JMAurelius

I didn't have any publications or conference presentations. Those might be more important for STEM fields, but much less so for Classics. I'm not in archaeology or material culture, so not sure about fieldwork.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. They shouldn't have raised your hope like that. For what it's worth, it took me three rounds of applications before getting any acceptances from PhD programs. I wish I had better suggestions for you, but I really hope everything works out for you at the end. If you want to chat or just a place to vent, my DM is open!

20-30 min. Maybe? Do you have more interviews coming up?

That's AWESOME! CONGRATS! 🥳

Congrats on the admits!! 🎉🥳 As @screwdriverfemme mentioned, make sure you look up the cost of living! MIT has a pretty nifty website for that https://livingwage.mit.edu/. Also compare health insurance coverage an other potential fees you have to pay out of pocket. As for libraries, it's fantastic to have a library with a good collection, but remember you can always make use of Inter-library loans and other similar services if the library doesn't have the books you need.

A friend of mine just heard from Princeton about being wait listed. It's just one person. So I don't recommend reading too much into it. Fingers crossed for everyone! 🤞🤞

Hope the visit went well!

That's good to know! I'm really glad there are more of these bridge programs now. As for Cornell, it looks like their graduate handbook still includes the transfer option for the Bridge MA. Maybe they just forgot to include it when they revised the other parts of their website. It would not be much of a "bridge" program without the transfer option! As a side project, I'm slowly (I mean very slowly 😅) working on a spread sheet of all the Classics Phd and funded MA/pre-doc programs in the US for future applicants. I hope to get it (mostly) done in time for the next application cycle. 🤞 So thanks for the confirmation that UMichigan has the transfer option! Speaking of UMich, on their website, it says the Bridge MA program is 3-semester long, which is rather unusual compared to all the other bridge programs I know of. Do you know if that's a typo or it's indeed a 3-semester program? Also do you know if their stipend covers both the academic year and the summer? Thanks!

Congratulations on the Michigan admit! 🎉 I know the programs at Cornell and Princeton come with a transfer to their respective PhD programs. Do you know if it's the same for Michigan? Can't find an answer on their website.

@voxanonyma absolutely! I know I would not have been able to do my MA if it had not been fully funded. To the Cornell program I'd also add the programs at Duke and Princeton. You don't get an MA, but both have the PhD transfer option and are very well funded like Cornell.

@confusedmedievalist Congrats! 🎉🥳 @foxdonkey If you plan for a PhD, it doesn't matter too much whether a program leads to an MA or not. There also ways you can alleviate the downsides of a shorter program. So everything else being equal, I'd pick a well funded 1-year program over a barely funded (or unfunded) 2-year program. It's even less of an issue if the program lets you directly transfer to PhD after you are done.

I think they admit two each year now. But you are right. Given it's competitiveness, they most likely do interviews before admitting anyone. But it's not over until it's over! Fingers crossed for you! 🤞 BTW, did you apply to the Bridge MA at Cornell as well?

There are definitely interviews for the pre-doc, but I don't know if they interview everyone they admit.

I'm not sure about History, but in case this is useful, assuming they didn't change for this year, I know these Classics programs only do interviews on Zoom, not in-person: Notre Dame, USC, UChicago, Cornell, and Princeton.

Congrats on the interview invite! Best of luck! 🤞🤞