ciistai

I have posted about this elsewhere in the forum a few minutes ago but I thought I would confer with classicists and archaeologists directly about this too. I accepted my offer to IPCAA at UMich and am about to decline my offer at UPenn. I know IPCAA is the best choice for me... well, I'm about 90% sure. But, AAMW is such a great program and rejecting it makes me feel crazy! Aside from that, I really liked everyone there a lot. I want to send an email to the faculty who met with me, but I find I don't know what to say. I don't want to be too self-flagellating but I think they're aware of my other offer (at least one definitely is) and might be understanding of my tough decision. I've been putting off just finally doing this for way too long and I just want to be done with it, especially so I can free up a spot for someone on the waitlist. Does anyone have advice for me on this very difficult email I have to send? How long should it be? How regretful? Individual emails or should I copy each faculty member I met on the same email?

Hi all, I've skimmed through the last few pages of the board and haven't seen a similar topic... so either I missed it or this isn't the right place for it. (If so, please tell me!) I have two fantastic offers from two top programs in my field. One, from school A, was a direct admit with no interview, in late January. I was accepted to the other at school B post-interview, in mid-February two days before leaving to visit school A. School A was amazing but there are many factors that have led to my decision to attend school B. It's so hard to pick between programs. I'm about to reject my offer, but I want to send an email to the faculty members with whom I met. Thing is, I have such a problem with oversharing and writing too much. I obviously want to come across as grateful for their time and kindness but also kind of regretful that I cannot accept their offer (and I am!). How do I approach this? How long should it be? Should I send individual emails to each prof or should I copy all of them in one? Is expressing sadness and regret that it's impossible to accept two offers inappropriate?

Hey! Thank you so much, this is suuuuper helpful! I've located a probably future roomie on the off-campus housing site and we've found a few places we like on there, but now we're investigating the site you've linked to and a few apartments look promising for our neighbourhood and budget requirements. So thank you so much! I'm surprised at how much is still available, actually! Also the prices are... amazing... I'm used to Toronto prices which are terrible!

Didn't even see this response! Yes - of course. I think Michigan's is higher!

I didn't know this, and was hoping it was not who I thought it might be, but easy Googling has confirmed my fears. Feeling so awful for her and for the whole department.

I'm especially an advocate for frequently updated translations of Catullus, every few decades or so. I studied Catullus as an undergraduate and my prof was pretty "hip" - her approach to translating him was great and also made us realize how hilarious (and raunchy!) his work is...

Sad to say this might prove disastrous for Cincy's applications over the next couple of years... That's a perfectly valid set of research interests, but in context... wow. Like I said, no words for how unfathomable and horrendous this is. I really feel for his students and I hope they're all doing okay. I know he teaches adults but he may have some current or former students who have been victims of people like him in the past. Just terrible.

WOW... no words...

Hi all! Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread so far - very valuable info all around! I'll be moving to Ann Arbor this fall to start my PhD, but I'm currently in Toronto. I'm not far from AA but obviously it's quite a faff to get over there, especially given that I don't drive, and I work full-time during the week, with no off-time available to me (I have to save what I have left for fieldwork this summer). I do expect that I will have to go over there to find an apartment, but I want to kind of figure it out in one weekend. My questions are: is it possible to wait til late April or May for this, or will all apartments be taken?; and, are there any notorious problems with housing specifically in AA that I should look out for? (for example - I did my Master's in Oxford and a few of my friends wound up homeless when we had bad flooding in January 2014 - they had no idea their neighbourhoods tended to flood, and rented basement apartments there!!!) Also can anyone share recent experiences with finding a roommate through the off-campus housing site? I'm a woman and graduate student in my mid-20s and am hoping to room with another graduate student (preferably not a man) with a similar schedule to mine. I'm kind of hesitant to reach out to the rest of my future cohort - I get kind of concerned about living with colleagues in case there's a roomie spat! Likewise though I'm just a little worried about rooming with strangers due to some bad past experiences which were fine for dealing with as an undergrad but I'd rather not re-experience as a graduate. Thanks in advance!!!

