Classics MA for MBA Student..........Wait a minute, What?

[chuck540]

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to see what you guys thought about my situation, if I'm going off the deep-end or just have too much time to daydream. I was a dual degree student as an undergrad with degrees with both business Management and Classics. I pursued mngt because of the practicality and classics for the pure love of all things historical. I did pretty well in undergrad, I was summa cum laude in both colleges and ended up with a 3.94 GPA overall and did get to do a little study abroad in Greece at the end of undergrad (which was the coolest thing I've done to this point in my life!).

Ok, so now I'm done with undergrad and I'm actually working on an MBA with an emphasis in international business. I work for an insurance company so they foot the bill for my MBA, and I enjoy school in general so I figured I should take advantage of a free benefit. Not all of my MBA work has been strictly business, I've had a good portion of international finance and international economic development (don't tell my company this), and the MBA overall has been a good experience.

Here is the deal, Im getting married in May and we are moving to Pittsburgh so my fiance can get a PhD at Penn for social comparative studies in educational policy. I'm going to be about finished with my MBA by then and actually have saved up a decent amount of cash for the future. As I look at the U of Pitt they have a MA program in classics that I might actually be able to succeed in!

I have a reading knowledge of German (I've been supplementing this with Rosetta Stone which is actually somewhat helpful in my opinion) and Ive already taken the GMAT but am pretty sure I would still need to take the GRE. I have 0 Latin, Zilch notta, but I do have 4 semesters of Greek from undergrad. My languages are weak but I'm a hard worker and not afraid to slog through some more undergrad languages before getting to the levels where they count for an MA. I also am pretty sure that with an MBA I could get on the staff at PITT somewhere (stamping papers behind a desk maybe) and get tuition remission for working part time while earning the degree.

So what do you guys think, take the plunge or am I nuts? I've found the insurance industry pays good but there is something missing in life, an MA in classics would be my all time greatest accomplishment by far in my own opinion.

[Soul Invictus]

Im really not familiar with the University of Pittsburgh. I would think you would need to do a post-bac in greek and latin... Theres definitely a way for you to do this, but it depends, I think, on what youre willing to sacrifice, with regard to both finances and time. The first thing I would do is contact the program you want to be in and see what theyre requirements are, or rather, their recommendations for crafting a competitive app. Since they will require you take and place a high level latin reading course, (or so it seems, I have no idea what 1300 level is) You will have to know latin when you arrive. Again, I dont mean to judge, but I think it would be difficult to learn latin while you were juggling graduate level work in Greek. There are intensive summer latin programs though, maybe you could look into that.

A post bac will probably be necessary after you do an intensive summer course, so that you can assert that you still doing well in greek and that your latin is coming along. Penn has a good post-bac, and thankfully youll be right there. It might be worth it to contact them.

Also, why do you want an MA, exactly? Where do you want it to take you?

All the Best!

S

[spozik]

If you can clear up something real quick, I think it would help. You mentioned that your wife is going to be at Penn, but you're moving to Pittsburgh. Do you mean Philadelphia, or do they have some kind of extension campus in Pittsburgh for her program? Or do you mean Pitt instead of Penn? Anyway, I would guess that you're not going to gain admission to a terminal MA at the moment with no previous Latin experience. If you do mean Philadelphia, that could be good for you because Penn there has a post-bac program that would be a good fit for you and should be affordable for you. After that, if you're still in the area, both Penn and Bryn Mawr down the road have MA & PhD programs. Some programs don't admit students who are just looking for an MA, but you'd have to check with each program. If you are actually moving to Pittsburgh, I don't see why you couldn't essentially design your own post-bac by just signing up as a non-degree-seeking student while you brush up your languages. You'd get to know the professors and things there as well, which wouldn't hurt I'm sure.

[chuck540]

Hi Spozik and Soul Invictus,

I'm sorry I misspoke on my first post, we will both be in Pittsburgh, not Philadelphia. I have looked at Penns post bacc, that does look like a great program that could unlock a lot of doors for someone. I guess first let me go back to Soul's question, Why am I considering this? One reason I'm considering this move is that I think it may help me obtain a career in museum administration. I wouldn't be qualified for a curator type position, but I think it may help get a foot in the door having both the business and the arts background for someone who wants to work in the business/management side of a museum.

The biggest reason for considering this change is that I feel as if I'm really going to be kicking myself 10 years from now if I don't do this. After I completed my classics in undergrad I had a lot of people ask me how something like that would help me in the future? I've never been able to explain this (which is always awkward when it comes up in job interviews), but its more of just an internal sort of knowledge/happiness that it gives you. I kind of feel like I've raced to get to a good career and done all of the right things and now that I'm there its kind of hollow. I know this sounds pretty ungrateful during a recession where most people would do anything for a job, but its still true.

I don't think I could realistically get into a PhD program in the future or anything like that, but I do like Spoziks idea of maybe being non-degree for awhile and just taking courses. Maybe I could take enough Latin to get to a point that I could apply a year or so down the line. I guess I'm just wondering if any of you guys have gone into a classics program and had regrets about doing so later on? I'm afraid I'll have more regrets if I don't give it a shot!

Thanks!!!