comicline865
-
Posts
44 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by comicline865
-
-
You're probably fine. Languages aren't nearly as important for archaeology as if you were interested in, say, literature or philosophy. If there is a reason you will need to have good Latin skills for your course of study and you think that the "C" is unrepresentative of your skills, consider explaining it (either in your SOP or elsewhere).
It's a bit difficult to say how the committee will respond without knowing where you're applying. If you're shooting for the really top programs, what will concern the committee more is that you've only gone so far as 201/202, not that you got a C (especially if the rest of your record is strong). Do you have any Greek?
Don't worry too much on the whole. One C is virtually never enough to change someone's decision about your admission, especially if the rest of your application is strong.
-
You ought to send an urgent correction via email. Languages are probably the most important part of your application, and if the error is not minor, it will be worth it.
-
Put enough information that if your SOP is detached from the rest of your application it can find its way back. Name, department, title ("Statement of Purpose" works fine).
-
There's no free lunch. The committee making the decision just wants to see why you ought to receive the money, rather than some other applicant. What can you offer as a compelling ground for the award money?
Questions to consider in writing the essay: why do you need the money? Under what hardship will you be if you have to pay your way, rather than being funded? What qualities can you point to that will make their "investment" in your education pay off?
You want to be truthful, but here's one scenario I've imagined you could write from:
"Attending GES is a necessary step in my career/academic plans. I will be under some strain to finance this education, however, and I am looking for a way to make it possible. I am qualified to attend and would be an excellent candidate, for x/y/z reasons [Explain here why they should want you to come so much that they would pay for you to do so; this should be evident in the rest of your application, too, though, so don't be too redundant]. I am seeking funding from x/y/z sources, too, and would like to ensure that I can defray expenses enough so that I can pursue this option without damaging my ability to do x/y/z in the future."
-
So far as I understand, a SOP is not really a "personal statement." That is to say, you're not giving an intellectual biography, but rather a to-the-point statement about your interests and background that will allow them to peg you as a fit/not fit for their program and see important information there is not room for elsewhere in the application.
Your SOP needs 3 things (and 3 things only): 1) what you want to study; 2) why you're prepared to study it; 3) why that institution is the place to do it.
People do write more "intellectual biography" type statements and get into top programs every year, so it's not a death sentence. But I would suspect that those candidates were strong enough applicants that the personal statement didn't have to convince the program very much. (And plus, they probably included those three things I've mentioned above.) If writing quality is important, the program will have asked for a sample and will have a much better opportunity for assessing your style and ability to string together thoughts than anything you could present in the SOP. The SOP is of a utilitarian nature: concise, to-the-point, no-bullshit. Don't write poorly, but just communicate and don't have pretensions to anything else.
Some programs want a personal statement or diversity statement in addition to the SOP; that's the "intellectual biography" place (if you've got relevant hardships or experiences that would be pertinent, the only type worth including anyway).
-
I know that post might not have been what you're looking for, but it's worthwhile to consider that some graduate programs won't even look at recs until weeks after the application has been submitted. For example, UC-Berkeley's application was due Dec. 5th, but the recs aren't due until sometime in January (they don't tell that to the applicant, it's in the email to the writers). Presumably, they don't want to read every rec unless the rest of the application checks out--so by the time January rolls around, they know who they want to go to the recs for and who it's not worth spending the time on based on other factors (e.g., GPA, courses).
-
Either the rest of your application will intrigue the committee enough to care about reading all your recs or it won't. If they're intrigued, but still haven't received all of your materials in a little while, they will actively seek what's missing from you. If they're not intrigued, it won't matter, as they've already decided the rest of your application is not strong enough.
In short: don't sweat it.
-
Greetings,
Could anyone who went through the process last year (or knows someone who did) chime in with some information for me?
PhD applications in classics are due anywhere from Dec.3rd - mid-January. Is there any way to know when to expect notifications, either as to acceptance/rejection or interviews? What should one anticipate?
Stanford, e.g., says it will "notify candidates by Feb. 1st." I'm wondering something similar is true of other programs (though Stanford's application is due almost a month earlier than some others)--or whether even Stanford is likely to make that date.
Thanks in advance.
