ClassicsCandidate

Just kidding, apparently I did get an email but it was super buried and didn't see it.

Just double-checked in the portal and saw the rejection for ISAW for me, too. ETA: I didn't even get an email, just saw this and other people were posting and checked the portal. I haven't heard anything from them except the confirmation when I submitted my application.

I haven't heard back from them at all still. I applied with a Classical reception of ancient Greek religion in the contemporary era proposal.

So, I didn't apply to UNC for Classics or Art History, but you might want to check the Art History thread to see if anyone's heard back:

If any of you were the ones asking about Yale Classics on the results page, I haven't heard anything yet, either. It says on the application that we'd get an email to check the portal when they've made the decision. Also, a friend of mine had an acceptance in her spam folder! With funding! So make sure you're checking that, too!

I'm hoping that now we're getting toward the end of February, we'll all be getting (hopefully good!) news soon! ???

Hi! I haven't done the Cambridge course, but the ancient Greek course I'm doing right now via Zoom is the Belfast Classics courses with Helen McVeigh, who's based in Northern Ireland. They have both Latin and Greek group courses, one on one courses, and there's a 5-day-a-week Summer intensive for either Latin or Greek in whichever level you think is best. I went with Helen because she's got the cheapest distance program I found. Yes, that means in my time zone, I'm up at 6:30am for Greek on a Saturday, but it's worth it. Just wanted to throw that out there in case you wanted to check it out! (And if it looks like your level of Latin or Greek is fully booked, email her - this is how I found out she was adding another section for Greek learners not yet listed on the site). https://helenmcveigh.co.uk/courses/

Congrats for your full funding at the University of Maryland! ? Rutgers sent me an email about their PhD program, since they take applications until February 15th, we'll hear from them around early to mid-March, but it might be sooner than that! I think because the MA has rolling admissions but prefer a February 15th date, you might hear around the same time frame.

That's excellent, getting into your top school is awesome! And thank you for sharing ?

Thanks for letting us know all of that! If you don't mind my asking, which other schools did you apply to? Just curious since you committed to ISAW already ? Congratulations again! ?

Yeah, I'm bracing for it, too. I'm already poised to get my M.Ed. (local university here has rolling admissions) as soon as I get my final rejection as my current backup plan but still holding out hope for some other schools ?

Congrats on your acceptance, @st.augustine! As most of you, I'm also waiting for a response from Princeton. I applied to Classics with an interest in their Program in the Ancient World since my interests are really interdisciplinary. I haven't heard anything from Yale or NYU, either. (UDel was the art history program and from the results page looks like they don't really respond until the end of March half the time, either.)

That's fair. I did find my other housing through Craigslist, so I would definitely suggest using caution if you chose that route. That's a pretty long commute, but if you can get any of your books as an audiobook, that's how I ended up getting through a lot of my textbooks/novels (I was History and English as an undergrad) the year I commuted (45 minutes away). I believe grad students get their own space in the library to work at but yeah, it's really hard to know with COVID how they'd be going about it. I'd suggest reaching out to the DGS to inquire to make a decision about it - if you're mostly going to work from home anyway, going three days a week doesn't seem that bad for the commute. Yeah, where I currently live now in Delaware is closer to Maryland than the UDel campus, so I definitely understand that!

It is possible, but you'll have to do a lot of intense budgeting. Like I posted above about a year ago, I always found the cheapest housing on https://udel.uloop.com/, where people are often looking for roommates or you can find people trying to sublet their places. Do you have a car? Or know someone who goes there who would be willing to give you a lift for grocery shopping? I got a BJ's (like Costco, but closer; both are in Newark but BJ's is a 5-10 minute drive whereas Costco is a 15-25 minute drive away from campus) membership and it was a lifesaver when I could get things in bulk. I was working 20+ hours a week as a student who was technically an "independent student" because I had no familial support, so I also qualified for SNAP (and there's an update about students and SNAP here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/students, which may be worth looking into). Check everywhere and anywhere if they give a student discount, which you can usually get by showing your UDID, so keep that with you at all times, even if you go out of state for anything. The bonus here is that Delaware has no sales tax, so you don't have to worry about that. If you want me to expand on anything or have any more specific questions, let me know!

Thanks for sharing! I'm still waiting to hear back from them, as well.

No problem, @Wafflotron! Iirc, Rutgers has a preference date of February 15th but will take applications until the beginning of March for the MA, so early/mid-March might be your timeline, too!

To be fair, that's quite a fast turnaround for them to do after having a February 15th deadline! I have had some of my applications in since September (all of mine essentially, except for a couple, had a December 15th deadline, and still won't get back around the same time). I'm really sorry that one school won't tell you about the funding until you accept! Honestly that feels really manipulative and that would make me so anxious, I hope you're doing okay with it.

Just wanted to update in case anyone applied to Rutgers and were wondering when they'd hear back; I got the email today that they were acknowledging my application to Rutgers. The rest of the email read: "Our PhD application review timeline is relatively late compared to many other schools. Since our final deadline for submission of PhD applications is Feb. 15, we don't expect to be able to make decisions until around the first week of March, perhaps sooner. In any case, I'll be sure to provide updates on the process toward the end of February. Until then, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns."

