Fall 2012 Season

[classicsgrad]

Has anyone heard good news about Boston University MA's? I saw a bunch of rejections were posted but no acceptances. Now I'm worried that my application was not completely submitted or something...I emailed the department early last week just to confirm that it was but no one has emailed me back. Arg- this whole process is making me very neurotic.

I haven't heard anything from Boston University yet for my Masters. Hopefully we will get some good news soon!

[thespecial1]

I haven't heard anything from Boston University yet for my Masters. Hopefully we will get some good news soon!

Thanks! I feel better knowing some of us haven't been notified, maybe thats a good sign

[Scaeva]

Does anybody know what universities want? I have a ten years experience in both latin and greek, one paper, student of Scuola Normale superiore of Pisa, and already two rejections from Ivies... well I am quite disappointed about it xD

[soleil]

I think they put stress on matching students to the program and/or professors and in case of foreigners and Ivies - almost perfect English examination score. but I may be mistaken. don't be discouraged, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

[OdiEtAmo]

Another thought...I think writing samples are very important too. When I have talked to professors at programs to which I've been accepted, they often comment on mine. It seems to be one of the best ways to make an application stand out. It is also one of the best ways for the university to determine that ever-elusive "fit" to which soleil is very insightfully referring.

The importance of writing samples may also tie into the discussion earlier about how difficult it is to gain admittance coming straight out of undergrad. Often master's students have more mature, polished samples to submit, or even those that are a year or two out of undergrad have a senior thesis to offer. Personally, I am still an undergrad but I wrote a thesis my junior year, which I think is the primary reason I've been accepted to top programs this year.

Just my thoughts based on my experience with this whole process--no clue if they are legitimate! Good luck to everyone this week!

[Attia]

I must second OEA's point about the value of a writing sample. I have heard professors comment many times that writing samples are often "uninspired" or don't connect deep enough with the secondary scholarship of the field. It is very hard to tell why any one candidate on this forum wasn't accepted to a specific school, but writing samples are a good place to start. Once the season is over, you can always contact specific faculty members at Universities you were rejected from and ask them how you could strengthen your application for the next season (if one is needed). At least at UChicago, they are usually very open and frank about how your application stacks up to other applications in the pool.

[Scaeva]

Thanks Soleil for your kind words well, I don't know how the american system works but I already wrote a thesis for my bachelor and now I am working on another one for my master degree... in addition to this as a student of Scuola Normale I had to write a dissertation for each ear of study, so that I already discusses five of them. I translated a part of my bachelor dissertation as a writing sample and even if my english cannot be perfect of course that was judged "excellent" by the examining board and when it will be finished my professor here really wants to publish it. I still don't understand what could be wrong with me application, since they did not ask me for an interview neither.

[soleil]

Well, I can say things basing on my own experience and I think I was rejected (at least I assume I was) from one school, because I simply messed up a financial part of application (it was my first time applying to an American school as well). So if you're sure you'd be a great fit, have strong, individualized personal statement and great essay, maybe there was some kind of a formal problem.

[Scaeva]

I hope it's not so, that would be a nightmare anyway, does anybody have news from Columbia and Harvard? These are the ones I'm still waiting from

[maeisenb]

Thanks Soleil for your kind words well, I don't know how the american system works but I already wrote a thesis for my bachelor and now I am working on another one for my master degree... in addition to this as a student of Scuola Normale I had to write a dissertation for each ear of study, so that I already discusses five of them. I translated a part of my bachelor dissertation as a writing sample and even if my english cannot be perfect of course that was judged "excellent" by the examining board and when it will be finished my professor here really wants to publish it. I still don't understand what could be wrong with me application, since they did not ask me for an interview neither.

To quickly chime in for a second here and to agree with what others said, it's not just about how well you've done and how smart you are (though you sound quite accomplished). As Attia and OEA noted writing samples are hugely important, as is the SOP. But more than that, it's a numbers game where everyone applying has a great GPA and is really smart. So if the best student at the top 300 schools in the world apply for a specific classics program, then it's not about how smart or brilliant you are so much as how you position yourself for a given program to work with what their expertise is.

