Fall 2019 Applicants

[caecilius]

6 minutes ago, Marcus_Aurelius said:

Accepted to Yale (classics track of ancient philosophy program)!

Congratulations! Same here. 

[Marcus_Aurelius]

2 minutes ago, caecilius said:

Congratulations! Same here. 

Really glad to hear!

[Hellanicus]

Accepted to Columbia Classical Studies

[Chaplin]

Hey all, 

Congratulations to all those accepted! Archaeologist here. I've gotten only rejections thus far - UNC, Michigan IPCAA, Stanford. I've yet to hear back from Brown, Penn, Cornell or Berkeley but do not expect good news. I had two interviews with Cornell, and then never heard back - but I know they've already sent on their acceptances so I'm not hopeful. When do you think is an appropriate time to send an inquiry about the status of my application? My POI at Stanford was actually very kind and sent an email saying that while they liked my application and thought I would be a good fit, they couldn't admit me with my limited language experience. My Plan B was to go for a second MA in order to get a lot more language experience and it's looking like that's the direction I'm headed. Sigh. 

[ImperatorGryphon]

6 hours ago, Chaplin said:

Hey all, 

Congratulations to all those accepted! Archaeologist here. I've gotten only rejections thus far - UNC, Michigan IPCAA, Stanford. I've yet to hear back from Brown, Penn, Cornell or Berkeley but do not expect good news. I had two interviews with Cornell, and then never heard back - but I know they've already sent on their acceptances so I'm not hopeful. When do you think is an appropriate time to send an inquiry about the status of my application? My POI at Stanford was actually very kind and sent an email saying that while they liked my application and thought I would be a good fit, they couldn't admit me with my limited language experience. My Plan B was to go for a second MA in order to get a lot more language experience and it's looking like that's the direction I'm headed. Sigh. 

I feel that.  Haven't heard a single thing yet, and it's probably because of my language experience (started Greek last summer, in Intermediate 2 now).  Looks like it's going to be either a Masters or a post-Bac year.

 

Just have to figure out how to pay for either...

[Marcus_Aurelius]

5 hours ago, ImperatorGryphon said:

I feel that.  Haven't heard a single thing yet, and it's probably because of my language experience (started Greek last summer, in Intermediate 2 now).  Looks like it's going to be either a Masters or a post-Bac year.

 

Just have to figure out how to pay for either...

I don't know if this is at helpful for you, but I'm finishing undergrad at Rutgers, and from what I understand Rutgers' post-bac is the most affordable (basically paying in-state tuition by credit). The cost isn't nothing, but most of the people who do it have substantial jobs too and the cost seems workable for many in that situation.

[Oulomenen]

Just got my first rejection, from Yale.  Best to all those that got it, best to all those still looking

[Bogut]

On 2/14/2019 at 5:50 PM, ImperatorGryphon said:

I feel that.  Haven't heard a single thing yet, and it's probably because of my language experience (started Greek last summer, in Intermediate 2 now).  Looks like it's going to be either a Masters or a post-Bac year.

 

Just have to figure out how to pay for either...

In addition to the suggestion above, there are a handful of MA programs that fund students through teaching and grading assignments. Something to consider at least. The advantage is that you earn rather than spend money without losing time to an irrelevant job.

[ciistai]

On 2/10/2019 at 11:07 AM, Hellanicus said:

I wouldn't interpret the length as a bad sign at all. They're just being businesslike, probably. Mine also fell in the ~15 minute zone (as they predicted).

I definitely found it one of my more pleasant interview experiences. Mine was essentially 10 minutes of writing sample talk and then 5 for the meta (why Harvard) type questions. Last year Harvard put out offers two weeks after interviews. I guess we can start getting anxious around the 24th.

 Best of luck to everyone! This was my last interview in the cycle (with the exception of whatever might happen with Princeton). Should be an interesting few weeks

I know I'm late responding to this, but I need to echo this comment about time - even my in-person interview at Michigan was only 15 minutes long, and my Skype pseudo-interview with AAMW was a 15-minute conversation with one faculty member too. That's pretty standard in terms of time. 

