Pius Aeneas

I am currently putting the final touches on my Statement of Purpose and preparing to officially ask for my letters of recommendation. I've worked on the statement on and off for the past year which I have taken off between MA and PhD and I have accepted it will never be perfect from my perspective. But I suppose it just needs to be excellent, really. As for Latin/M.A.T. programs, you're got some great ones on your list. WashU is one of the strongest terminal Classics MA programs focusing specifically on the languages so they're definitely a good choice. Not sure if they offer a certification component, however. Michigan and UMass Amherst are also very good. UIUC's glory days for graduate study in Classics at the PhD level are behind it, though to what extent this has affected the MAT program I am unsure. Since you mentioned several Midwest/Great Lakes area schools you might also look at Northwestern's MS in Education focusing on Latin. If you're interested in Living Latin you'll want to look at the University of Kentucky which has an M.A. program. As with WashU, not sure if they have a certification component. I'll also pimp my own MA program at the University of Arizona which offers a Latin Pedagogy option with certification, primarily because it's funded and I have no idea if other MA/T programs are.

I would say that's pretty sound advice for grad school in Classics in general and to a certain extent in the Humanities more broadly. Obviously if you're coming straight from undergrad you won't be expected to already have a dissertation topic but you should have at least a couple of well-defined topical areas within Classics which you'd potentially like to pursue. I also don't think it's the end of the world if you start out doing one thing and end up doing something else. Granted I only have experience from an M.A. program, but I started out intending to do Roman Archaeology and ended up writing a Greek Archaeology thesis.

AIA is probably wishful thinking for me this year, mainly because my job gets all its brand new accounts right after the new year, so it's an "all hands on deck" mentality. I'm also saving up my vacation time in anticipation of (hopefully) having to go for PhD interviews in the Spring. I hear you on the Greek. I managed to put together a rag-tag group of friends who also took Greek in undergrad and we meet once a week for a couple hours to read. It's actually turned out the be quite helpful, brushing up on things like root aorists and articular infinitives and whatnot .

Welcome zelliott! I'll be glad to share whatever wisdom I have collected about the process, having already done it for an MA, and I'm sure everyone else will as well. Field experience helps and is viewed as a plus, but a lack thereof doesn't necessarily ruin your chances. I've perused a lot of the "current students" pages for many different programs and it seems to vary for first-year PhD students...some have only done one dig and some have done several or several seasons at the same site. As for my applications, the programs I'm looking at are Brown (Joukowsky), Berkeley (Classical Arch or potentially History of Art), UNC Chapel Hill, Michigan (IPCAA) Penn, UVA, and Cincinnati.

Other sections of the forum have taken the plunge and started their 2016 thread, so why not Classics? Who's applying this cycle for which area of Classics and where? Or has the imminent (or not so imminent but perhaps inevitable) demise of Classics and the Humanities that everyone keeps talking about finally scared everyone off? Personally, this is the last hurrah for me; I've spent the past several years preparing to apply for PhD programs in Classical Archaeology, gaining field experience and an MA along the way. I intend to apply to programs which not only have good "fit" but which offer at least some chance of getting a decent academic job (haha) after all is said and done. Which of course means applying to a handful of Ivies and par-Ivies. If I don't get into one of these programs, I intend to call it quits and go into something else. Anyone else care to chime in?

Don't just repeat what's on your cv. If there's a particular item on your cv that you think makes you a good fit for the program, then elaborate on it. For your background focus on how it informs your decision to pursue Classics and what you want to accomplish at the UofA by building on that foundation. Emphasis is just your subfield--Philology, Ancient History, Archaeology, or Latin Pedagogy.

From what I understand the MA program at WUSTL is one of the best, which makes me question the criminally insane judgment behind the decision to start a new PhD program in light of the downright abysmal job market in Classics.

Your options are sort of limited if you want to do something lucrative with your Classics MA. Law used to be the high-paying refuge of bright Humanities students, but that field is nowhere near the sure bet that it was even a few years ago. Stay away unless you can get into a very good school without taking on the absurd six-figure debt. You mention that you don't want to teach high school, but that's probably the most logical choice if you want something stable with somewhat decent pay. You also might try non-profit work, which is, again, not lucrative. There's also non-faculty positions in higher education--you could, in an ironic twist, join the ranks of drones largely responsible for the assault on the Humanities and the modern university more broadly.

