janeiro
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Posts posted by janeiro
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one major weakness of my application was that i didn't have any coursework (as in, none whatsoever) in either ancient philosophy or modern philosophy. i had several concerned comments on this from philosophers at interviews.
I will post my full results in a couple weeks, but I encountered this also, which I did not anticipate.
Anyways, congrats! It seems like you had an awesome season. Any idea where you are going?
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Cornell just contacted me for a Skype interview! Can anyone who has gone through this tell me what to expect?
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Anyone heard anything from Cornell?
Nope! I am also waiting, they're the last school (that I applied to) that I don't have some sort of result from (assumed or otherwise).
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Serenus, I will see you at the recruitment weekend! I assume you are going?
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I did. He called me to invite me to their visit weekend in March. He didn't mention anything about an interview beforehand, just that they'd like me to come.
Thanks for the info.
For Classics or one of the interdepartmental programs?
I applied to the Classics side of the Program in Ancient Philosophy, FWIW. I believe my application is evaluated with the rest of the Classics applications.
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Anyone else receive a phone call from Michigan today? It was from Prof. Fortson, but I was unable to return it before he left for the day.
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I'm right there with you guys.
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As a follow-up concerning the Stanford "interview," the professor mentioned that each member of the committee reaches out to a couple students for more information before they form the short list, and the committee will meet next week.
I got the impression that the professor didn't feel the program was the best fit for me, though, which is disappointing because I felt it was a good fit for my interests.
Thanks for the info!
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That was me, and that's correct - I got a request by e-mail for a Skype interview by the faculty member who read my file (my POI is not on the committee, it seems). I was confused at first because, as I'm sure those asking have seen, Stanford doesn't seem to do interviews. It just seems that this professor will be asking about my research, though, as happened by e-mail with the poster earlier; I'd imagine it's the particular professor's preference how he or she gets the information (or perhaps something I said was unclear)?
Thanks for replying. Yes, I was a bit confused because I also thought Stanford didn't do interviews. I guess they let each prof contact the students they want to work with during this time before the adcomm convenes.
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Janeiro, is that you who reported "interview view email" on results?
Nope. I had questions about that myself.
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Congrats to everyone hearing good news! I received an email from my POI at Stanford, asking a bit about my research. I suppose that's a good sign?
Otherwise, this wait is killing me.
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Statianus: One of my profs said he used to play that game, he would always trash Silius Italicus.
I don't know whom I would get rid of, but I would definitely like some Greek tragedy and more writing by the Pre-Socratics. More New Comedy would be awesome. Maybe some more of Tacitus.
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I'd assume no, as long as the scores are still valid, but maybe email the grad admissions officer and double check.
That sucks about Vanderbilt, do you think they are just ending the MA program altogether?
Anyway, I guess I'll introduce myself here: I'm applying only PhD programs and my main interests are Ancient Philosophy (particularly Plato and the Platonic tradition), intellectual history, and philosophy of language. Good luck to everyone this year!
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Watching the show Plebs has provided some comic relief lately. But yeah, acceptance seems like such an impossibility right now.
2014 round-up
in Classics
Posted
Alright, well I have officially decided, so I'll post now.
Accepted: Cornell, UC-Santa Barbara
Waitlisted: Michigan (interviewed at prospective weekend, waitlisted, but ultimately rejected), Stanford (still up in the air, but most likely rejection)
Rejected: Princeton, Berkeley, Toronto
Attending: Cornell
AOI: ancient philosophy, intellectual history
Degrees: B.A. from large public university w/ a Ph.D. program, double major Classics and Spanish, studied abroad for one semester in Rome
GRE: 166 V, 158 Q, 5.5 AW
GPA: 3.86 cum., 3.96 classics
Professional: 1 year full-time Latin teaching experience (grades 7-12), no publications
Greek & Latin: 10 semesters Greek (including 3 grad seminars), 7 semesters Latin + 1 year in high school. Extensive reading in Greek, slightly less in Latin
Other languages: second major in Spanish literature, German (5 semesters), French (3 semesters), Italian (1 semester). I recommend doing a Romance language as much as you can, since it really helps with reading other foreign languages. I felt like Spanish and Latin reciprocated and each helped me with developing skills in the other, and after so much Spanish, learning French was ridiculously easy. Of course, I was lucky to have chosen a Romance language as a second major, but I will say it was worth the extra investment, even after I decided that I was going to pursue Classics professionally.
Writing Sample: Taken from my honors thesis, which focused on characterization and genre in Plato's Symposium, roughly 30 entries in the bibliography, showed some competence in French critical theory.
Letters: Three from Classics faculty with whom I had worked quite a bit. 2 Greek literature specialists and 1 late-antique historian.
Advice: Honestly, I could have put more effort into my applications, but I don't believe the payoff would have been guaranteed. All the schools that showed interest in me remarked on my writing sample, and I think decisions really do come down to it. Greek and Latin are important, but there seems to be a threshold that if you pass, you are okay. I recommend putting more effort into your sample rather than, say, taking another language course (if you have to decide between the two, and you are at the advanced levels of both languages). My statement of purpose was well-polished, but I think I spent too much time worrying about perfection. If I had to do it again, I would now write something rather simple and direct, and tailor it more to each school. I only changed small portions of the statement for each department. I think it helps to mention particular articles/books which influenced your work by the faculty at each school. If you are writing a thesis, try to incorporate material from potential graduate advisors so you can show a real interest in their work.
Skype interviews suck. Mine with Cornell felt like a disaster, but I still got an offer. The visiting days are intense, but generally great.
I should have applied to more schools, even if I felt like the fit was tenuous, sometimes it is hard to read exactly who will like you and who won't. Don't take rejection personally, there are tons of qualified applicants and only so much funding. Even though I only got two acceptances, serious interest from two other schools feels like a great achievement. Remember that these schools are taking a bit of a risk investing in you, but they do want to produce good scholars who will reflect positively on the department.
Anyway, good luck to everyone next year, and feel free to PM any questions. I probably won't be on here much anymore, but I may check back every once in a while.