semper_ubi_sub_ubi

Check out Vanderbilt -- I know they have money.

Valaquenta, Congrats on assembling such an outstanding undergraduate record! Unfortunately, numbers amount to next to nothing in terms of grad. school applications. Certainly, a high GPA and strong GRE scores will get your application past the first cuts (I imagine), but you really need to be focusing your energies on your Statement of Purpose and Writing Sample -- probably more on the latter than the former. Don't be seduced into thinking that strong numbers will automatically equal an acceptance, though I think you have positioned yourself well for success. If you are aiming for the top programs, the writing sample needs to not only be lucid and cogently written, but the prose should be highly polished, your research should demonstrate a strong awareness of existing scholarship, and your argument should demonstrate your ability to make a genuine contribution to your field. Remember, the writing sample is your best opportunity to show schools that you are a scholar-in-the-making. Wow them. With the Statement of Purpose, aim to articulate some clear research interests for the future, recapitulate past areas of research interest, and be careful not to pigeon-hole yourself! It's a tough balance to strike -- narrow, but not too narrow; broad, but not too broad -- but you can do it. And identify some people you would like to work with at each school, though be careful not to suggest that you wish to become anybody's acolyte. As much as possible, identify multiple people, especially because if you make it to the interview stage, schools will ask you which professors you see yourself working with. Also, try not to let your Statement of Purpose represent a regurgitation of your CV. There is a reason you submit a CV, and while there are certainly some things worth highlighting in your Statement of Purpose (e.g. modern and ancient language preparation, ICCS experience), no need to waste precious space rehashing items already present elsewhere in your application. And I'm of the opinion that there is no harm in making contact with programs before you apply, just to say "I'm interested in X, and I'm wondering if your school would be the sort of place where I could study X." Maybe start making contact around October/November -- not too early, but not too late! I know this is all delightfully vague advice, but I am absolutely positive that there is no formula for cracking this application process. Admin. committees reinvent their selection criteria every year, so there is truly no way to know how things might end up. The best thing you can do is research the hell out of the programs you like, apply ONLY to schools that you are genuinely interested in attending (applying is an expensive and time-consuming process, so choose wisely), and spend gobs of time on your Writing Sample and Statement of Purpose. Your best bet is to connect with a professor in your department who has worked with other people who have applied to (and had success in applying to) graduate programs, and work with that professor on drafts of your Statement of Purpose and Writing Sample. I hope some of this is at least marginally useful!

Have you compared job placement for the two programs? That would be an important factor for me -- which schools are placing people and where they are placing people. And did you like Cincy? Remember, you're picking the place where you are going to live for the next 5-6 years, so pick a place where you will be happy. If you still can't decide, maybe call the DGS at both programs and see if they can help persuade you one way or the other. Good luck with your decision, and let us know what you decide!

FYI: Acosta-Hughes is now at Ohio State. Anne Carson is only quarter time in the Classics Department, while the rest of the time she is with Comp. Lit. And Dirk Obbink is more or less full-time at Oxford, though he does have an office still in the UM Classics Department. There are still lots of great people at Michigan (e.g. Potter, Scodel, Janko, etc.), and the University and Department are in much better shape vis-a-vis the economic crisis than most major programs out there.

Hey Splendora, At the time I applied, I had only completed one quarter of an intensive German reading course, though I was scheduled for two more quarters. Same thing goes for my Italian. My French is self-taught and supplemented with a private tutor. The thing that I did to demonstrate my near-proficiency was to use French and German scholarship in my writing sample, and I talked about my modern language preparation briefly in my SoP to emphasize that I would be prepared to pass modern language exams early on in my PhD career. I was actually in the midst of a 'year off' last year when I first applied, busily teaching high school. This year I am completing a Master's degree in the UK, hence my access to intensive language courses. So, in answer to your question, I left my undergraduate institution behind and moved on. Last year I used an excerpt from my senior thesis for my writing sample (which I think is generally standard practice), but this year I wrote a new paper from scratch that was designed specifically for the purpose of serving as my writing sample. I took a topic -- neologisms in a Greek tragedy (to try to preserve some anonymity, I don't want to go into excruciating detail) -- and used that topic as a way to (1) demonstrate my ability to work with a Greek text and conduct 'traditional' philological analysis, and then (2) I used that philological foundation to offer a theoretical interpretation that allowed me to offer that elusive 'something new.' Like I said earlier, my sense is that schools want to be certain that you know your way around the primary Latin and Greek texts, and then they want to see that you can do something interesting with texts that have already been flogged to death for meaning. As for my bibliography, I made sure to use some French and German works (to illustrate foreign language skills), and I also made sure that I highlighted my awareness of the seminal scholarship pertaining to the play I was analyzing. All told, I probably had 20-30 sources for a 20-page paper -- thorough, but hardly exhaustive. I agree that a paper that is well received by undergraduate professors might not be good enough for grad. level, but the goal shouldn't necessarily be to reinvent the wheel with your writing sample. As long as you can present a sound argument that makes a compelling point, I think that should be the aim. Does this help, or does my vagueness only make things worse?

