Guidance for a scared, confused and utterly befuddled newbie

[adrianaj]

Hello All,

I've poked about through the forums on and off for the past couple of years and have finally decided that I should just suck it up and join so that I can post something. That said, here is my deal:

I got my BA in History in 2009 from UC Berkeley with a concentration in Ancient Rome and wrote my undergrad thesis on the Vestal Virgins. I don't remember what my GPAs were in the major or cumulative, but I think they were both upward of 3.6

I also did the languages: four semesters of Latin and two of Greek and proficiency in French; however, while my French is and has always been good, scheduling and life conflicts hindered my progress with the ancient languages. I did really well my first semester of Latin, but had to take a semester and a summer off to take classes required for the History major. When I returned, my recollection of the material was pathetic and I trudged through three more semesters before having to put it aside so that I could work on my thesis. And then there was Greek. For whatever reason, I've never been able to get it right. I had to withdraw from the intensive summer course at Berkeley (I had to work and the program was not designed to accommodate students who needed to work), and then, as with Latin, dragged myself through the first two semesters of the language before again having to stop to focus on my thesis/jobs. Add to this the fact that I barely looked at either language in two years and you get me and my sorry excuse for language experience.

On the up(ish) side, I have good research and writing skills (a la the undergrad thesis) and a good understanding of methodology and the study of history. Nonetheless, I get really anxious every time I think about grad programs. I think part of my anxiety comes from not knowing what the f*** I am doing/what the expectations of programs are that they don't tell you in brochures or online/what good programs are/where I stand in comparison to others in terms of preparation/etc.

So, what I am asking for from you, the people in my computer, is a little guidance. I know that is broad, but you all have been here longer than I have, so if you could point me to older topics, tell me about some programs, or better yet engage me here in some sort of discussion I'd really love and appreciate it.

I suppose I should also tell you what I am interested in (because its all about context really, isn't it?):

I've pretty much always wanted to study Rome, and so I did Initially I thought I might follow a course of study more in the military/political branch of Roman history; however, my fascination began to move toward Roman religious practice and then boom: the Vestals! You get the political and religious all rolled into one (and even a little military, sort of). Anyway, as I was doing my thesis, I began to think more about female religious cults/groups/colleges and once I finished my thesis I had pretty much decided that I wanted to know more about the role of the female religious cults (for sake of ease of expression) throughout the Ancient Mediterranean, starting with Mesopotamia and ending, ideally, with the rise of Christianity.

Now, I know a good amount about the Vestals (maybe even more than the GSIs I had while I was doing the thesis); however, I've got little to no clue about the Mesopotamian/Babylonian/Assyrian/Jewish/Egyptian/Greek end of things, but of course, I want to learn (and then teach other people ). Basically, think about that ancient Mediterranean Civ survey courses you took as an undergrad: I'd want to take each section of that course and learn more about/research the role of female religious cults/females in religion in each one of them.

Clear as mud, yes?

Anyway, this post is going to be as long as my thesis was if I don't stop, but, again, I would really appreciate any guidance you could give me!

Thanks everyone!!!

[Mal83]

The first thing you really need to do is to figure out what you want a Master's degree in...or PhD if you eventually want to teach in college...I assume. I don't know if you're going to find any program that is as specific as what you've mentioned here, but I would start with a simple google search. Type in something like "Ancient History graduate programs" or "classical studies graduate programs"....something like that, see what hits you get, investigate the schools that come up, you'll have to look at each program and decide if it offers you what you mostly want. Maybe if you're not 100% sure of what you want then perhaps something in your research will strike you. If you have geographic preference that will narrow down your search. Don't worry about school rankings, just look for programs that interest you, when you start narrowing down your options you can decide how much you're willing to spend on an education...presitge vs low debt...that sort of thing.

Then I guess you'll have to decide how much of a factor your language skills will play into it, maybe it's not something you have to worry about too much or maybe you'll want to refocus on one of them. I took Latin in high school for 2 years...I don't remember anything except for the word for farmer. You should also look at your transcript and know exactly what your GPA is, if it's around 3.6 that's pretty solid and will not hinder your chances at Master's degree. Then you start looking at the admissions requirements for each school. It will seem like a lot at first, it will be a little confusing and every school, while the basics are the same, will want something a little different. When you're looking at requirements you'll get a decent sense of where you stack up. Generally speaking, a 3.0 GPA is the cut off, so no worries there, doesn't mean automatic admission by any means but your GPA is not something to be too concerned about. You'll probably have to take the GRE, every program and every school has a different GRE requirement, just look into each school's website.

Keep a list of all the schools that strike you and their available programs of interest so you can compare and mull them over, see how they feel. Time is on your side here so don't fret too much. Don't hesitate to ask anything else...you might also want to post in other sections, like "The Lobby" or "Applications" you'll get more general info on the process itself. A lot of people here have a lot to say about the process as many of us just literally went through it.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Mal83

[sacklunch]

I have a similar "problem" as you: scared my language skills are not up to par with those classicists right out of UG. I didn't do my UG in classics, but theo/philosophy. I'm in a masters program right now (ancient judaism), but am considering doing another masters in classics to make the "switch" from theology to ancient history (the lines are quite blurred for many doing history/textual stuff in theology).

Long story short I have been looking at masters programs in classics that do not focus as heavily on the languages. There seems to be a few out there, especially ones that only require you to focus in one language (for instance BC has an MA in Greek).

Also, you might look at programs in Ancient Near East?