[Hellanicus]

Yupyup! I still think it's weird that so many schools do 15 minute blocks, but I have been impressed by how much can be said in that length.

Based on last year (though I know they're especially behind now) this upcoming week should be Princeton week. We're likely also not much more than a week out from more information from Harvard. Good luck all!

[Oulomenen]

And another rejection from Oxford.  Oh well!

[nubisater]

2 hours ago, Oulomenen said:

And another rejection from Oxford.  Oh well!

Rejected by Oxford as well.. oimoi

[ImperatorGryphon]

On 2/14/2019 at 11:25 PM, Marcus_Aurelius said:

I don't know if this is at helpful for you, but I'm finishing undergrad at Rutgers, and from what I understand Rutgers' post-bac is the most affordable (basically paying in-state tuition by credit). The cost isn't nothing, but most of the people who do it have substantial jobs too and the cost seems workable for many in that situation.

I'm gonna say thanks for the advice, but I won't be needing the Rutgers post-bac program, as I got accepted into their Masters program!

Still waiting on one more school, but at least I know I'll have a home next year!

[Marcus_Aurelius]

31 minutes ago, ImperatorGryphon said:

I'm gonna say thanks for the advice, but I won't be needing the Rutgers post-bac program, as I got accepted into their Masters program!

Still waiting on one more school, but at least I know I'll have a home next year!

Congratulations! In that case, please do message me if I can help with any questions about the school, professors, or New Brunswick.

[caecilius]

Has anyone had any news at all from Harvard and/or Princeton?

[nubisater]

2 hours ago, caecilius said:

Has anyone had any news at all from Harvard and/or Princeton?

Nothing from Harvard for me...sigh...

[NonneFeminae]

4 hours ago, caecilius said:

Has anyone had any news at all from Harvard and/or Princeton?

Nothing from Princeton yet...

[Marcus_Aurelius]

Yep, been waiting somewhat anxiously for Princeton. Was talking to a prof today who was really surprised Princeton hasn't said anything to anyone...

[Withnail]

On 2/14/2019 at 5:50 PM, ImperatorGryphon said:

I feel that.  Haven't heard a single thing yet, and it's probably because of my language experience (started Greek last summer, in Intermediate 2 now).  Looks like it's going to be either a Masters or a post-Bac year.

Just have to figure out how to pay for either...

This is the criminal elitism of academia at its most problematic. The faux liberal classicists smacking themselves on the asses with #ClassicsTwitter always want to talk about reframing classics' status quo. Yet they encourage it. Firstly, they require official transcripts for applying which costs even more money. They require the GRE. All of these cost money to take, let alone report scores. Then, they punish students with immense potential because they're lacking a year of language. They encourage a master's or post-bacc, both of which cost unseemly amounts of money and are utterly useless in an American system since 2 of your 5 years are technically to earn a master's degree. It's bollocks. And it rewards students who had the money to go to fuck-knows-where to take fuck-knows-what course simply because s/he had the $$$.

I earned my master's in G+L after a BA in English and Latin. Supplemented it with a year of Greek, giving me four of Latin and two of Greek. I was told by every school that I didn't have enough language training. So I sat out last year and did a third year of Greek, as well as any extracurricular non-credit courses I could simply to show my enthusiasm. It paid off this year, but it cost me money I'll never be able to pay back.

Some interesting reading:

https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2018/12/05/how-was-the-expensive-classics-event-income-inequality-and-the-classics/

 

There was a twitter thread which leaked the notes of a PhD admissions panel from a Californian uni (can't remember which—USC?) and it said that they find "MA students" are often "too rigid" and don't perform well because they're not as open to new teaching.

