hanbran

I wonder if some sort of "international law" degree or "third world development" degree might be more useful. Why do you need a PhD?

Consider German in Review, if you have some experience with the language. If you're a native English speaker, you should easily pick up German grammar. Some universities allow students to take classes in lieu of exams, and many universities allow the use of dictionaries on exams, so, like TMP said, don't stress about it unless you want to study German history.

I would email professors whose work interests you and discuss your goals, interests, and any current endeavors. Generally speaking, if you're polite, to the point, and specific, most professors will respond with kindness, interest (which may or may not be feigned), and honesty. Don't ask "Will I be admitted to your program?" But you could ask if professors think that you would "fit" in their programs, if you are prepared for the program and if you could grow to meet your goals through the program. This will, of course, not tell you if you're going to get in. Admissions decisions are based on countless factors, including current funding, current student numbers and interests, the overall quality and number of applicants, the quality of applications throughout an entire graduate school (large state and less wealthy private schools generally divide funding at the graduate school level, so applicants who are competitive within a department may not be competitive enough to gain access to school-wide funding, which will influence admissions decisions), the interests, thoughts, feelings, moods, etc. of the individual members of admissions committees, writing samples, interviews, etc. Numerical stats are too vague to be of much use in the humanities. My GRE Verbal was roughly the same as yours and I was admitted to several highly respected schools and rejected by several "safety" schools. As an applicant, your goal is to convey your interest in and ability to produce thoughtful, original research. Personality is, actually, becoming ever more important, and many history programs now do interviews and visitations before granting offers of admission. I do apologize if I've simply "explained the obvious" to you, but I know that my undergraduate professors (who were not members of graduate school admissions committees) did a terrible job of explaining the intricacies of graduate admissions in the humanities. So I thought that I would share what I learned the hard way.

I ran everything through www.typegreek.com and then uploaded all writing samples, typed in MSWord, as .pdfs, with the fonts preserved as .jpgs (or whatever), and everything worked out for me. Macs tend to display the Greek from that site in a really screwy (albeit legible) way, so maybe consider another option if you're a Mac user.

The GRE is incredibly important for purposes of funding. Many departments will not admit you if you are not able to compete for funding among the entirety of a university's applicants (in all disciplines). The precise measure of its importance as an element of an application is, of course, infinitely debatable. It is, nonetheless, something to approach with forethought and preparation.

Last year, Johns Hopkins was among the latest responders, but the department apparently made offers secretly before sending out rejections, so I wouldn't wait for them.

Does either department offer information on placement rates of graduates?

Yay!!! Congratulations!

Can you--either here or in a PM to me--describe your background and goals at greater length? How much Latin and Greek have you had? To which programs did you apply? Is time and/or money an issue?

I'm super surprised that I haven't heard anything from them, since I had an interview in the middle of January. I've already accepted an offer elsewhere, but, nevertheless, I'm a bit nonplussed from their lack of communication (positive or negative).

Do you know why the paper was given a 'B' by your adviser?

What are your goals and interests?

Does your research require access to scarce resources? If not, that's plenty of time. And you could always go back and use paper #1 if you don't like/finish paper #2.

It basically comes down to time and money. If you're willing to spend both, you can become very competitive.

Absolutely! It's all important XD, though I'm sure that different departments weigh things differently.