving, particularly long-distance. We've got lots to think about - packing, truck/trailer rentals, costs, pets, spouses, etc. What are you most concerned about, or need some advice on? I'm most worried right now about having to rent an apartment sight-unseen for the fall. I'm moving to an area that is a 15-hour drive from where I am now, and flights are hard to come by as there aren't any direct routes - basically, making the trip is really expensive. I'm trying to visit soon to get a feel for the place, but probably won't be able to get an apartment lined up for the fall as it's still really early for Sept. 1 leases. However, I'm in a discipline where most everyone goes abroad for the summer months, so if I put off my visit until June or so in an attempt to get a lease signed, I will miss out on meeting most of the grad students and faculty, and probably get a really lonely feeling from my new school. So my options aren't great, and I'd much rather visit now and meet folks. But that leaves me to sign a lease based only on pictures and trusting a landlord... which could work out ok, but could very easily not... Anyone have any tips on this? I can't be the only person who can't afford a lease-signing trip to New School U. Any other moving worries?

So, I haven't been able to visit (yet!) my new program, and I really want to get in touch with some of the current students to get a feel for the atmosphere of the department (yes, there's a reason I didn't do this before - no worries). I have the names of a few at various stages of their degrees who my advisor recommended I get in touch with, but the problem is, I can't come up with anything to ask! All I really want to say is 'what advice do you have?' or 'what do you wish you'd known before you arrived?' But those are really broad questions, and I don't want to ask them either right away, or without anything more specific as well. I know I'd be annoyed if I was in the middle of finishing papers and grading, and I got this random, extremely-broad email. And I really don't want to give anyone a bad or odd impression of me before I've even gotten there. Anyone have any suggestions about what I could ask? I've only made the decision to go recently, so my head is still swimming - this is probably why I can't collect my thoughts!

Anyone going to Cincinnati this year? Know anything about the school or city (other than what you find on the website, that is)? Go Bearcats

Palimpsest, deianeira, congratulations!! I wondered if those two notices on the results page were you guys. You must be thrilled!! Discostu, your question might be better addressed to certain schools than to us. While different disciplines will have different requirements as far as the important aspects of an application, that varies from school to school as well. Some have minimum GPA/GREs, some don't - it all depends. You're probably best off contacting the admissions offices of each school you're interested in to find out if they have official cut off points.

I'm on one alternate funding list and, seemingly, two admissions waitlists. So I'll chime in - decline your unwanted offers, PLEASE! This waiting is killing me!

Well, we've all gone really quiet. Anyone have any news, on anything? Still waiting on a couple of schools? Has anyone made a final decision, or narrowed it down?

It never ceases to amaze me how late the UK education system does everything, compared to the US system. Otherwise, I have heard from several people who have done postgrad degrees at Oxford that college places are easier to come by as a PG than as a UG, because they aren't dealing with as many factors for us as they are for UGs. Most of those I know heard about their college acceptance by the end of March, but perhaps that was early, compared with what your email said. Thanks for the information!