ciistai

Wow. Well done for basically summarising the opposite of your attempted position. You seem to be incapable of realising that if you cannot read the original texts from which you are working then you are immediately beholden to the whims of the translator. Don't you see that? Your comment that "perhaps you needed Latin in 1807" is staggeringly fatuous and if you are a genuinely serious academic the you should realise the sheer idiocy of your post. The increasing accessibility of Classics is wonderful, but not when it means that lazy people think they can fully engage with classics without engaging with the primary texts (or, even worse, effectively dismiss the primary texts as meaningless now we have a nice, easy "translation", seemingly ignoring any potential foibles of the translator); your complaint smacks of nothing but dumbing down of the most academically obtuse level. 
 
Honestly, if you are not skilled enough to read the original texts, then you are not a Classicist. 

Various Classics and historical programs have denied my application on the grounds that I do not know the “ancient languages.” This is a SHAM, and all of academia should be ashamed of it. I did not apply to be a reader of Latin or of Greek but to be a historian. Oh, you might say, but how can you read Livy if you cannot read Latin? The answer is obvious! Livy, like every other ancient writer, has been translated time and time again. Perhaps you needed Latin to read him back in 1807 but no longer: now any man, woman, or child can purchase Livy or any other classical text in English at their local bookshop.


 
So why do programs still insist on the classical languages? To keep people out. Professors pretend that Latin and Greek matter because they know Latin and Greek and most people do not. It makes them feel elite and special and important. It lets them pretend that ordinary people who don’t know Greek could never do what they do, when that is a LIE.

Thank you!!! 

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

You're one of those people who dyes their hair rainbow, aren't you?
But seriously, I feel like there's a little bit of merit to what both of you are saying. Yes, snap judgements are real (don't wear your fedora to the interview quanto), but in the end they are interested in what you can bring to their program and that you're not that unhygienic dude that showers once a week because "natural oils are good for you".

Wow, you're a psychologist, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're referencing pseudoscience! It has everything to do with the character of the interviewers and interviewees. People of strong character won't care what you're wearing--like me. I have transcended such things, I hope one day you, too, will achieve such a level as I have . One of the quickest ways to spot a lying sadistic psychopath is to look for people that are overdressed.

Haha you couldn't be more wrong picturing me as a fedora-wearing hipster. Hell, Id rather be some overdressed tool than a hipster! They're the lowest form of life on Earth! I'm more of the 'scientist with zero ability to understand fashion' type guy.

I can't believe people worry this much about what to wear! Chill out and just wear decent clothes. If they care that much about what you're wearing, then they're focused on the wrong things and they can go F themselves!

Just heard from AAMW! Got in with invite to prospectives weekend in late Feb!

With regards to program strength, I was given an interesting piece of advice when I applied to graduate school. It is this: look at/ ask about what types of dissertation research and dissertation writing fellowships and grants graduate students are receiving. Most top programs only guarantee 5 years of funding (although many have possibilities of additional year(s) from internal fellowships), but obviously many people in our field take more than 5 years to finish a PhD. So, strong programs have ABD grad students receiving competitive external fellowships with some regularity. This is particularly relevant for archaeologists and some types of ancient historians, who tend to apply to external fellowships and grants to fund fieldwork more than philologists, I think. 
Finding out about at dissertation fellowship recipients is not an easy thing to do. For one thing, isn't a compilation of such fellowships-- and there are a lot of them, depending on geographic research area or topic or temporal frame. Furthermore, not every department provides up-to-date grad student bios, and not every fellowship makes public the list of recipients. But, nevertheless, it's worth at least noting what fellowships the dissertation-phase students are receiving, when that information is available. External fellowships, particularly the more competitive ones, can be one telling indicator of how well a department is preparing its students for the wider world in their final years of grad school. 

While it concerns an anthro-flavor American archaeology program, I thought this recent post by Cornell's Adam Smith was interesting and worth sharing (it also has a link to Sturt Manning's older post about Classical Archaeology): http://blogs.cornell.edu/adamtsmith/2015/06/10/applying-to-graduate-school-an-archaeological-perspective/

Hello, classical archaeologist here! You'll definitely need a bit of both Latin and Greek for the top programs, and having some modern languages under your belt would also be an advantage. Wouldn't worry as much about your German and much so about Latin and Greek - I agree with Petros that it's not so much about the credit totals but the competence you can demonstrate by having done some upper level courses. Personal statements are a great opportunity to explain why you might not have lower-level credits for Latin, but if you can do well with advanced courses then they might be satisfied. For most major programs, though, you will also need some Greek - probably 2 years at minimum. You should try to improve your German too but I think that's far easier to do outside of courses, whereas with the ancient languages it's a bit trickier.
 
