splendora

I am debating whether to take introductory German or a classical historiography (in translation) course this fall. There is only one section for each, so it's not like I can shop around for different sections - hence, it's one or the other. I'm already taking Latin, Greek, Greek history (in translation) and French in the fall and I really would like to take German as well as I'd like to have reasonable proficiency in the two modern languages BEFORE I enter graduate school. That means taking these two languages for at least a few years (I will be here for three more) so I can read modern scholarship with ease. On the other hand: 1) I am worried about my ability to handle four languages at once (Latin at the intermediate level, French with some mostly-forgotten grade school background, German and Greek from complete scratch), though I found Latin at the introductory level very easy. Any experiences with this and how it went for you guys? 2) I think I would like to specialize in historiography. 3) I am worried that if I take four languages, I won't really be getting much practice writing papers (only in one class each semester). 4) German is full year, like the other languages, so I'd be taking only one Classics course in the Jan-April semester as well. Advice? What would you guys do? If I don't take German this year, I'll be taking it next academic year, though there's no guarantee that it won't conflict with other courses again, especially the more important Latin or Greek higher-level ones. While French is offered in the summer (and I'll be taking it, so I plan to end up with 10 semesters of French), German isn't. I asked two profs over here and one said take the historiography course, the other said take German and each cited pretty parallel reasons. Still confused. Thanks.

Read this in the New York Times a little while ago: >>As for Ludwig, the baby of the family, he seems to have had a sense of his genius from an early age. After finishing high school (where one of his classmates was Adolf Hitler), he decided to find a fellow genius who might serve as his mentor. His first choice was the great physicist Ludwig Boltzmann, but Boltzmann hanged himself before Wittgenstein could meet him. In 1911, Wittgenstein sought out Bertrand Russell in Cambridge. Russell was initially wary of the strange (and startlingly handsome) young Viennese, who would show up in his rooms late at night to stutter out philosophical monologues, pacing

A few professors in my department like to hang out at a local bar where graduate AND undergraduate students regularly show up and all (presumably) have a merry time socializing. I haven't gone drinking with professors (yet) but know a couple of undergrads who do. It makes me curious: what kind of relationship did/do you have with the professors who wrote/will write letters of recommendation for you? Are you like Ludwig Wittgenstein, who at Cambridge would show up at Bertrand Russell's room at night, literally imposing himself on the latter and steadily developing as a philosopher in front of his eyes? Do your professors know much about your personal life? Do you interact informally with them? Do you sometimes visit them in their office? Not at all? Often (and how do you define often)? Do you ask questions after each class? Do you discuss things beyond your particular academic field? Like what? How long is your typical office visit? And how is your relationship affected by gender differences/similarities? How far do you go to make sure your professors remember you? How do you say "goodbye" at the end of each year, knowing you'll see them again next year (i.e. several months later) and wanting them to remember you?

Hey, yes, that does help, thanks. I don't know if I would feel confident enough to write something from scratch as you did. I will probably end up rewriting a seminar paper with professor's comments as guideline and asking a recommender or two to read it over before I submit it. Unfortunately though, talking to my professors about class essays recently and in the past, I've found that improvements they recommend are mostly to do with making what I've already written better. So if I write a mediocre essay that isn't particularly profound, I'm afraid that all their suggestions would yield would be a better written and better argued average paper. And honestly that terrifies me. I don't know what to do right now, long before I apply to grad. schools, to develop into a kick-ass classicist, and there's a lot more to that than making sure I have enough ancient and modern languages. How did people like Frazer and Mommsen develop as classicists anyway? How does one get there? Sorry for going off-topic from the original intent of the thread.

Hey semper_ubi_sub_ubi, if you don't mind answering, did you remain at your undergrad. institution after the events of last year? How many semesters of German and French do you have? What factors went into choosing what writing sample you submitted? I mean, I keep reading that one ought to submit a paper that was graded highly but what is an A+ for undergrad. might not be good enough for grad. level. And how "original" a scholarly work was it? What was your bibliography like?

What is Michigan's reputation, compared to (other) top schools? I'm specifically thinking in terms of classical literature and history (not archaeology etc).

Minnesotan, really, Classics is exceptionally competitive? Whenever I tell people what I'm studying they ask me to explain what the heck Classics is. Maybe they're all ignorant, but even then, my classes are always so small and have such difficulty getting the full number of students that I always assumed Classics was somewhat unpopular. Now I'm really nervous.

