kaputzing

I'm 40 and I have very little chance of getting in. The reason is that faculty are looking for kids they can mold and shape into what they think are good copies of themselves. Also when you're younger you're less competition and not much of a threat. I think you have an excellent chance.

There's very affordable housing around Hyde Park that isn't owned by the university. Some of it may be a little out of the way, but the prices are usually better, and the walk isn't too bad, plus the pet rules are more flexible. I highly encourage you to check out http://marketplace.uchicago.edu/ for apartments.

There's very affordable housing around Hyde Park that isn't owned by the university. Some of it may be a little out of the way, but the prices are usually better, and the walk isn't too bad, plus the pet rules are more flexible. I highly encourage you to check out http://marketplace.uchicago.edu/ for apartments.

1. Advisor: Sane? Insane? Nice? Not so nice? Someone I can conceivably work with? Open to ideas? A good mentor, both academically and "politically"? Well-connected and liked by the field? Invested in grad students getting good placements? I am willing to compromise on research interests if the advisor is some combination of these things. I would rather work with someone who won't drive me crazy than with someone who shares my interests and does drive me crazy.

2. Funding, up to a certain extent. If all offers are within the same ballpark, then discount this point. (Of course, must factor in cost-of-living into the funding calculation.)

3. Research fit.

4. Resources, both in # of full-time and diverse faculty and # of projects available for students to work on. Also, stuff like libraries/archives and museums are important to me.

5. Tradition/prestige: Sorry to sound shallow, but it's at least a little bit important for placements. Also, schools who continuously place their grads in good positions are often dedicated to getting their grads good jobs, while those that do not may be less dedicated to developing their grads professionally so to speak.

7. Location.

8. Atmosphere. To be honest, so long as it is not overly competitive and toxic, I am not picky. (I am in a department that is known to be highly competitive and a little toxic, and I didn't even realize this until people described the department in this manner to me. It is clearly a function of "this is all I know, so I thought this was normal ..." but I think I may be able to swim in most environments. Which is not to say that a warmer and fuzzier department might not woo me, but it's not the most important thing. )

1. Advisor: Sane? Insane? Nice? Not so nice? Someone I can conceivably work with? Open to ideas? A good mentor, both academically and "politically"? Well-connected and liked by the field? Invested in grad students getting good placements? I am willing to compromise on research interests if the advisor is some combination of these things. I would rather work with someone who won't drive me crazy than with someone who shares my interests and does drive me crazy.

2. Funding, up to a certain extent. If all offers are within the same ballpark, then discount this point. (Of course, must factor in cost-of-living into the funding calculation.)

3. Research fit.

4. Resources, both in # of full-time and diverse faculty and # of projects available for students to work on. Also, stuff like libraries/archives and museums are important to me.

5. Tradition/prestige: Sorry to sound shallow, but it's at least a little bit important for placements. Also, schools who continuously place their grads in good positions are often dedicated to getting their grads good jobs, while those that do not may be less dedicated to developing their grads professionally so to speak.

7. Location.

8. Atmosphere. To be honest, so long as it is not overly competitive and toxic, I am not picky. (I am in a department that is known to be highly competitive and a little toxic, and I didn't even realize this until people described the department in this manner to me. It is clearly a function of "this is all I know, so I thought this was normal ..." but I think I may be able to swim in most environments. Which is not to say that a warmer and fuzzier department might not woo me, but it's not the most important thing. )

1. Advisor: Sane? Insane? Nice? Not so nice? Someone I can conceivably work with? Open to ideas? A good mentor, both academically and "politically"? Well-connected and liked by the field? Invested in grad students getting good placements? I am willing to compromise on research interests if the advisor is some combination of these things. I would rather work with someone who won't drive me crazy than with someone who shares my interests and does drive me crazy.

2. Funding, up to a certain extent. If all offers are within the same ballpark, then discount this point. (Of course, must factor in cost-of-living into the funding calculation.)

3. Research fit.

4. Resources, both in # of full-time and diverse faculty and # of projects available for students to work on. Also, stuff like libraries/archives and museums are important to me.

5. Tradition/prestige: Sorry to sound shallow, but it's at least a little bit important for placements. Also, schools who continuously place their grads in good positions are often dedicated to getting their grads good jobs, while those that do not may be less dedicated to developing their grads professionally so to speak.

7. Location.

8. Atmosphere. To be honest, so long as it is not overly competitive and toxic, I am not picky. (I am in a department that is known to be highly competitive and a little toxic, and I didn't even realize this until people described the department in this manner to me. It is clearly a function of "this is all I know, so I thought this was normal ..." but I think I may be able to swim in most environments. Which is not to say that a warmer and fuzzier department might not woo me, but it's not the most important thing. )

1. Advisor: Sane? Insane? Nice? Not so nice? Someone I can conceivably work with? Open to ideas? A good mentor, both academically and "politically"? Well-connected and liked by the field? Invested in grad students getting good placements? I am willing to compromise on research interests if the advisor is some combination of these things. I would rather work with someone who won't drive me crazy than with someone who shares my interests and does drive me crazy.

2. Funding, up to a certain extent. If all offers are within the same ballpark, then discount this point. (Of course, must factor in cost-of-living into the funding calculation.)

