Melian4

I studied there before, and my recommendation letters were from profs on the adcom. I am international!

I don't know yet! Oxford was my safety school in a sense. I knew I'd get in, but not if I'd get funding. They announce scholarships a lot later than they make offers, so I won't know for a while! I hope the Cotsen will contact us before April...

I'd like to add to all the great advice here about contacting POIs. When you send them a first email, don't overwhelm them with questions. Rather, ask if they'd be willing to answer your questions about the program, either by email, phone, or Skype. I've been surprised by how many of them answered they'd be happy to Skype instead of email. I don't think they would have suggested it themselves, but it's a good idea to give them the option! Usually, we chatted for 45 minutes about the program, the university, and research in general. It's a great, relaxed way to determine if you'd fit in the department, and it's a cheaper option than visiting schools that are farther away.

Haven't heard a peep from them this week! Did they tell you they'd notify people if they made the cut or were rejected?

I got waitlisted at Stanford for classical archaeology; I just sent them an email reaffirming my interest in the program and I don't expect to hear anything from them for at least another month. A lot of universities haven't made offers yet, or are still finalizing funding allocation, so I'd be surprised if anyone had turned down either Stanford or Yale for another school already!

That's strange! I applied to a different department (classics) and they updated my application status page in December, acknowledging the receipt of my official transcripts, waiving of TOEFL, etc. Have you tried calling them?

Harvard seems to have begun sending offers (a friend of mine just got in).

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As someone who has lived both in Montreal and in Vancouver, I think you should also take into consideration the cost of living in both cities. Vancouver is massively more expensive that Montreal, especially when it comes to renting an apartment (it's one of the most expensive cities in the world). As a city, I much prefer Montreal -- better food, better museums, better cultural life, etc. Being on the East coast also has advantages, as you're closer to the Boston and NY universities for conferences, lectures, etc. In the end however these considerations are trivial and like other people said above, you should go with the university that is stronger in your area of specialization. Let me know if you have questions about living in either city or about UBC and McGill in general!

To reiterate what NoSleepTilBreuckelen said, a lot of very good universities still take applications in the UK. Doing a 9-month MSt at Oxford (the last application deadline is in March) in Archaeology would be far cheaper than doing a MA in the US, expand your professional network drastically, and maybe gain you a great LOR writer or two. Another non-negligeable advantage is that if you bring your family with you in the UK as dependants on your Tier4 visa, your partner can work full-time, which may ease the financial strain of doing another master's degree. I really hope you find a realistic option that makes you and your family happy! Big hugs.

Hahaha! We had a drinking game at the expense of my MA supervisor -- if he sent one of us an email containing a full grammatical sentence, that person had to buy all the other supervisees a drink that week. We didn't get very drunk that year.

I'm sorry to hear your bad news... Have you thought about applying in the UK next year (or even this year -- a lot of schools have rolling admissions)? Funding is harder to come by (but it's by no means impossible) and from my experience they tend to be more opened to student with international qualifications. I don't know if your heart was set on the US for any particular reason, but getting a PhD in the UK might be an option to consider! Don't loose all hope just yet.

For those of you (especially linguistic folks) going mad with waiting -- this game is so much fun! http://greatlanguagegame.com/ It asks you to guess a language according to a short audio file. I had never heard of some of the languages! Anyway, just thought I'd share it seeing as I've just lost half an hour on it. It *may* be just fun enough to put your mind off applications for a few minutes.

Hi NicoleNeolithic, I applied by the November deadline. Don't worry if you haven't heard anything yet, it's still very early for them. They will probably send out answers around the beginning of March! Where else have you applied in the UK?

I can confirm that one of my friends got in UPenn over a week ago (I believe this was for Classical Studies).

If you don't mind me asking, what made you consider it a safety school?

Oh no! Sorry to hear it -- I hope good news will come your way soon!

Congratulations!!!

THANK YOU guys for posting these, it's incredibly helpful. I've had informal Skype chats with potential advisors before applications were due, but now that the real interviews are looming, I'm absolutely terrified. I think my worst nightmare is that they would decide to throw me a battered papyrus and ask me to translate it on the spot... Unlikely to happen, but still. Were any of you taken aback by some of the more technical questions asked by the interviewers?

Hi Marcus Tullius, I haven't applied to Michigan, but from my own experience when programs have long interview week-ends (which they usually call 'visiting week ends' or something of the sort in an attempt to make them sound less scary), they do fly in all applicants, international or not. Of course Michigan may be doing things differently; I am only speaking from my experience as an international student applying to other top classics and classical archaeology programs Edit: Very best of luck to all of you applying to Michigan!!! It looks like a wonderful program

Emmaatquoins -- I believe Brown's usual intake is around 4 students. Last year someone I know declined their interview offer because she had gotten in her two top choices by mid-February and I believe they invited someone else; it's still early, and similar things could happen! I hope you hear good news soon xx

To be honest, this application season has been so weird that I don't know what to think in terms of keeping or loosing hope. The place where I thought I was the best fit (this impression was supported by lengthy Skype conversations with a POI whom I knew from a dig) rejected me outright, whereas the school where I thought the fit was most tenuous (Brown!) has invited me to their interview week-end. I really hope that the end of the week will bring good news for everyone! I'm a classical archaeologist btw, I should probably have mentioned that when I introduced myself

Hi everyone -- I was wondering if anyone applied to ISAW this year?

Hi Emma, I'm new to the forum part of the site, but I am the one who posted the Brown interview on the results board. From what I understood, they are flying in their top 8 candidates in March for a long interview week-end. I believe three international students have been invited this year (including me). I wouldn't loose hope just yet if I were you though! They may contact more candidates later on in the game. I'll let you know if I hear anything more and I will cross my fingers for you!

Hi everyone - Long-time lurker, first time poster. I am one of the anonymous waitlisted people on the results page. This waitlist seems incredibly long! I got the same email as you, addressed to "Dear Candidate," which I found both bizarre and slightly insulting. I did reply to the email to reaffirm my interest in the program; I figured it never hurts to let them know that you haven't yet accepted another offer! Best of luck to everyone I hope a few of you (us!) get an offer in the end!