Happy to help! Thank you for the confidence in my success, I'll take all types of encouragement I can get about it, lol. Yeah, I think because ancient Greek and Roman art - and related art like Thracian - needs a lot of training in the languages as well as the art, for my purposes, going through an entire PhD is worth it for that focus. I'd say that isn't necessarily true if you focus, for example, on something like Pre-Raphaelite art. And yes! She ended up in a music archive, which was perfect for her; so you can always look at adjacent things that interest you if you have the training for it (for example, one of my specialties is witchcraft in the ancient world, so if I find a library position at a rare books collection relating to that in some way, it'd be outside of actual museums, but something I would love to do.)

You're welcome; I'm happy I could help! I'm pursuing a PhD because the majority of job listings for museums that hold collections I'm specializing in actually require a PhD. So, I still want to work in museums, but ideally I'd work at a university museum where I could also teach as a professor (a dream I know is extremely hard to get to, but I'd probably get my teaching license and do high school and/or community/adjunct teaching until I land a job where I can be a curator, so I do have plans on what to do about all of that.) I think if you're interested in research libraries you could consider an MLIS or, if one of your schools have this program, get a complementing certificate, e.g. some schools will have a Museum Studies or Archivist certificate available to do in addition to their MA or PhD program without an extra cost. I honestly wished I had gotten an MLIS vs. my MA in Museum Studies right now because an MLIS is more versatile because a lot of times you can get a job in a museum or a library with it, and there are so many different types of libraries, it would have been better than just my MA in Museum Studies (still considering doing it, but I'd have to find an MLIS I can either afford out of pocket or fully funded). I understand that it's a difficult decision. I think I'd be more hesitant for something partially funded myself because I already have a ridiculous amount of student debt ? The plan I have ideally is to apply for academic and museum positions until I land a position in a place I'd like to work, and I know sometimes that that can take a long time, so if I spend some time as a teacher in the classroom, I have experience doing that and am decent at it. I think you can definitely get a curatorial or research position with an MA, it'll probably just be at a smaller institution. I know someone who has an MA in Museum Studies and now she's the Assistant Director of an archival vault, so anything can happen!

I've been getting so many wonky calls myself! I had one from Toronto the other day, and I was like, you know what, professors could have kept their original numbers, I still have my out-of-state one, you never know...and it was definitely a spam call. It's definitely the season to be bamboozled into those calls!!

Hi! I'm a museum professional who has their MA in Museum Studies and plan on getting a PhD for my "area" (ancient Greek and Roman art/archaeology) before I seek more museum work. It's really hard to break into it without going through an administrative position at first, from my experience. I've interned/apprenticed/volunteered and worked at museums and galleries of all types - encyclopedia state museums, small local art galleries, university museums, archaeology labs, and natural history museums, to name a few. I worked as a front-desk person where I had to do a lot of administrative work at my previous job but during my "down time" I was doing curatorial work and research. Honestly, I did the most research when I helping the Curator of Manuscripts, who ran the Research Library. I thought about getting an Archivist Certificate or MLIS lately because I did really well with working in a research library. I would suggest looking into specialist libraries, which might have something you're looking for. But, for me, in terms of the MA vs. PhD, I'd go with the funded PhD due to the "funded" part; a lot of older people are in PhD programs now and honestly I think it's awesome because I was an adult/non-traditional student as an undergrad so it's encouraging to know there are other older people out there going for their PhDs! I would also compare the resources each school has since you mentioned experience: most PhD programs will offer summer funding so you can do an internship or externship in your focus (or for someone like me, a dig), a lot of schools will have specialty libraries or collections you can access for research or somewhere you can volunteer/work for experience. I worked a part-time curatorial job six months after I received my BA but I was halfway through my MA in Museum Studies a year and a half later when I got my full-time job, so I think those are things you should consider, too. Where would you be happiest in terms of work, would you rather go to a funded PhD program (which usually awards an MA en route, depending on the school, so if you decide it's not for you, you might be able to leave with just an MA; many people have done this), and what resources does each school have that might help you reach your eventual goal?

Congrats!!! ??? That's so excellent! Yes this forum has definitely preserved a lot of my sanity as well lol, it's good to be able to check in with other folks about the process

You're welcome! I applied to a lot of places myself, but still think I should have done more (I didn't do any U.K., Ireland, Australia, or New Zealand PhD applications, though if I manage to be able to do it next time and can get funding to do my PhD in one of those places, I think that's going to be my game plan for the next round if I don't manage entry anywhere this time). Crossing my fingers for everyone who's still waiting! ?

Hi! From the U.S., a lot of places don't necessarily do interviews/don't interview everyone they're accepting. I'm pretty sure Princeton doesn't do interviews - I haven't heard back from them, either, but from what I noticed on the result boards is that in the past, they've sent out decisions the day after Presidents Day (which is today, February 15th), so we might hear tomorrow! I know University of Michigan and NYU usually do interviews (I didn't swing getting an interview at either), but I'm unsure about the others. Which U.S. schools besides Princeton, if any, did you apply to? That might help figuring out the interview info from each university. I hope you get some good news soon!