alpheratz

OP, the Rare Book School at UVA offers a variety of short summer courses in codicology, manuscripts studies, and paleography. The paleography course only goes up until the 16th century, but it would at least give you the fundamentals you need to get through later scripts. There are other summer courses in paleography (for instance, the PIMS Diploma Programme in Manuscript Studies), but those tend to swing heavily medieval. RBS focuses a lot more on later/printed manuscripts, so you might find something more relevant to your interests there. @Telkanuru, wtf even *is* that script? The only way I can think to describe it is "a thirteenth-century cursive abomination." I'm too lazy to look up what it's actually called at the moment.

Ugh, I still haven't officially heard back from half the schools I applied to. I'm in waitlist purgatory at Stanford, and I assume that's a polite rejection. I'm resisting the very strong temptation to follow up with an updated transcript and CV, because I've heard that's faux pas because no one wants to go through extra materials. Still, it's hard to be patient. UVA and Hopkins haven't gotten back to me at all, and nothing has changed on my application pages on their websites. I assume those are rejections as well, but I just want to know definitively so I can move forward. When should I contact them and ask? </vent>

Popping into this rather old topic to wave hi to my fellow medievalists. I leechblocked gradcafe this past year (I need to focus on my studies!), but I finally undid that. Is going to Kalamazoo the summer between MA and PhD worthwhile, do you think? Or is it mostly PhD students who go? I've never been, but there's some stuff I'd like to see!

For anyone who's still looking to buy a laptop: the fact that the new air came out knocked down the price of the previous models by quite a lot ($200). The only update to the Air was a slightly newer processor, which reportedly didn't actually up speeds all that much. The mid-2014 model and the previous model (which they were selling through April 2014) still both have 4th generation haswell processors, so... In my mind, the two are pretty comparable. I wanted a nice ultrabook, so I got the higher end pre-configured 13.3" model (4GB memory, 256GB flash storage; MD761LL/A) for $950. $200 off the price it was selling for in April ($1,299) brought it down to $1,099, and you can get a student discount for $150 from The Evil Big Blue Best Buy. I have to admit that I was on the fence about buying an Apple because you can get laptops with comparable specs for cheaper, but I did my research and decided that I really wanted an ultrabook. At a price point of $1,299, I probably could have found something that was better than the Macbook Air (lower-end Asus Zenbook, anyone?). Knocking a total of $350 off that price made it a pretty solid deal. That practically covers the price when my proprietary mag-safe charger breaks the next four times and I have to buy new ones at the low, low price of $80! If anyone else is curious, you can still find the slightly older models for discounted prices at various online retailers (Amazon, Best Buy, etc.). I couldn't find them still being sold through the Apple store, but they're still out there.

Finally got my official Harvard rejection today, whoo. It's not a surprise at all, and especially not a surprise since the admissions started rolling out. Applying to the History program there was my one "I'm not qualified, but I really love what these people are researching so why the hell not" action, and I never thought I'd be especially put out if I were rejected (because, let's be real, I'm not a strong history applicant, let alone a strong applicant for history at Harvard). Neither of my undergrad majors were history. My primary (thesis) major was in an interdisciplinary field that uses similar research methods and my undergrad thesis was basically a history/art history thesis (Were either of these my majors? LOLNOPE.) I made a decent argument for my ability to make the discipline switch, but I still considered myself too interdisciplinary to be a solid applicant to any disciplinary program. So I was incredibly surprised when two different professors at Harvard independently contacted me for interviews. And when phrases like "we are all very impressed by your application" and "I'm looking for someone with research interests just like yours and I'd like to pick your brain for my current project" and "I see you as a future colleague, which is why I want to see you successful in grad school" get tossed about, it's hard not to hope. I dunno, I was getting some seriously good vibes from them. And it really would have been a good fit for my distressingly niche interests. More than one prof I could work with? HOLY SHIT! Anyway, the rejection season is winding down. I applied to programs in [interdisciplinary major], [Major #2], history, and art history. I've got an acceptance into an MA program, two programs are up in the air (both are historically late releasers; I've got an interview for one of them scheduled for next week), and I'm waiting for two more official rejections (I haven't gotten an acceptance, so...). It's looking like I might wind up doing the MA and then reapplying next year. That's not unexpected, and it's why I applied to the MA in the first place. However, my Harvard application clearly didn't wind up in the trashcan like I was expecting, and I might have to reevaluate my whole approach to grad school applications. Going into this mess, I was afraid that I wouldn't be a strong candidate for any disciplinary programs, so I stuck with programs I thought I was qualified for. This application process has completely overturned my expectations. I'm pretty thoroughly befuddled at this point. Here's the question I've been leading up to: is it appropriate for me to contact either/both of those two profs at Harvard and basically ask them where I went wrong, framed in a "what could I do in the next year to make myself a stronger candidate" way? I realize that grad applications are a crapshoot, but I'm having so much trouble making sense of anything. P.S. I want an interdisciplinary board on here so badly! I realize it'd be pretty dead, but I have so many questions and issues that don't fit in anywhere else. =(