3. Research fit.

4. Resources, both in # of full-time and diverse faculty and # of projects available for students to work on. Also, stuff like libraries/archives and museums are important to me.

5. Tradition/prestige: Sorry to sound shallow, but it's at least a little bit important for placements. Also, schools who continuously place their grads in good positions are often dedicated to getting their grads good jobs, while those that do not may be less dedicated to developing their grads professionally so to speak.

7. Location.

8. Atmosphere. To be honest, so long as it is not overly competitive and toxic, I am not picky. (I am in a department that is known to be highly competitive and a little toxic, and I didn't even realize this until people described the department in this manner to me. It is clearly a function of "this is all I know, so I thought this was normal ..." but I think I may be able to swim in most environments. Which is not to say that a warmer and fuzzier department might not woo me, but it's not the most important thing. )

1. Advisor: Sane? Insane? Nice? Not so nice? Someone I can conceivably work with? Open to ideas? A good mentor, both academically and "politically"? Well-connected and liked by the field? Invested in grad students getting good placements? I am willing to compromise on research interests if the advisor is some combination of these things. I would rather work with someone who won't drive me crazy than with someone who shares my interests and does drive me crazy.

2. Funding, up to a certain extent. If all offers are within the same ballpark, then discount this point. (Of course, must factor in cost-of-living into the funding calculation.)

3. Research fit.

4. Resources, both in # of full-time and diverse faculty and # of projects available for students to work on. Also, stuff like libraries/archives and museums are important to me.

5. Tradition/prestige: Sorry to sound shallow, but it's at least a little bit important for placements. Also, schools who continuously place their grads in good positions are often dedicated to getting their grads good jobs, while those that do not may be less dedicated to developing their grads professionally so to speak.

7. Location.

8. Atmosphere. To be honest, so long as it is not overly competitive and toxic, I am not picky. (I am in a department that is known to be highly competitive and a little toxic, and I didn't even realize this until people described the department in this manner to me. It is clearly a function of "this is all I know, so I thought this was normal ..." but I think I may be able to swim in most environments. Which is not to say that a warmer and fuzzier department might not woo me, but it's not the most important thing. )

It is field-dependent. Yes, there are top scholars everywhere scattered amongst departments of less prestigious schools. In some fields, though, you'll notice that no matter where these scholars teach, they'll all have gotten their degrees at a group of core schools. (Example: in my field, top scholars basically come from UMich, UChicago, UPenn, Yale, Harvard, a few German and Dutch schools, and maybe Oxford once in a while.)

Does anyone else feel incredibly proud when they manage to not look at their computer/email (damn email on phones!) for, like, 2 hours... and then super pissed off when you're not magically rewarded with news for having such amazing self control?
 
Logicz. THey ekzist. I haz them.

They retire?

Your observations are accurate to the best of my knowledge, but I think you're missing some great schools.

There's Johns Hopkins, which has Jacob Lauinger and Paul Delnero - both of whom are great.

And then there are places like NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, Berkeley, and UCLA, each of which offers different but great opportunities, depending on your interests. ISAW is especially flexible in what it will allow you to do.

As for foreign schools, Cambridge, Oxford, and SOAS could all be great places to at least obtain an MA before moving on to your PhD, though funding is nigh on impossible to obtain. Leiden would be more affordable, but perhaps not as rigorous. Unlike US schools, Toronto requires you to have an MA before going on to do your PhD.

I don't know what your background is or what your primary interests are, but there are more opportunities than you'd think if you know where to look. Let me know if I can help in any way!

As a warning, Michalowski and Beckman at Michigan are very near retirement, and Yoffee already retired. Foster at Yale is retiring soon as well, I believe. Whether they will be replaced remains to be seen. Chicago has a reputation for being a rather competitive and unfriendly place to be, though its resources and faculty are definitely unmatched.

I second the above suggestions of JHU, NYU, UCLA, and Berkeley; JHU is actively expanding its department with the two new hires in Assyriology and a rumored search for a new position in Levantine archaeology. Adding to the list, you also have Brandeis, Penn State, Cornell, and (new to the game) Brown. UT Austin may be worth a look if you're primarily interested in Akkadian and comparative Semitics. I know at least two people who've done Assyriology at Columbia with Van De Mieroop, but I don't know how feasible that typically is.

Unfortunately, it's horrifically difficult to get into decent Assyriology programs these days. Many programs accept only one new student a year and sometimes none at all. Funding at some of these - Berkeley, UCLA, Toronto, etc. - is quite tight. Additionally, although it is usually not officially required that a student have had Akkadian and/or Sumerian, a student with at least one year of Akkadian will have a huge leg up in admissions - these are difficult languages, and professors like to see that a new student could handle them; it also speeds up progress toward the dissertation.

As a back-up plan in the event you don't get in anywhere and you don't already have Akkadian, you may want to consider taking Akkadian at a nearby seminary or div school if it's available (e.g. Sasson teaches Akkadian at Vandy) and reapply next year. The MA program at CUA, which is at least partially funded if I remember correctly, may also be something to consider. If you do decide to apply somewhere in Germany, look into the DAAD scholarship.

https://www.daad.org...ip/index.v3page

You're correct about Leiden. Courses are usually taught in English, and it has a fine reputation in Assyriology. It's also decent for Hittitology with Kloekhost on staff.