Just accepted my offer to IPCAA - will (sadly!) be declining my offer to AAMW very soon.

The two programs I can choose between are very similar in structure, and the funding packages come out to around the same when you factor in the differences in cost of living. As I come towards my decision, most of my thoughts have been focused on: best current field opportunities best opportunities for collaboration with other graduate students best fit for not only myself but for my partner - not a top factor but certainly one that holds some weight I hope to make a final decision by the 21st.

Has the Duke Classics visit happened yet? I've not been rejected from them yet (though I know I will be) but I thought they would have sent out notifications by now... Also to whomever posted the acceptance to Oxford MPhil Greek/ Roman History - firstly, congratulations! Secondly - the program doesn't usually fund Master's students, but you may still hear back about college-based funding or any other grants you've applied for (e.g. Clarendon, Ertegun). When I got the Ertegun I was notified on March 26th, quite late.

Viel Glück!

Have been waitlsted at Stanford, accepted to AAMW at Penn and IPCAA at UMichigan. I'm probably going to make my decision between the two this week or next week, but I'm leaning quite heavily towards one.

This is my personal, biased opinion (because I am Canadian and once was fluent in French, and because I have experience with Romance languages since birth)) - but I'd say go with German. It's a bit trickier to master and in my opinion the earlier you get the basics down, the better. I took two years as an undergraduate so my grammar is okay, but reading academic German is such a trip. Many people can get by okay puzzling through French (or Spanish or Italian) but German is really hard to break through if you don't have previous experience with it or any other similar languages (like Dutch I guess?).

I think most people would actually consider this as being pretty on the ball, taking initiative, etc. rather than seeking unfair advantage. It's always good to speak with current students about their experiences, not only as students but also as prospective students. It might also be good to ask these questions alongside questions about their general experience, though. You want to seem interested in the entire picture (as I'm sure you must be!).

Better to receive bad reputation on a mostly-anonymous forum post than to receive it after running amok speaking to faculty members and other people in the field like this, face-to-face. I can't imagine the reaction were OP to speak like this to people at the AIA/SCS annual meeting, for example. OP could consider this a lesson learned. OP should also click the link I provided (admittedly, I did so snarkily) and look into a post-bacc. Plenty of people do one - after all, we don't all have the foresight at age 18 to start planning for doctoral program reqs and there are plenty of ways to bolster one's application for the next time around. Also, it's made abundantly clear on most (if not all) program/ department webpages that the languages are expected, and presumably one would read these pages thoroughly during the application process - but then again OP's rant indicates that they feel that they should not learn Latin, not that they learned of this requirement late and just didn't have enough years of it.

You're welcome and godspeed. Try to learn some humility and to control your ego while you're hitting the books as well. It will get you quite far. P.S. I love that you hyperlinked to your very own post, which we already have had the misfortune of reading. Tacky and whimsical

I'm still waiting on a few responses! I know they'll likely be rejections but this is annoying.

Thank you!!!

I did 3 years ago - there were 8 of us invited and they only had space for 4. They said it was a tough decision to make so they made offers to the 4 people who had Master's degrees. Personally I also was not ready at all for a PhD so it was a blessing in disguise! I flew out for another interview at the same school this past weekend and if I'm rejected again I will be asking for feedback (just for reference since it'd be nice to know how I can improve my interview skills etc.) so I can let you know what they say if that is indeed what happens, haha...

Also waiting on AHMA to reject me! :'(

Congrats!!!!!!!!!! That's very exciting!

Feeling your pain, sorta. Not in school, but working full-time, and I'm already trying to hoard my vacation days for fieldwork in the summer. The two interviews/ weekends I have planned are already overwhelming... I can't imagine having so many! Good luck to you - I wish you all the best - you're not being ungrateful though, it's tough when you're a) in school finishing the degree that will qualify you for your next one and/ or b ) working a job that allows you to survive and pay expensive application fees...

It was a scholarship specific to my university actually! I wasn't in London though