Question: at what point (/does it ever) become appropriate to contact a professor to ask if you've been rejected? I figure that it's not appropriate and in many cases comes through as needy. But I was approached by two different Harvard professors for skype interviews (had them, they seemed to go reasonably well given that I had less than an hour warning for one of them), and I'm wondering if I could send them something asking for an update. I realize that at this point I've almost certainly been rejected and it's just a matter of waiting till March for the official rejection letter (though I'm hoping against hope that not all of the acceptances have gone out... Haha, likely). Still, these profs both said that they'd welcome questions. Could I maybe shoot them an email asking for a status update? Ughhhhh. I just want that last little glimmer of "but I had two interviews so I have a chance, right?????" to die a gruesome and horrible death. Preferably before March.

Ugh, I'm super jealous of all you history folk. I applied across a couple of departments, and most of them aren't going to get back to me until late Feb-mid March. Even my few history programs aren't going to get back until mid/late February. I want to knowwwwww! Congratulations to all of you accepted students!

Yeah, I have a MA program in my list where I can improve my Greek. I also have a couple of nearby unis, but I think their semesters have already started and it's too late for me to do anything til next year, by which point I hope to already be in a MA or PhD program. I've also been looking into summer intensives, but it seems like most of them start at beginning Greek. I'd like to improve my Greek, not to repeat the Greek that I've already had. The POI I was talking to had a point--it will be hard to find enough time to pursue my other interests if I have to slog through Greek. Honestly, I'm applying to a pretty eclectic mix of programs across a range of departments based on faculty interests. I double majored in Classics and Medieval Studies (hence not having enough time to take all the Greek I really should have taken), so hopefully if Classics departments don't think I'm prepared enough in the language arena, some other department will go, "Latin, German, OE, and some Greek? We'll take her." Fingers crossed, at least. The problem is that I was a bit more confident about getting into Classics programs (and this program in particular) than History/Art History programs. If I'm not prepared for a Classics program, I don't like the implication for my chances at all of the other places I applied.

I agree with Frucifera on the wording of "interview via email." Hnurgh, heard back from a POI who nicely told me, "I read your application. Looks great. Except you're gonna get screwed by Greek, you know that, right? Adcom's not going to like the fact that you only have two years." Oh well. Whoosh go my hopes! (But really...I do western medieval. I know I only had two years of Greek, but I was still holding out hope based on the fact that I've been taking graduate level courses in Latin since I was a junior in college. Time for a post-bacc, I guess?)

Thanks for the response, guys! I went into panic mode because the professor wanted it to happen ASAP. @gineau I think your impression might be correct. This is the only history program I applied to, so I'm not sure what standard practice in the field is. It wound up being a pretty informal chat with my POI about the department, the environment there, fit, etc. There were some interview-y aspects, but it was really more of a dialogue. I very much got the impression that the professor was taking the initiative (out of the goodness, kindness, and helpfulness in his heart!) and that it wasn't required by the school. @Andean Pat and jamc8383: Thanks for the helpful reminder to prepare questions. I frantically spent half an hour putting together a list of questions and it let me have a dialogue. Where I hopefully didn't come across as an unprepared moron. Kinda. I hope. P.S. As tempting as it was to wear sweatpants on the bottom, I did in fact wear real people clothes. Confidence boost!

I have a question: what differences can I expect between a skype interview and an actual interview? I heard back from a POI (post application reading, apparently) who wants to talk to me via skype. I'm not really sure what sort of questions I can expect or what degree of formality there will be. I'm also not sure if I can let myself get excited about a skype interview in the first place. I was so preoccupied with the whole "putting an application together" thing that I never bothered to let myself think about what came after submitting said application.

There's a limit to the number of courses you can put and a (rather small) character limit. I'm pretty sure the "summary of courses" section only exists so they don't have to bother with reading your transcript. I wound up just reiterating everything that was on my transcript. I think it's also much more relevant for those who didn't major in Classics to demonstrate that they took Classics courses in school.

So I might be a little bit late on this one, but what the hellassballs are the supplemental materials required for Yale Classics? I just sort of *assumed* it required the standard 3 recs, personal statement, and writing sample (I'd choose between my undergrad thesis and the 17pp version of my undergrad thesis as appropriate). I can't find anything on their website that explicitly states that. TBH I haven't really cared that much about that application since I found out that the professor I'm interested in was retiring (hence waiting til the 11th hour to ask this question), but still.

ElleHerst, it was the Medieval Art department. I hope someone doesn't accept so you make it! BuffaloSoldier, I got an email on the 4th (with an acceptance letter that was dated the 5th, so I assume they were still sending stuff out on the 5th).

Heads up, guys: I just heard back about the paid summer internship at the Met. So I'd imagine they're sending out emails in the next couple of days. I got it I can hardly believe it.