ûl ʾašerātō

Wind, I was honestly wondering the same thing -.- it's come to the point that I'm afraid of posting . I have no idea!

Congrats! At this point I'm 90% sure I am going to have to go with my plan B. I haven't heard from my top 2 schools, and we are atypically late in the application season for me not to have heard anything from these two particular schools. I'm holding on to a bit of hope, but it is diminishing as every week passes with no word. I'm glad that you got the program you were hoping for. You'll have to take class with Tink Tinker while you're there. I've read some of his Native American Political/Ecological work, and it is fantastic.

Congrats! At this point I'm 90% sure I am going to have to go with my plan B. I haven't heard from my top 2 schools, and we are atypically late in the application season for me not to have heard anything from these two particular schools. I'm holding on to a bit of hope, but it is diminishing as every week passes with no word. I'm glad that you got the program you were hoping for. You'll have to take class with Tink Tinker while you're there. I've read some of his Native American Political/Ecological work, and it is fantastic.

I applied to UT-Austin for the HB/ANE program in MELC. As tt503 suggested, the department is up and coming with regard to the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East program. However, you always have to consider credential and curricula when deciding on a department. Although at present the curricula at UT-Austin might be stronger than Harvard (which I believe is true), the credential of Harvard is nearly at the top of the top tier institutions. I'm not saying that it is unanimously declared the best option for all departments or areas of study, but its reputation in the academic community is superb. tt503 was also correct in suggesting that Harvard's department is traditionally classical in its focus.

I spoke with Hackett about her and her husband's (Heuhnergard) move from Harvard to UT-Austin. She suggested it was mostly due to the fact that UT-Austin has committed itself to becoming a first-rate institution in all programs, including the humanities. In the present economic climate, this is an obviously rare determination. While most institutions are cutting funding from the humanities (not the money-maker department at any institution), UT-Austin is investing in the humanities. I think UT-Austin is well on its way from being a very good MELC program to being an excellent one. I'm not sure how long it is going to take for UT-Austin's credential to catch up to its curricula, but with the determination that the university is currently showing, I do not believe it will be long.

Having made these comments about the department in general, I will say that with Hackett at the helm I believe that the department will continue adding focus in the area of ancient studies. Indeed, they are still adding faculty in this area. So, you should scrutinize the faculty in your specific area of study to get a better idea of how the department can serve you.

Generally speaking, I agree with tt503: if you're choosing between Harvard, Chicago, Princeton and UT-Austin, you're going to be in an excellent department wherever you end up.