I should also note that language requirements for classical archaeologists in the UK are MUCH lower than in North America. I'm currently at Oxford doing my MPhil and none of us have had language reqs - I've taken classes here and there to improve German and Italian but I've had no language exams (unlike the ancient historians), and I don't think the DPhils have rigorous language reqs the way PhD students in N America do. I believe the rest of the UK is probably much the same. I'm not saying to apply to DPhil/PhD in the UK and you'll be a shoo-in, because language experience can be a huge asset - my supervisor (who was DGS when I was admitted) told me that my language experience is what made my application stand out - but it's not a solid requirement. 
 
Edit: I've basically repeated almost everything that Melian said But I suppose reinforcing the point is always good.

There's a wanker on every forum I guess.

There's a wanker on every forum I guess.

We aren't required to engage with you.

Yes. Block me. Academia is a friendly place of encouragement and cooperation, where all agree. I am sure you will find this to be the case.

I wonder if you think Bs should be As, on the grounds that this is "quibbling" over a few points Somehow it does not surprise me you "have no idea." The person addressed knows exactly who it addressed to. No claim was ever made that GRE= scholarly potential, only that it is the easiest area to improve one's application and a quite desirable objective measure to add to the mix, to counter the subjective aspects like LORs and SOPs (which I have no objection to.)

Sigh, check the results page if you think I am making something out if thin air. Accusations of trolling are often the refuge of someone without a legitimate counterpoint. And yet if I am throwing punches at a "strawman" (not how the term is to be employed, btw) then no one should get upset at "punches" thrown at a non-existent person. I'll leave you all alone now.

I could care less for either their GRE Or rejection. However I do care about the dismissive cry from one whose limited information offered, i.e. the GRE, gives a plausible reason to understand the rejection. In such a case the rejection should be accepted with a stiff upper lip.

Hi all - a lurker from last year's application season deciding to pipe up for a minute - for those waiting to hear from UT Austin, do keep an eye on your application status and on the results board... last year when I was applying, acceptances and rejections were being posted all over the board, but I heard not a peep from them... turns out they had put me on a wait list but didn't bother tell me! By the last day of March they still hadn't updated me. I didn't end up going anyway (obviously) as I got funding elsewhere, but for those of you who are unsure about them, I'd recommend emailing sooner rather than later if you're feeling anxious and want to check up on things. Although I'd agree that it's still very early! But, as a very anxious person myself, I thought it might be good to point this out to those who've brought it up. 

The archaeological cynic in me roils. If only they'd found something actually useful, like missing Livy.

Hi all - a lurker from last year's application season deciding to pipe up for a minute - for those waiting to hear from UT Austin, do keep an eye on your application status and on the results board... last year when I was applying, acceptances and rejections were being posted all over the board, but I heard not a peep from them... turns out they had put me on a wait list but didn't bother tell me! By the last day of March they still hadn't updated me. I didn't end up going anyway (obviously) as I got funding elsewhere, but for those of you who are unsure about them, I'd recommend emailing sooner rather than later if you're feeling anxious and want to check up on things. Although I'd agree that it's still very early! But, as a very anxious person myself, I thought it might be good to point this out to those who've brought it up. 

Well, I received news yesterday that I've been awarded a full scholarship (tuition, college fees, living expenses) for Oxford... so, it's not official yet because I haven't signed anything, but the decision is pretty much made - I'll be off to start my MPhil in Classical Archaeology there in the Fall.

I had this great idea to devote my spare time to reading everything I could find written by my POI ahead of my interview this weekend. Then I realized I have no spare time. This is problematic! Perhaps I should bring the Aeneid with me on the plane, though; I can see how it would be calming!

Anyone else snowed in or has the storm not hit the American northeast too badly yet? People have been snowshoe-ing, cross-country skiing, and dog-sledding through the streets of Toronto today. My university cancelled all of the day's activities and classes, and the stairs leading down to my basement apartment looks more like a great hill for tobogganing...

Nope, I meant placenta - that's with a hard C! Click the link rsmease pasted and you'll find a blog with ancient recipes. Placenta is a sort of dessert! Quite good - layers of dough, ricotta, and honey.