I agree, there's a lot of affairs between students and professors. A girl I know who graduated about six or seven years ago from my Classics department said that at the time she was there, several professors divorced their wives because they had affairs with their students. I don't know whether she was exaggerating, but regardless, there's a tenured professor at our department right now and he divorced his wife and married his grad student. Now all three teach in the same university, in the very same department. I don't think I'd have anywhere near the grace the ex-wife has shown. Cute stories everybody. When I first started university, I remember spending lots and lots of time obsessing about professors. I haven't for more than two years, which is why crushing on this professor is such a shock to the system. Sighs galore.

I resolved this morning, because I really must get back to studying, that I would dress really poorly to all my classes with him and in that manner make myself feel so bad that I'd just give up all hope about him; the self-abasement being a gentler torture than looking at him several times a week and daydreaming about things that can never be (I really want to touch his hair). I carried my resolution out and class was predictably miserable. I stayed after class to talk to him though about an upcoming assignment and when I was done and turned away, he pointed out that my bag was open and offered to zip it up for me. I kid you not. Is that even normal??? I was so embarrassed that I didn't even think and muttered something inarticulate and closed it myself. He pointed to Woody Allen's "Side Effects", which I had in my hand, and said he had read that a few years earlier. And I am SO SO SO STUPID. Instead of asking him if he liked it, I said Woody Allen was crazy and then asked something about the stuff he'd been talking about in class. SO STUPID. I can never make normal conversation. He must think I'm an ill-mannered idiot and really, really thick and it's so bad because I want to get a reference letter from him. I didn't even wish him a good weekend and just said "bye" and got out of there. His eyes are so beautiful!!!

But maybe a good distraction for those who are waiting to hear back from schools. Have you ever been in love / lust / crush with a professor? I know of at least one student who ended up marrying a prof (she was a grad student of his) and I know SO SO many who have imagined something to that effect. I am currently in crush and while I harbor no illusions of marrying that poor unsuspecting professor, my crush is one of those really painful, really delicious mid-teen kinds (though I am much older), where I literally can't sleep, can barely eat, and can think of little else except for him. He is a most delicious, nerdy, shrimpy, scruffy, smart, dorky, young, sad-eyed (or so I fancy), skinny, beautiful-haired man, and I haven't studied for the past few days because whenever I try, I start daydreaming about him. Hopeless situation I know, but I am reminded of the philosopher Sartre, who was really ugly, and got tons and tons of women. I wish average looking girls had it that easy because this prof will never look at me

No, it was an actual proper letter of reference, and he wrote it directly on there. I can't remember the exact words since it was a few weeks earlier, but he said that I was a student who tried my best, that my work was not brilliant, but that my best was very, very good. I was extremely shocked when I read his letter, because though I knew my essay was not something I had worked on too much, I had gotten near-perfect marks from him, he knew my overall GPA, I asked him questions, I took an obvious interest in his courses, I was literally the last person to leave class most of the times since I would be sitting while everyone else was getting ready to leave and writing stuff down (lecture stuff) and he saw all that. I guess even if I improve, he might make a comment about me not being a consistent student, which also looks bad. I realize I should keep him out but I'm worried because like I said, he works in my area of interest and since I have some time left to go before I apply, I wanted to apply for undergraduate research projects under him (my university has undergrad research awards) and take more courses in the future by him, and perhaps do my Honors under him. In light of what he thinks of me, should I focus on some other prof to write my Honors thesis under etc? Sorry for so many questions...

I'm studying classics and applying to grad schools soon enough. I have a really weird problem. I recently asked a professor whom I'd taken two classes with and gotten A+'s in both to write me a reference for a student activities award. The award office took everything out of envelopes so they could staple stuff together and because I was burning with curiosity, I asked to see the letter. The prof had said in the letter that my work was "very, very good" but not "brilliant". Oh, to give some context, I have a 3.93 GPA cumulative and a 4.0 in Classics. I am not contesting what he said, because I focused on the exams more and on the essay less, but now it's making me wonder whether 1) I should use him as a reference for grad school, and 2) whether it is typical to make this distinction and state it so unequivocally, in which case even if I don't use him as a reference, some other prof will say the same thing anyway. I'm pretty certain I'm not brilliant; does brilliancy count for a lot? I mean, of course it does, but is it a death knell to my hopes of good schools if a prof says I'm not brilliant? The problem with not using him is that 1) my school's Classics department is extremely, extremely small and 2) he's the only professor there who teaches in the area (Roman religion and art) that I want to further study. Naturally, I end up taking a bunch of classes with him and will do so over the next little while as well, and it will probably look weird that I'm not giving a reference from him since I take so many classes of his. I got a swift kick in the butt from seeing what he said about me, so I'm working extra hard on my papers this time, but first impressions are pretty permanent and I'm terrified his views about me won't change. Should I just focus on other professors? Do letters of references from "assistant"/tenure-track (but not tenured yet) professors count?