ClassicsCandidate

You're welcome! And if you have any questions about anything, feel free to message me or address me here :3

Thank you! I'm super excited about my upcoming classes. We're doing a Gender & Sexuality in the Ancient World course, so I'm really anxious to start the Fall semester!

Hello all! Since I am considering a few different places for my Ph.D., I was curious about the culture of the colleges/universities you're attending that you enjoy there. Bryn Mawr College is currently my top choice for my potential Ph.D. program, so I'd be extremely interested in that school in particular. I figured it would help if everyone shared their current institution's community/culture on-campus so others can get an idea of how the schools are; I'm interested in both inside and outside of the academic aspect. For example, what's the library situation like? What are the housing options like? Is it easy to get around? Is it loud/quiet at night? Can you walk to places easily or do you need to have a car to get around? Do you interact with graduate students from other departments often? What are some of the school traditions that you enjoy partaking in and why? What's around that you do for fun that has nothing to do with academia? Are there extracurriculars you do on campus, or is it all off-campus? How close are you with your cohort? Did I miss anything? Overall, I just want to know about everyone's experience at their campus and in their program, especially in the following programs: Bryn Mawr College (Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology), Brown (Archaeology and the Ancient World), UC Berkeley (Ancient History & Mediterranean Archaeology), UPenn (Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World), NYU (ISAW), University of Michigan (Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology (IPCAA)), and the University of Chicago (Graduate Program in the Ancient Mediterranean World). I'm interested in everyone's current experiences. What do you like best about the program and the interaction of profs/students, etc.? I just want to hear a little bit about each of the kinds of cultures because I want to make good decisions on which schools I'll be deciding on and I want to hear the perspective of students who are there already (and if you want to send me a message about anything, in particular, you don't want to discuss publicly on the forum about your program if it's one of the ones on my list, please do!). I've looked around and haven't seen much about BMC in particular, but I figured it would be good to start this thread to discuss how the cultures of graduate Classics programs are at different schools. Sorry if this is a bit ramble-y, but I am going to visit some of these schools and think it's important to get an idea of how everything fits together before I even do that. Thanks in advance!

I would love to contribute under the categories of 2 and 4!

Hello, all! I just saw this, so I wanted to say hello! I'm doing my VU degree by distance (Classical Studies), but it's still good to (virtually) meet everyone!

I'm not in your field/school, but I completed my MA in Museum Studies, and I'm 50% done with my second MA in Classical Studies, both of which I did/am doing while employed full-time at a museum. (Additionally, I have Tuition Scholar duties through my graduate school that I complete in order to get my funding, so that's another 7+ hours a week of commitment). Since you've always worked full-time through school, that's an advantage because you already have the time management skills you'll probably need. The only thing that differs for me in my current program is that I use 3-9 days of vacation time for finals (whether they're exams or papers) just to give me time to focus on only my schooling around the time that those things are due. (It's doable without taking off as well, but I have found that this improves my work). I hope this helps!

I completed my Roman Drama summer course, which means I'm officially 50% of the way through my MA in Classical Studies 😄

Hello, all! I was considering Bryn Mawr College for a Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology, and I was wondering if anyone could give me any insight into what it's like to live in the area? I'm originally from Delaware, so I'm used to small/quiet places, so if that's the vibe, I won't mind it as much. I've lived in Las Vegas for the last couple of years, and I'm unsure if I want to keep living in loud/bustling areas. So, if I attend BMC, what's around that would be walkable from off-campus housing, or would I need to have a car? (I have one but want to make sure I can walk if necessary). What's the community around the campus like? What do you like/not like about it? Any and all information would be appreciated! Thank you in advance 😄

I'm a little late to this thread, but congratulations to everyone on their acceptances and best of luck on beginning your programs in the Fall!

I agree with Marcus_Aurelius; I had an even lower overall GPA (below a 3.0) and managed to get into my first MA program (Museum Studies) as a conditional admission, ended with a 3.89. I had no issue getting into Villanova (I even received a Tuition Scholarship!) and my current GPA is a 3.92. I think you'll be fine! Just address anything that you're concerned about in your SoP, and you should be golden.

