Salvete Omnes! I'm currently a senior at a small liberal arts college, and recently, have made the decision to pursue my lifelong love of classics. Currently, I have four years of Latin and one of Attic Greek, along with a year of German. I've also applied to, and have received some acceptances, from MA programs in classics. I was considering a postbac to remedy my deficiencies in Greek, looking mainly at Georgetown and U Penn's programs. During the summer I plan on finishing my second year of Greek, and hopefully the first regiment of intermediate German, so as to have the requisite preparation upon entering grad school. I've talked with different professors regarding PhD programs and was told that, to have a realistic chance of attaining a job, it is necessary to attend a "top 10" program, of course any rankings are highly subjective, depending on reputation and the faculty within the various departments. In addition, my GPA is currently a 3.45, although my classics gpa and last two years have been around a 3.8, and my GRE is a 165 verbal, 152 quant, and 5 analytic writing. My question is thus, to crack the "top 10" should I attend an MA program (let's say money isn't an issue for the sake of things) or spend a year at a postbac? Additionally, what measures should I take to best assist my chances of acceptance to a top PhD program?
My current thought process is that an MA is the much better route. My reasoning is that it would give me time, during the school year and summer, to significantly strengthen my Greek and German, while perhaps having the opportunity to pick up Italian. Also, the MA route would give me access to graduate level Latin courses and some of the more advanced topics, such as paleography, that normally aren't offered to undergraduates. An MA would also give me 3 semesters of new grades to show any PhD program, dulling the blow that a 3.45 would have in the eyes of a PhD committee. Plus, I would also have essentially two years to try and find a means by which to publish a piece and further stand out from the PhD "crowd." Also, I take it that I should most likely retake the GRE. Is there a particular score that is regarded as the "cutoff" for top PhD programs? Anyways, thank you for the reply, and I apologize for the rather cumbersome stream of consciousness!