The point: academics can be persnickety, hypocritical, and pedantic. But businessmenwomen are even worse. As someone who just took a year out working with my local uni to get cheap classes and watched it pay off, I strongly urge you to consider a way to make it work. Feel free to DM me if you'd like.

[Oulomenen]

Has anyone received any manner of update about a PhD at Cambridge?  I've seen people post masters updates, but nothing about doctorates (even interview notifications).

[caecilius]

9 hours ago, nubisater said:

Nothing from Harvard for me...sigh...

 

8 hours ago, NonneFeminae said:

Nothing from Princeton yet...

 

5 hours ago, Marcus_Aurelius said:

Yep, been waiting somewhat anxiously for Princeton. Was talking to a prof today who was really surprised Princeton hasn't said anything to anyone...

Thanks everyone for your replies, it is indeed nerve-wracking, I was afraid they had already sent out their responses and people just hadn't reported them. But grad cafe is usually quite useful in that if universities do send out offers, at least one person will have posted it on the results page. I will report as soon as I hear something, for the sake of our collective sanity. Best of luck to all! 

[ClaudiusRex]

Accepted to DPhil in Classical Archaeology at Oxford! I don't know if any of you applied to that program, since it's in the School of Archaeology and not purely Classics, but thought you'd want to know. No word on funding or any of the scholarships I applied for yet.

[caecilius]

The lack of news from some schools is starting to make me really uncomfortable.

[ciistai]

On 2/21/2019 at 5:31 PM, Withnail said:

This is the criminal elitism of academia at its most problematic. The faux liberal classicists smacking themselves on the asses with #ClassicsTwitter always want to talk about reframing classics' status quo. Yet they encourage it. Firstly, they require official transcripts for applying which costs even more money. They require the GRE. All of these cost money to take, let alone report scores. Then, they punish students with immense potential because they're lacking a year of language. They encourage a master's or post-bacc, both of which cost unseemly amounts of money and are utterly useless in an American system since 2 of your 5 years are technically to earn a master's degree. It's bollocks. And it rewards students who had the money to go to fuck-knows-where to take fuck-knows-what course simply because s/he had the $$$.

 I earned my master's in G+L after a BA in English and Latin. Supplemented it with a year of Greek, giving me four of Latin and two of Greek. I was told by every school that I didn't have enough language training. So I sat out last year and did a third year of Greek, as well as any extracurricular non-credit courses I could simply to show my enthusiasm. It paid off this year, but it cost me money I'll never be able to pay back.

Some interesting reading:

https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2018/12/05/how-was-the-expensive-classics-event-income-inequality-and-the-classics/

 

There was a twitter thread which leaked the notes of a PhD admissions panel from a Californian uni (can't remember which—USC?) and it said that they find "MA students" are often "too rigid" and don't perform well because they're not as open to new teaching.

 The point: academics can be persnickety, hypocritical, and pedantic. But businessmenwomen are even worse. As someone who just took a year out working with my local uni to get cheap classes and watched it pay off, I strongly urge you to consider a way to make it work. Feel free to DM me if you'd like.

The Twitter thread in question was about a meeting between Chairs of PhD-offering departments and Liberal Arts College Classics department Chairs. 

A few schools are finally (thankfully) starting to opt to remove GRE requirements now that many graduate faculties have removed their own overarching requirement for them. Watch this (or their) space(s).

The transcript and GRE cost is absolutely criminal especially for international students trying to apply to American universities. I paid over 200 USD for my GRE. I remember Stanford's application cost was 120 USD. Hard when you don't have USD. 

Trust that these conversations are happening! (Mostly led by graduate students.)

Signed, liberal classicist from #classicstwitter.

Edited February 25, 2019 by ciistai

[Marcus_Aurelius]

1 hour ago, caecilius said:

The lack of news from some schools is starting to make me really uncomfortable.

No idea about the wait for Harvard, but for Princeton surely we shouldn't be uncomfortable if absolutely no one has heard anything. That doesn't make the tension easier, though.