Covid-19's effects on classics programs for 2021?

[TaciturnTales]

Does anyone have a feel for how the pandemic is affecting funding/admissions for classics programs for the 2021 cycle?

I am struggling with making decisions right now. My eventual goal is to get an MA in Classical Archaeology in order to pursue museum work (yes, I realize that I will likely need a PhD to curate, but I am not experienced enough to apply for one just yet). After being interviewed for two assistantships through the museum affiliated with the school that I was planning to attend this fall, only to have their funding pulled and no one hired because of the pandemic, I am very discouraged.

My thought was that I would begin applications for the 2021 cycle, but now I am unsure if the stress, time and expenditure would be worth it for a cycle with decreased admissions and funding opportunities. I quite simply cannot afford graduate school without funding. Although I have decent GRE scores (at least, verbal and writing), two bachelor's degrees with very high GPAs, archaeology lab experience, museum work experience, and teaching experience...I do not have a background in Greek/Latin or in archaeology courses geared specifically towards ancient history. Although I do spend about three hours a day studying Latin and am making decent progress, I realize that this might not impress an admissions committee without a list of ancient literature that I have read/studied.

Do I go ahead and apply for 2021 and hope for the best? I do have a chance of at least being admitted to some of the programs that I have on my list. Or should I just put it off for yet another year and spend that time making myself a more competitive candidate and, thus, broaden the number of programs to which I could apply?

[Wafflotron]

I've been talking with my professors about applications as I'm a senior and F21 will be my first cycle, and asked them this very question. They seem fairly confident that grad student admissions won't decrease substantially since grad students are a source of cheap labor- many teach classes and are worth quite a lot since they get paid less than even contract lecturers. They said they wouldn't worry unless the entire department is being downsized, which I haven't heard of anyone doing just yet.

[TaciturnTales]

On 9/14/2020 at 6:23 PM, Wafflotron said:

I've been talking with my professors about applications as I'm a senior and F21 will be my first cycle, and asked them this very question. They seem fairly confident that grad student admissions won't decrease substantially since grad students are a source of cheap labor- many teach classes and are worth quite a lot since they get paid less than even contract lecturers. They said they wouldn't worry unless the entire department is being downsized, which I haven't heard of anyone doing just yet.

Well, that's good news, I think. I guess if I don't get funding I could at least get admitted and then defer until 2022. That would give me some time to try to secure funding.

[Marcus_Aurelius]

I don't have inside info, but I'm guessing it's going to vary a lot by school. I'd expect elite PhD programs to cut admissions hard (as part of general budget cuts), but, in line with Wafflotron's point, it's possible schools that need lots of TAs (like some of the places with funded Classics MAs) won't change their admissions too much. If you could be doing other things, I'd probably recommend waiting a year, just to maximize your chances, but if you don't, then you're probably ok going for the admissions, with the caveat that grad admissions are always dicey and museums are likely to be particularly hard-hit now (but again, I have no inside info).

EDIT: Oh, and this is clear from the rest of the thread, but I want to restate the general advice to never get (or really consider getting, unless one is independently wealthy) a Humanities grad degree without solid funding.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Marcus_Aurelius