Results, Stats, Advice for current applicant

[jprmacdonald]

Hey All -

Just sent of my applications for 2009, and I was wondering if you could help me orient myself. Safeties: UCSB, U-Cincinnati. Rest: U-Wash, UNC, U-Chi, Brown, Harvard.

I've got a 770V 720Q 5.5AW, a 4.0 GPA, prizes in Latin, a year of philology at Oxford, and hopefully good recs (including one from a preeminent philosopher at Oxford). * semesters of Latin, 5 of Greek. Research on Erotics and Rhetoric in Plato, 150 page honors thesis on Diachronic/Synchronic images of Fate in the Aeneid.

Besides the subjective things (SoP, Writing sample) how do I look? Same stats as you guys? How did you all fare?

thanks

[veilside]

Well, I think that you would appear to be at the top of the list at a good number of those schools. The only real deciding factor is going to be their direct interest in you. I have spoken to numerous faculty at numerous ivies, and par-ivies and they all said essentially the same thing: No matter how great an applicant is on paper, if they do not fit the dept. they are discarded. For example, let's say you wish to study classical history. Look at Cornell. There are two ancient historians there, Eric Rebillard and Barry Strauss. Eric is the Roman historian, and Barry the Greek. First, Barry rarely, if ever, takes in grad students as he prefers to teach UG courses. Eric is interested in the late Roman Empire. So, if you have a stellar applicant (like yourself) who wishes to focus in on the Punic Wars, they'll likely reject you due to no compatabilty. Likewise, if you have a solid, and somewhat-stellar applicant (3.6 GPA, 600's for GRE, etc...) who wishes to study the role of Christianity in the late Roman Empire he would stand a good chance.

I would say that as long as there is a good match with a prof. somewhere for you, you are as good as in with a record like that. Congrats too by the way for such an impressive record. Good luck as well, although you don't need it

[classicallynot]

for your reference, I am applying to PhD programs in Classical arch.

4.0 gpa, lowsy GRE 610V 660Q 4.5A, 2 summers of fieldwork, strong letters, 4 years latin, 2 greek, 1.5 italian (no german or french :cry: ), writing sample is from my thesis which I feel is pretty decent

my advising prof feels pretty confident in my chances, though I do not necessarily agree

[dudgeonmaster]

I have a First Class undergraduate degree from Oxford and a strong M.A. in Classics from University College London. My GRE results are 690V, 700Q, and 5.5A. Hopefully (!!) I should also get 3 strong and personal recommendations. I am applying to the Ph.D. programs at UC Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard, Chicago, Cambridge, Oxford, and University College London. Do people here reckon I stand a chance?

[jprmacdonald]

I'd say you have a pretty solid chance - you've already got the M.A., AND you have a first from Oxford...that name carries alot of weight over here. I think the other posters are right. Even if you have the objective criteria - good degree from a good program, good GRE, etc...it all boils down to a few professors reading your writing sample and your SOP and deciding they want to work with you.

Who are you looking to work with? What kind of stuff are you interested in studying? I'm interested in studying the metaphor of 'poetic weaving' in the Greek lyricists and the Hellenistic poets, which I think I'd do my M.A. thesis on, but from there I want to study how the late Republicans and Augustans co-opted the Hellenistic style and Romanized it...and again how the idea of "the text" developed from weaving metaphors (the basic answer is that the Greek lyricists thought the lyre was like a loom and the plectrum like a shuttle, but I am interested in the reception and development of the idea in later writers). Basically I'd like to do classics with a theoretical bent, but also reception-studies of Classical lit in general and the place of Classics in 20th century critical theory.

Secretly I want to write the first Aeneid film script. Maybe that's how I should spend my time waiting.

[dudgeonmaster]

HeyJ.P.R.! Thanks for your reply. Your profile looks very strong, and your research topic sounds like really good fun too. The metaphor of 'poetic weaving' immediately made me think of Theocritus Idyll I, where he describes a young boy fashioning a cage for a cicada out of reeds (or something like that), which could be taken as a metaphor for the act of poetic composition. Vergil also uses that metaphor at the end of Eclogue 10 if i recall ('These songs, Pierian Maids, shall it suffice Your poet to have sung, the while he sat,

And of slim mallow wove a basket fine').

