How competitive is Classics?

[sacklunch]

Long story short I am coming from a background in theology and philosophy. My UG didn't have a Classics major (small Jesuit school), so I ended up majoring in two closely related fields. I'm now doing a terminal masters in theology, with an emphasis in biblical studies/languages.

Basically I am considering either transferring over to classics (proselyte??) - or getting another masters in classics if I don't get into a biblical studies PhD.

My question is: how competitive are MA's in Classics? At top schools in theology they are fairly competitive, where you have several hundred applicants, taking only a couple dozen students. Is it worse than this?

After browsing here, speaking with several of you, ect., it seems I may apply to a couple terminal MA degrees, such as: Tufts, UA, UC-Berkeley, BU, WashU (STL). I have several years of classical Greek, Hebrew, ect., but no Latin. I am considering taking Latin this coming year (final year of my theology masters).

anyways, thanks ya'll

[ikatticus]

The way I see it is that less people do it, but this is reflected in that there are less places. I think most of the places I applied to had about 60-90 applicants for usually 3-6 places per year. That's just for the ones I applied to though.

[Myshkin]

Long story short I am coming from a background in theology and philosophy. My UG didn't have a Classics major (small Jesuit school), so I ended up majoring in two closely related fields. I'm now doing a terminal masters in theology, with an emphasis in biblical studies/languages.

Basically I am considering either transferring over to classics (proselyte??) - or getting another masters in classics if I don't get into a biblical studies PhD.

My question is: how competitive are MA's in Classics? At top schools in theology they are fairly competitive, where you have several hundred applicants, taking only a couple dozen students. Is it worse than this?

After browsing here, speaking with several of you, ect., it seems I may apply to a couple terminal MA degrees, such as: Tufts, UA, UC-Berkeley, BU, WashU (STL). I have several years of classical Greek, Hebrew, ect., but no Latin. I am considering taking Latin this coming year (final year of my theology masters).

anyways, thanks ya'll

Definitely consider applying to the University of Georgia terminal M.A., which actually gives solid funding for an M.A. program. My Greek was not comfortable when I began compared to my Latin, and now it's where it needs to be for Ph.D. programs. The Latin program here is also superb. I highly recommend it. Good placement results this year too for jobs and Ph.D. programs.

[sacklunch]

I was going to create another thread, but this one will work just as well.

What I am looking for is a problem that will drastically improve my skill in Greek.

Further questions:

1. Do I stand a chance of acceptance with only 1 year of Latin? Like I said before, I will have about 3 years of Greek (classical mixed with koine)

2. What programs emphasize only one language (Greek)? Of course I would like to be better at Latin, but my main emphasis would ideally be Greek.

I have noticed a few programs that say you can focus in one language or the other.

3. What programs offer full funding, as in a free program? And can I reasonable get into one of these programs.

My basic stats: UG 3.72 overall/3.9 major(s) in theology and philosophy at a small Jesuit school in the midwest; Master of Theological Studies at Boston College 3.92 (have another year, will apply to programs this fall).

If it matters, I have been compiling a list of schools that offer terminal MA degrees (largely from browsing this section). They are:

ANY thoughts on these schools is wonderful

MU mastersin Greek

UCBerkeley MA Clsasics/MA Archeology

Tufts MA in Classical Archeology

Tufts MA in Classics

Brandeis MA in Classics

Cornell MA in Archeology

University of Chicago –through their Near Eastern Languages and Civ – Hebrew Bible and ANE MA

U of Chicago Master ofArts Program in the Humanities – classical language option

BU MA Classics

Columbia MA/MPhil in Classics

UNC Chapel Hill MA in Classics(Greek focus)

Bryn Mawr MA in Classics - focus

UVA Classical Art & Archaeology

UVA MA in Classics

thanks ya'll!

Edited April 28, 2011 by jdmhotness

[RomulusAugustulus]

I'm not familiar with all of these programs, but I can say that most schools which offer a ph.d track will probably not have funding available for a terminal masters (e.g. places like Berkeley, which barely has funding these days as it is). Also, archaeology M.A's are not going to help you focus on language skills as much as a philology program, unless you're interested in pursuing archaeology later, its probably not worth it for you to apply to those.

You should add Vanderbilt to that list which is a fully funded M.A. program. I've also got a friend doing a M.A. at WUSTL, also funded.

To be completely honest with you, 1 year of Latin is not going to get you too far. I think Classics grad school is getting more and more competitive (especially so for funded programs!)

If you are serious about moving in to Classics, my recommendation would be to take Latin, and outside of your grammar classes, try to work on some real Latin (Catullus, Caesar, something easy) because

in grad school you'll get thrown into seminars and will have to read lots of tough Latin daily. Since you have Greek, you could also start Latin with an accelerated grammar course over the summer, then take lit classes in the Fall or Spring, then you'll have essentially 1.5-2 yrs of Latin.

The other thing I'd recommend is that you look into doing a post bac (UNC and Penn have good programs), this will help you get your Latin up to speed, you could apply to these along with M.A. programs as a back-up plan. They are, unfortunately, not funded, but they are way cheaper than regular school.

As for schools that focus on one language: I don't know anything about these but what I will say is if you are interested in moving on in Classics (i.e. getting a ph.d.), you'll want to focus on both.

[sacklunch]

I actually looked at WashU, but their website says don't bother applying unless you have 3-4 years of one language and 2 for the other.

Let me say my eventual goals are not doing a PhD in Classics. Eventually the plan is to do a PhD in theology (biblical studies of the second temple period). I want to beef up my Greek for comparative purposes. As for Latin, I would like to be fairly proficient at it, but by no means do I need to be great at it (Greek and Hebrew are what I want to focus on).

With that said, I would like a program that lets you focus in one language (Greek) while "minoring" in another (Latin). I know I have seen this option at several of the programs listed.

Also, I was looking at programs in archeology because 1. Their requirements for languages didn't seem as intense, which would aid me since I am a bit of a late starter and 2. Classical archeology is very beneficial to those studying religion in antiquity (obviously).

So in short I am looking for a program that is funded and will let me focus in Greek. Is this possible?

Edited April 29, 2011 by jdmhotness

[sacklunch]

Also, I don't mind spending a bit of money. I shouldn't say I need something fully funded, although this would be nice. I am trying to stay outside of loans, but if need be I can loan something small for tuition. I have funds from elsewhere for living expenses, so that's not a problem.

[sacklunch]

Two program recommendations: 1) the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley has a two year M.A. in biblical languages, in which a person usually studies Hebrew, Greek and a modern research language; 2) if you can stand living in New York City, both Columbia and NYU have excellent M.A. programs in Classics.

I actually got into GTU's MA in biblical languages program, but decided to come to Boston College instead (felt there was more opportunity here). I'll check out Columbia and NYU.

thanks mate