-
(Keep in my too that it will be significantly more difficult to go from koinē Greek or medieval Latin to classical Latin/Greek than vice versa. In fact, learning ciceronian latin/attic prose first will make reading later Latin & Greek a lot easier. Not to mention authors like M. Aurelius, Augustine, Boethius imitate classical styles, albeit not always 100% successfully, in much of their writing.)
-
Latin Prose: Cicero (there are good elementary commentaries on a lot of works. Catilinarians and Verrines II.4 are popular, but De Amicitia & Pro Archia are arguably more fun)
Greek Prose: Orators (e.g., Isocrates, Lysias) or Xenophon. Possibly Plato, who will be noticeably harder, but Apology, Symposium, etc. are doable with an elementary commentary. (e.g., Apology has a good recent elementary commentary, Miller & Platter 2010)
Latin Verse: Vergil (Pharr commentary)
Greek Verse: Homer
*Edit: I'd also recommend Keller & Russell (Latin) and Hansen & Quinn (Greek). They give you a lot of "detail" up front, but you will be very grateful for it down the road.
-
I'm very weak in math that much I know. The writing section I'm worried about but I think I should do decently, and the vocab I feel good about but I should review. So I'm looking for a good overall study guide that touches on everything.
I've already added the ETS guide, along with the Barron's Words for the GRE.
I guess I'll get the Princeton book also.
ETS guide will almost certainly be your best bet. I've worked with Kaplan and Princeton Review, and the quality of the passages (RC) and questions was very low. They're certainly worth getting simply for the mental practice and the familiarity it will bring, but your ark will definitely be the ETS guide. I'd recommend that you make COPIES of all of the practice questions in the ETS book (don't write in it) and then re-take the practice tests and question sets 2-3 times each (basically until you're getting a perfect score).
-
Has anyone else visited:
https://grediagnostic.ets.org/GREDWeb/gred/signIn.jsp
And looked at the # of problems they missed versus their score? Maybe this would be a good place to say how many missed questions translates into a certain score.
170V: 1 question wrong
162Q: 7 questions wrong
I guess that means it's a pretty steep dropoff for math if, at least for the first 8-10 points or so, each missed questions translates to >1 point off of your score. Ouch. I'm curious if there are any 170Vs out there with 2-3 questions missed, or what exactly the "cutoff" is for a 170. Also, if there are any 170Qs with 1-2 questions missed, or if it's only a 170Q for 0 questions wrong.
Cheers. Hopefully this helps some people looking for an idea of where they stand/what they need to PT at.
-
Errr, rather requesting that it be deleted.
-
I apologize. Deleting post.
-
170V, 6W, but poor quant (162). If applying for classics & philosophy, this is largely irrelevant right? I wouldn't relish having to study for the test
... -
Score: 170V, 164Q
To those who doubt our high scores - if you are even on this forum, you're probably in the top 20% of graduate school applicants.
GRE scores are requested for many programs, such as social work or management. The minimums for those programs are ~1000 (on the old version). Very few members of this forum are in these fields - we're mostly intensely focused in the academic world.
Of course being in the top 20% is not exactly a great comfort since it's primarily this top 20% you'll be competing against. As you mentioned, the other 50-80% of the test takers are probably looking at non-academic tracks that have less rigorous admissions standards. So the top 20% becomes a further microcosm for those competing for academic programs; an 85% might more appropriately be stated as bottom quartile for some programs.
So when someone comes who is nervous about scoring the 85% percentile, this is very justified if he or she is seeking a path in academia (or at least at a very selective school). Only the top 20% of GRE students will be applying to top programs, so the mean GRE score which factors in all the non-academics isn't a great indicator of where you sit relative to other applicants at a given grad school.
-
Unfortunately, this won't be the case. It's doubtful that your scores will be release prior to December; and they have said that even when they move back to a "regular" score reporting schedule, it will still take approximately 10-15 days for a score.
-
I'm assuming that third-batch takers (scores to be released Nov. 17th) should be looking for scores Friday, provided the 6-day early release trend continues? Do we have any reason to think that they would be out sometime sooner?
Can admission committees tell when you feign mentioning professors???
in Statement of Purpose, Personal History, Diversity
Posted
What you did is fine (provided the essay is well written). Rewriting your entire statement of purpose to tailor it for each school would really be the more disingenuous choice (unless you're applying to several radically different programs). Presumably, your qualifications and interests won't magically change for each school if you've stated them honestly; the graduate school just wants to see you know a bit about who's there who could work with you.