citharadraconis

Thank you for your help! I did end up going with Option A, and although I left some grumpy professors at B, they do seem to think it's ultimately the best decision for me. Looking forward to this fall!

I'm abroad studying for a one-year master's right now, and have applied to come back to the US for a Ph.D. My options are as follows: Option A: Excellent reputation, top professors in field, excellent resources, good location; it's a place I can see myself buckling down and actually doing hard work. The problem is that I'm not sure whom specifically I'd end up working with if I go there, although I know my interests could change significantly in the next years of coursework. I know I'd come out of the program a very well-trained classicist, but I don't know if I'd be going with the interests I have now (in particular, I've been doing a lot of papyrology, although I've been getting the really nuts-and-bolts training I need here so am not dependent on them having the facilities and faculty to train me). They don't have a good papyrus collection of their own but do have especially strong connections with the place I'm at now, which does, so I'd be able to work with papyri if that's what I want. There is a papyrologist here, but she may be leaving in the next few years; and the department as a whole seems to have significantly more Latinists than Hellenists. Have the reputation for being a bit traditional, not to say hidebound, but I do enjoy hardcore traditional text crit. I would also be a little nearer family, and have a long-distance relationship that would be slightly easier to manage from here. Option B: Slightly less well-regarded than A (I believe), but still a top program. The big caveat is that this is where I did my undergrad. I loved the place when I was there, have a great relationship with many of the professors and grads already, and there have been several new hires in the past few years whom I didn't work with as an undergrad, including one professor who might end up supervising me if my interests continue as they are. But I do get the impression that it's frowned upon to go back to the same place--the department itself wouldn't have taken me straight out of undergrad without this year abroad, although now they've given me a named fellowship and they've made it very clear that they would be beyond excited to have me back. Plus they're strong in Egyptology, which A isn't and which I might want to end up incorporating into my research (although A would have the resources to send me elsewhere to get that knowledge should my interest in that direction continue). They have more papyri, but their papyrologist is officially retired, although I did work with her as an undergrad and I know she'll be sticking around in an unofficial capacity. Funding here is a little better but quite livable in both places, so I don't think it's a concern; and the location is definitely not as good here, both living- and convenience-wise. I've also already done a significant amount of graduate courses here, which both places assure me would allow me to get around some of the coursework requirements, but which B would probably be more open to considering. What do you think? Does staying at the same place for undergrad and grad carry enough of a stigma to worry about--would it make me too intellectually inbred? I could see myself happy at either and I know I can't really make a wrong choice; I've visited both and met the other prospectives, whom I almost uniformly like.

Looks like UMich and Berkeley's classics departments have started contacting people...