Logically you should write about what you want to study in the program, what your post-MA goals are, and why UA is the best place for you based on those particular things. You should have some kind of idea what your specialty might be (e.g. are you more interested in Greek or Roman archaeology, what specific period for either of those, etc). That said you don't need to be worried about being hyper specific since it's not a PhD program. You can mention specific faculty you might like to work with if you want--even after talking with multiple professors about this it still isn't clear whether you should or not when applying for graduate school--I did in my statement, but others in my cohort didn't. Either way for an MA it probably doesn't make a difference, I can't see any of the professors at UA refusing to supervise exams or to serve on a thesis committee.

I agree with heliogabulus, don't go unless the program is funded, especially a doctoral program.

I completed my MA at the University of Arizona. For a terminal MA the program is rigorous and will give you an excellent foundation in Classics, and it's funded.

I imagine funded MA programs are more difficult to get into in that more people probably apply for admission, but I would say that an unfunded MA is not worth it. There are a handful of strong Classics MA programs which offer funding--there's the University of Arizona, University of Kansas, Florida State, and a few more that I've forgotten.

Here at the University of Arizona, David Soren does courses on classical reception in 1930s film. That's the closest that I can think of, in terms of time period. Here's a link to the course page: http://soren.faculty.arizona.edu/classicsart_300

I'd be glad to answer any questions anyone might have about the grad program at Arizona, since I'm currently attending.

I attended one of the other Illinois campuses for undergrad, and the Head of Classics there discouraged me from applying to Urbana for graduate school. He cited the same reasons mentioned above, namely the decline in overall quality of the program due to professors leaving and retiring. I know one person from undergrad who is currently attending the program, but I haven't spoken with him in ages to have any inside knowledge.

Forgot to include this on my list, but regretting not trying to do a PhD many years down the road is also one of my reasons. I know that if I don't at least attempt it, I'll have that nagging feeling in the back of my mind constantly, especially as I see friends and relatives going for theirs. I figure since I'm coming straight out of undergrad, why not give it a try? I've got backup plans if I don't make it.

1. I've always wanted to be an archaeologist. (following one's dreams, how cliche) 2. I don't want a real job. Why would I? I've done one for the past 3.5 years and I can't see myself doing it for life. 3. What else am I going to do with my B.A. degrees, one in the Humanities and one in the Social Sciences? Become a teacher? Yeah, right. 4. I'm good at school and am a nerd.

I'd recommend getting a practice book and studying that. I didn't do that (I studied with the materials ETS provides) and my score was pretty low, but I plan to retake the test when I apply for PhD programs. However my writing and verbal were very high, and for Classics and Ancient History programs those are the ones which matter.

I'm kind of glad that there was that horrific heat wave recently...I braved those triple digits, I can handle Tucson.

No problem! I don't think that it's necessary for Classics to have been your passion since day one (it wasn't mine either, initially). It does make things easier, however, mostly because you have more time to work on the languages and build relationships with Professors, who can point you in the correct direction when you choose graduate programs and write strong letters for you. Also, I feel that having an M.A. is beneficial when applying to a PhD program, in that it shows potential programs that you have the ability to do graduate-level work.

I can say that having good recommendations will help you immensely. All of my letters were excellent, but one of them was written by a Professor Famous in my field with whom I did a considerable about of study, and I am certain that this letter is what helped me a great deal. The school I attended for undergrad isn't spectacular for the field I'm going into, but we have a fair number of influential faculty. So if you can snag stellar (or at least one) letters from well-respected faculty, it will help.

I did the same for each of my applications. Gave reasons why I wanted to pursue graduate study, and then explained why "Program X" was the best place for me to do it. I think that having a compelling section on why the department is the best fit for you and vice versa is the most important aspect of a SOP. Mention professors by name whose interests align with your own and with whom you might like to study. Aaand, if you already have a specific subject within your field that you would potentially be interested in researching and it aligns with the overarching interests of the department mention that as well.

Buying furniture is the main thing making me consider graduate housing over an apartment. I can picture myself in 100+ degree weather in Tucson traipsing around looking at furniture and other housewares. I hadn't thought about using Amazon though until I saw someone post about buying furniture through them upthread--I'd definitely consider that since I've been buying other things from them for ages and have had no real issues.

It sounds like you're already doing everything right. Since you plan on doing a post-bac and will already have an M.A. in Classics, in addition to teaching abroad (I assume this sort of thing can only strengthen your app), I don't know if I'd recommend doing another M.A...doing the post-bac will strengthen your languages if you're concerned about them and you can do other courses as well. I'm not even sure if schools would accept you to do an M.A. in Classics as you will already have one.

I'll be there, pursuing an M.A. in Classical Archaeology, at least to start out.