If I've learned anything from this process, it's that it's 100% different from say law school where you have an LSAT score and a GPA and you can create a matrix of where you will be accepted and rejected. That is simply not the case with PhD admissions and part of it is a dark art, but it's also about knowing how to specifically tailor your application to each school. I would certainly suggest reaching out to places and see if professors you wanted to work with were ok giving you some help with how your application could be strengthened moving forward.

[soleil]

Well, I need to disagree with maeisenb, at least when it comes to students from abroad. I'd say numbers, besides TOEFL, are not so important in case of European students (and I was specifically told so regarding GRE), because they're too relative. E.g. my GPA although very high at my university, converted to American scale is not so impressive anymore.

[bucketsofrain]

I hope it's not so, that would be a nightmare anyway, does anybody have news from Columbia and Harvard? These are the ones I'm still waiting from

Columbia invited people to interview in New York a few weeks ago. I know they accepted some of these people, and they haven't contacted the rest (me...), so I assume we're on some sort of wait-list. Not sure about those not invited to interview, but the graduate director is incredibly nice, and I'm sure you could email him.

[Scaeva]

Well it can be so... after all I really cannot say anything about the way they decide, maybe you are right and my curriculum even if generally good is not what they are looking for. Thanks anyway, everybody here is very kind and useful. IF there's somebody who know something more, please let me know. P. S. is it true that in the United States you generally have no latin or greek experience before university?

[Veilside1]

Rutgers people, check the website now. Decisions are up.

[soleil]

Well it can be so... after all I really cannot say anything about the way they decide, maybe you are right and my curriculum even if generally good is not what they are looking for. Thanks anyway, everybody here is very kind and useful. IF there's somebody who know something more, please let me know. P. S. is it true that in the United States you generally have no latin or greek experience before university?

That depends, I've met american people who had Latin or Greek or both in high school and I met people at my university who had no experience whatsoever.

[Pius Aeneas]

I'd guess that a decent number of Catholic schools still offer Latin, as well as college prep and private schools. I attended a public college prep high school and I took Latin for two years.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Pius Aeneas

[OdiEtAmo]

Personally, I went to Catholic school, and I had five years of Latin and the equivalent of one year of Greek by the time I graduated high-school. My school was one of the few in the state to offer a full Latin program though.

[bluetubeodyssey]

I was lucky enough to attend a regular public high school which offered Latin. I don't think anyone else in my Post-Bacc program had any previous Latin experience before university. It's pretty rare in American high schools except for in private and Catholic schools.

[non humilis mulier]

I went to a charter school, which was public, and we did Latin in junior high and high school. No Greek was offered, though.

[Scaeva]

I tought it was a good thing for me to have already ten years behind me in both latin and greek, since wwe begin at 14 in Italy... well, I was wrong

[soleil]

Even though others have similar experience in languages, it still is good for you, the value of knowledge doesn't change. At least I hope so

[Scaeva]

who knows any news from Harvard?

[Melian2]

Anyone wants to claim the NYU admission?

I'm still waiting to hear from them, I guess it's not looking good...

[maeisenb]

Well, I need to disagree with maeisenb, at least when it comes to students from abroad. I'd say numbers, besides TOEFL, are not so important in case of European students (and I was specifically told so regarding GRE), because they're too relative. E.g. my GPA although very high at my university, converted to American scale is not so impressive anymore.

A valid point and I think there is less grade inflation in Europe than compared to the US and the GRE, unless it's a state school with scholarships tied to it, matters more as a cut off than a plus unless you got close to a perfect score in which case they might say "wow."

What I was trying to really get across to Scaeva still remains valid though in that it's not who's the smartest or has done the most numbers of years of a particular language. Rather, it's about articulating your specific project and why doing that is a perfect fit for the school, while also showing through your writing sample and SOP that you understand what that works entails and that you've done it before. My main point was that loving your field and doing well in your school are necessary, but not sufficient for admission.

[soleil]

Yes, absolutely - besides knowing the language it is also helpful to know what to do with this ability.

Scaeva - there is someone already admitted to Harvard and someone wait listed. All the official decisions had to be sent via slow mail till today.