Hey JPR, I was just re-reading your post, and here are some thoughts for you: What is your modern language preparation? All programs want German and French/Italian -- do you have any background in either? That was the biggest change I made to my application from last year, and it has paid huge dividends. I agree that your Greek background *might* cause some schools to balk at your application; some post-bacc work and/or work through an extension program would be a really easy way to beef up that part of your application. It's equally possible that this could have no bearing on how programs would judge your application, so who knows? I wonder if maybe it hurt you to be applying to Classics programs, but to have only one true Classicist (your UG advisor, I assume) writing for you. These programs want to know that you are going to be able to work through their reading lists in a timely fashion AND contribute something new and meaningful to the field of Classics. I think it's great that your recommenders were able to attest to your wide-ranging interests, but you might be better served by people who can write about your success and facility with Greek and Latin texts. Lastly, having not read your SoP (though having been exposed to your distillation of it), I can't help but wonder if you were a bit narrow in articulating your research interests. This was a problem that plagued me last year: in rereading last year's SoP this year, I realized that last year I was trying to say that I wanted to go to grad school to read ONE author. These programs want you to have a sense of where you might see yourself a few years down the line, but they don't want you to walk in and already definitively know your dissertation topic. I got around that problem this year by saying that my 'current research is focusing on X, but more broadly I am interested in Y, and X is an example of Y blah blah blah.' Quantitatively, you sound like a superb candidate with a strong background and some fabulous ideas. If you get off a wait-list, do you think you will accept one of these offers, or are you contemplating re-applying next year? You're in a fortunate position since you already have a job, and the teaching experience certainly won't hurt your application (in my opinion). I suspect next year will be an even tougher year, though I think some minor tweaks to your application could make all the difference. Have you contacted WashU to find out what kept your application from making it into the accepted pile? If it really is your dream school, I don't see any harm in emailing the DGS to inquire about the weaknesses in your application so that you can address them for a potential reapplication next year. Lastly, for what it's worth, the writing sample is (for most programs) the most important part of the application. I'm not sure if you were looking for any of this (un)solicited advice, but I thought I would put it out there for the benefit of whoever wants it. After two years scratching my head while trying to figure out this process, I might as well share what I've learned. Good luck!

Objectively, I think Wisconsin is probably the better program, at least from the literature side. Madison can be beastly cold (but it also has the largest open-air farmer's market in the U.S.), and I'm not sure I would have the strength to turn down sunny L.A. to spend six years in frigid Madison. Assuming getting a job is important to you, I would inquire about job placement over the past three years -- I suspect Wisconsin will probably be stronger. I know Cincinnati has a great archaeology program, but I'm not sure they are placing a lot of philologists into top posts. I know nothing about USC, except for the fact that they lost Amy Richlin a few years ago. Have you been to visit the schools yet? What was your sense of the respective departments? I would go somewhere that you think matches not only your academic interests, but also your social interests. Don't let the rankings make the decision for you, unless you think you could be equally happy at all three places. You're about to commit six years of your life to a grad. program, so be sure to make a decision that is right for you. Good luck, and congrats on having some great options!

I am still on the wait list for funding at Berkeley. I was told that it was very likely that funding would open up, but that I may have to wait until April to hear about a funding package. I know that California schools are being hit hard by the economic crisis, so I would just sit tight and wait. Remember, no decisions need to be made until April 15.

RE: Princeton "Interview" may be a bit of a misnomer; I think the email pitched it as "the next step in the process," whereas Yale explicitly identified the visit as an interview. If you haven't heard from Princeton yet, I wouldn't count yourself out entirely just yet since there is always the wait-list. If you were not contacted for an interview, however, you are probably not going to receive a straight acceptance at this point (but by no means should you take my word on this -- the whole application process, in spite of enduring it for two years, is still a complete mystery to me). Still, not all programs are doing interviews, and not all programs are done notifying; no news can be excruciating to bear, but until you have a rejection in hand, you are still an active applicant. So don't lose hope yet! And if you don't like your options this year, I think it is well worth applying again next year (even if it seems unfathomable at this point). I took a big risk last year turning down a fully funded position at a mid-tier Ph.D. program, and I have not regretted that decision for one second. You will only be a stronger candidate next year -- and a more savvy applicant. Good luck!

I haven't made any direct contact with DGSes -- except in the cases of those who have contacted me. My info on Harvard and Columbia comes from secondary sources; otherwise I'm just operating under assumptions (and the experience acquired from applying last year). I reported whatever numbers were listed in emails or disclosed in conversations I've had (via email) with DGSes at various schools. Dates are the same way. Hope this helps!

I'll bite. Here's my list: Stanford -- accepted with full funding (!!!!) Berkeley -- accepted, wait-listed for funding Yale -- interview Princeton -- interview Michigan -- invited to Prospective's Weekend (which they claim has no bearing on the outcome of the application -- ???) UCLA -- interview I'm still waiting to hear from Harvard and Columbia. I think Harvard usually notifies at the end of the month, and I think Columbia may have already notified. I have a friend at Columbia who says the University has instituted a 10% reduction in grad. admissions across the board. Also, apparently the rise in interviews being offered (as opposed to straight-up admits/waitlists/rejects) is unusual, and maybe a sign of things to come. Yale is completing interviews by Feb. 28, so hopefully they will send out final notifications to everybody shortly afterwards. Princeton will finish around March 4, with notifications following shortly thereafter. For what it's worth, I know UCLA offered visits to 8 people, with the expectation of making 4 funded offers. Yale is interviewing 17 for 9 admits (not sure if those are all funded). That's all I've got.