Anyways, I want to research the role and influence of Epicureanism in the literature of the late Republic and early Empire, with an emphasis on Cicero H,orace, and Vergil. My MA thesis was on the possible influence of Epicureanism on Vergil's Eclogues given his recently confirmed association with the Epicureans in his youth. There are quite a few people who I would love to work with - Sumi Furiya and A.A. Long at Berkeley, for example, both of whom are excellent on Roman Epicureanism and Hellenistic philosophy. At Harvard I would like to work with Richard Thomas too.

[Minnesotan]

I think half of the classics world would love to study under Tony Long.

After reading this thread, I remember now why I switched disciplines before my MA. The classics field is among the most competitive, with the lowest likelihood of ever finding a job. =)

I wish you all the best of luck.

[jprmacdonald]

Dudgeonmaster -

What college did you take your degree from? I did my JYA at Worcester in 06-07, just wondering.

[dudgeonmaster]

j.p.r., worcester is really beautiful - i occasionally sang in their choir, although i was officially a choral scholar at Queen's. i went to jesus under armand d'angour from '00-'04.

[splendora]

Minnesotan, really, Classics is exceptionally competitive? Whenever I tell people what I'm studying they ask me to explain what the heck Classics is. Maybe they're all ignorant, but even then, my classes are always so small and have such difficulty getting the full number of students that I always assumed Classics was somewhat unpopular.

Now I'm really nervous.

[LateAntique]

Minnesotan, really, Classics is exceptionally competitive? Whenever I tell people what I'm studying they ask me to explain what the heck Classics is. Maybe they're all ignorant, but even then, my classes are always so small and have such difficulty getting the full number of students that I always assumed Classics was somewhat unpopular.

Now I'm really nervous.

When I tell people I do Classics, I always get, "Oh, like Shakespeare and Moby Dick?"

[Joe001]

JPR, your stats kick ass. You're going to be very competitive anywhere, so don't sweat it. Just wait for the acceptance letters to roll in

[hummus09]

Hey All -

Just sent of my applications for 2009, and I was wondering if you could help me orient myself. Safeties: UCSB, U-Cincinnati. Rest: U-Wash, UNC, U-Chi, Brown, Harvard.

I've got a 770V 720Q 5.5AW, a 4.0 GPA, prizes in Latin, a year of philology at Oxford, and hopefully good recs (including one from a preeminent philosopher at Oxford). * semesters of Latin, 5 of Greek. Research on Erotics and Rhetoric in Plato, 150 page honors thesis on Diachronic/Synchronic images of Fate in the Aeneid.

Besides the subjective things (SoP, Writing sample) how do I look? Same stats as you guys? How did you all fare?

thanks

JPR,

I wouldnt necessarily place Cincinnati in the safety section of your schools--unlike UCSB it is not merely a MA stepping stone program. It has some major scholars (Parker and Gutzwiller, to start, on the philology side) plus one of the best classics libraries in the country (if not the world) and a vibrant and active scholarly community from what I could tell from my visit last year. Finally, the support is very good. And finally if I remember correctly from trolling these boards in the past, you didnt get an admit from that school last year.

In terms of your other schools, Washington is very stingy with their funding, UNC and Chicago are great, but Brown is really going through a transition period with their senior faculty (Putnam, Konstan, Fornara, and Rauflabb have all retired in the past 2 years) and Harvard is, as usual, highly over-rated.

I would suggest also applying to Stanford if you are looking at top end programs or even USC where they are doing interesting work.

Edited December 30, 2009 by hummus09

[urbsroma]

Hey All -

Just sent of my applications for 2009, and I was wondering if you could help me orient myself. Safeties: UCSB, U-Cincinnati. Rest: U-Wash, UNC, U-Chi, Brown, Harvard.

I've got a 770V 720Q 5.5AW, a 4.0 GPA, prizes in Latin, a year of philology at Oxford, and hopefully good recs (including one from a preeminent philosopher at Oxford). * semesters of Latin, 5 of Greek. Research on Erotics and Rhetoric in Plato, 150 page honors thesis on Diachronic/Synchronic images of Fate in the Aeneid.

Besides the subjective things (SoP, Writing sample) how do I look? Same stats as you guys? How did you all fare?

thanks

Hey JPR,

Any results so far? Hope things are turning out well!

[Ardea]

Hey JPR,

Any results so far? Hope things are turning out well!

JPR got his results by last March.

He chose UCSB, since you're interested.