Hi there! I'm not an ANE student, but hopefully, I can help guide you to what might help you. (Also, have you tried asking this in the general history thread? There might be some historians there that might be helpful for this!) I think that you're set on the languages front, but you might want to see if you can do anything to bolster the "general education" part of it. Have you looked to see what different undergraduate programs require and compared it to what you have completed for your undergraduate? For example, UCLA requires their Ancient Near East and Egyptology majors to take general coursework for Ancient Near East Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and Near Eastern Languages and then required courses in these areas: Archaeology and Art, History, Languages, Literature, and Religion (https://nelc.ucla.edu/ancient-egyptology/undergraduate/). If you find a graduate school where you seek the Ph.D., see what they require for their undergraduate program (if they have one) and see where the gaps are in your studying. One of the things I mentioned when I applied to Villanova is that while I was out of Classics for three years, I kept up with learning about it through MOOCs. And, luckily, there's a lot of different colleges and universities that offer online or distance learning options if you need to fill in gaps. For example, Oxford University offers undergraduate online courses in Ancient Egypt (https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/ancient-egypt-an-introduction-online), Mesopotamia (https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/the-first-civilization-mesopotamia-online), and Biblical Archaeology (https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/archaeology-of-the-bible-lands-online). What does your "cultural" or "civilization" coursework look like from your BA and MA? If you're missing a few things, filling in the gaps might help. However, having said that, I would go to the universities that you are most likely to apply for a Ph.D. and send an e-mail to the head of the ANE program with your inquiries. Sometimes they do give some advice on what would make you a competitive candidate. The worst I think will happen is you might have to take some undergraduate coursework or survey history courses about the Ancient Near East before you can apply and be competitive. I would weigh your options of trying to apply before you have filled in all the gaps. Also, you might find that volunteering or interning in a museum with a relevant collection might help you stand out a little bit as well. You could send out feelers to see if there are any museums/galleries that might be looking for people near you. I feel like if you were going specifically for Biblical or Judaic studies for a Ph.D., you might be alright, but again, I think you might want to see if there are ways for you to be able to fill the gaps with self-study or formal continuing education before applying. Again, I'm not an ANE student, but I did have a similar dilemma to you with Classics because I came late to the game, too. Going to my MA program before I tackled a Ph.D. was probably what was best for me because I got a lot more focused coursework. I will probably go after a Post-Bacc in the languages, too, to refresh myself before I apply for the Ph.D. in Classics because I know it's my weakness, on top of my rusty French and non-existent knowledge of German. You have a good GPA and decent GRE scores, so what I would think would be best is trying to find ways to get relevant research or practical work under your belt if you've filled the gaps or the professors in charge of the Ph.D. programs you're aiming for say that your coursework is satisfactory. Let me know if you need me to clarify anything! I hope this helped :3

I accepted Villanova's offer a bit ago but I just got the scholarship today! Full-tuition with 7 hours a week each semester for TA'ing, which doesn't sound bad at all!

Hello all, again! I hope more people got good news while I wasn't floating around as much. I just got an e-mail that I made it in for full-tuition funding for my M.A. at Villanova, so I suppose I was just at the cut off for the funding! So that's my good news. I hope everyone is ready and excited to start the new semester!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I was so nervous about starting out with the "I've liked this stuff since I was a wee lad" type story, but apparently it worked! I got the acceptance into the MA program just a little under a week ago, so I'm really excited to start at Villanova! I think a lot of people can get nervous about sharing their SoP or that it might have too many identifying bits in it if they want to remain a bit more anonymous. I was nervous because I'm always over-critical of my own writing and I wasn't sure if I hadn't gotten in yet, so that made me hesitant to share as well.

Thanks! I'm really excited to start; I just have to wait for all the other administrative stuff to get taken care of and make sure I focus on my final semester right now as well! Nope! It took me over 50 applications before I got one last time (from Mensa, oddly enough), and now I'm going to try and do a lot of essays in the summer between my programs ending and starting! I hope everyone is getting some good news soon!