PeppermintTea

I want to agree with the good interview advice others have offered, and add that different schools interview different numbers of people relative to how many they can accept. So an interview usually means a good shot, but it's far from an acceptance. I think(?) most Classics program do interviews, though, as has been noted, some programs admit people without interviews (including those that only interview folks they're on the fence about).
One nice stock question to ask interviewers is about their current research interests. Those interests have likely changed from their published material, so having an idea of what faculty at the program are currently working on can help you get an idea of how the programs fits you. 

Thank you, this is very helpful!

I had one interview that turned into a waitlist that never panned out and one acceptance without interview last time I went through this process. At both interviews I was asked about my interests, experiences, writing sample, and plans for future study. I'd be ready to talk about what that school has to offer you specifically, and whatever it is you're interested in and how you might continue working on it- though what you say doesn't lock you in to what you'd be able to do as a student there. Also have questions ready to ask the faculty members who will be present (they'll probably tell you who will be there in advance, they did for both of mine). 

Hi all! No news here, but thought I would join in the conversation! Several of my top choice schools were not taking applications this year. I considered not sending out applications at all and waiting until next year, as I didn't want to feel like I might have missed the opportunity to go to my top choice institutions because of COVID. Ultimately, I ended up applying to one school as it was the only one of my top choices that was accepting applications, and I decided I would rather wait another year then compromise on where I end up. In a normal year I would never only send out one application, because I understand the pure statistical improbability. I don't know if I can extrapolate from my own decision-making process, but I imagine there are others who decided to wait this year out and try next year. As for the one application, I'm vacillating between hope and despair, as I'm sure are the rest of you. I think it's important to remember that this is a year unlike any other, and we might all get rejections purely for reasons totally beyond our control. Wishing you all good news!

To address a lot of things already posted in this thread: I've been worried as well about the idea of more people applying to schools they may not have considered originally (as I said in a previous post, a couple of the schools originally on my list had to be taken off and I added one I hadn't originally planned on myself), but on the flipside, as someone else said, a lot of people might be less inclined to apply to graduate school in the midst of the pandemic. I know there was a lot of chatter on Twitter about people saying they'd rather wait until things had leveled out/gone back to a closer-to-normal pre-COVID environment before they applied. So I wonder if a lot of people are waiting for things like a vaccine before going (I was in undergrad when Swine Flu was going around, but it was honestly nothing in comparison to this), or just waiting until it's subsided for the most part. I wanted to apply right now because the 2020-2021 school year was my off year; I was keen on keeping to my plan and I luckily managed to get application fee waivers for most of the schools but I'm sure the cost of applying was a deterrent, too (my alma mater actually sent me a fee waiver unprompted, so that was nice). 

As for hearing back from anyone yet, I'm not expecting anything until mid-January at best and heard some people (last year or earlier) waited as long as April to hear anything at all. Worst case scenario I've heard is when people say they never heard back from some schools at all, which surprised me! So I'm hoping for mid-January but I'm bracing to wait as long as March/April for answers. 

Oh interesting! I would have thought the reverse, with more people going back to school in a recession. I guess Classics is a little niche for that then?

Hey everyone, I'm super stressed about the admissions cycle with Covid and a lot of major schools not admitting anyone this year. Does anyone know if the programs that are still admitting people are going to be more competitive/ reduced admission? I'm just stressed and feel like I don't have any information about this, the departments have not posted anything on their websites. Idk. It would just really suck to be rejected just because of covid, and I don't know if I have it in me to try to apply again next year. Does anyone have any information or feel similarly? 
I oscillate between despair and thinking I'm basically qualified, with great undergrad gpa, multiple years greek and latin, great grade on my UK masters, good recommendations, interesting (I hope) research experience and goals. I just feel very powerless with covid and all these disruptions to the admissions cycle and no answers anywhere. :( 

Not yet on my end. I think they usually start reviewing applications after the holiday season, early January. But who knows with this unusual application cycle. Best of luck! 

Oh interesting! I would have thought the reverse, with more people going back to school in a recession. I guess Classics is a little niche for that then?

Thanks for letting me know! That doesn't seem so bad. 

Hey everyone, I'm super stressed about the admissions cycle with Covid and a lot of major schools not admitting anyone this year. Does anyone know if the programs that are still admitting people are going to be more competitive/ reduced admission? I'm just stressed and feel like I don't have any information about this, the departments have not posted anything on their websites. Idk. It would just really suck to be rejected just because of covid, and I don't know if I have it in me to try to apply again next year. Does anyone have any information or feel similarly? 
I oscillate between despair and thinking I'm basically qualified, with great undergrad gpa, multiple years greek and latin, great grade on my UK masters, good recommendations, interesting (I hope) research experience and goals. I just feel very powerless with covid and all these disruptions to the admissions cycle and no answers anywhere. :( 

I don't know if this is the norm, but I was talking to one admin at a grad school in NY who said their program has an unusually low number of applicants this cycle.

Also can't generalize to other schools, but my dept has a target number for next year's cohort that's one less than normal (20% reduction).