Anyone applied/thinking of applying to Harvard?

[Fockatar]

Just curious, there's not much discussion around here lately.

[videro]

I've been told by multiple professors in my department (UChicago) that Harvard is in the ditch. They're still Harvard, so they're still competitive, but for whatever reason they're no longer anywhere near the top.

 

I think there are other posts in thsi forum that confirm what my professors said. I haven't figure out whether (1) Harvard can place any of its graduates or (2) the tenured faculty have stopped producing compelling work, or (3) there's some other reason they've been blacklisted by the community at large.

 

No clue. I didn't apply, mostly becaue they don't really have any classical philosophers and I wouldn't have been able to make a 'good fit' argument.

Edited January 6, 2013 by rsmease

[OdiEtAmo]

Just responding because I heard all of this stuff when I was applying from other schools then I actually visited and formed my own impressions....Personally, I don't know about the philology program, but the ancient history program is doing quite well right now. Last year it placed three in positions at Harvard, Cincinnati, and Yale. People put down Harvard but they still hire from there. 

[Marie-Luise]

Comp Lit is the s*** at Harvard, with a no. 1 ranking. I applied. We'll see what happens.

[riverguide]

It still has an outstanding reputation in Middle East Studies.

[cicero63]

I too have been told that Harvard is in a ditch. They have lost several good Professors to other universities (e.g. Krebs - Stanford; Luraghi - Princeton), and they only have one ancient historian. So, judging by the recent APA job advertisements, they are trying to buttress their ranks (3 ads or so this past season). I know a few people who turned down Harvard for other schools, primarily because of their lack of Professors and reputation. But now that someone on here has posted (today) that they are offering stipends of $35,000 p.a. to PhD students (please clarify if that's incorrect), I think that will be hard for most applicants to reject--it's $8000-10000 more per year than a few other Ivy league programs are currently offering (and should be offering--god knows that they can afford to do so...). So I wonder if we'll see Harvard on the up and up in the next few years...indeed, as pointed out above: they still have great placement power. 

Edited March 6, 2013 by cicero63

[ciistai]

I noticed that this morning on the results board too and thought of this thread immediately... hahaha.

[Conscia Fati]

I too have been told that Harvard is in a ditch. They have lost several good Professors to other universities (e.g. Krebs - Stanford; Luraghi - Princeton), and they only have one ancient historian. So, judging by the recent APA job advertisements, they are trying to buttress their ranks (3 ads or so this past season). I know a few people who turned down Harvard for other schools, primarily because of their lack of Professors and reputation. But now that someone on here has posted (today) that they are offering stipends of $35,000 p.a. to PhD students (please clarify if that's incorrect), I think that will be hard for most applicants to reject--it's $8000-10000 more per year than a few other Ivy league programs are currently offering (and should be offering--god knows that they can afford to do so...). So I wonder if we'll see Harvard on the up and up in the next few years...indeed, as pointed out above: they still have great placement power. 

Wow! That is a crazy high stipend! I'm jealous....

[Arrupe House]

Someone clarified: The $35,000 p.a. is  to recent PhD graduates, to serve as College Fellows in Classics 

[Myshkin]

Keep in mind how crazy high the cost of living is in Boston.

[Snarchy]

Keep in mind how crazy high the cost of living is in Boston.

$35K would still be a massive stipend. Students at Berkeley and UCLA live reasonably well on stipends that are half that.

Edited September 29, 2013 by Snarchy

[random777]

$35K would still be a massive stipend. Students at Berkeley and UCLA live reasonably well on stipends that are half that.

 

I do not know what the stipend is at Berkeley, but graduate students at UCLA receive $23,000 a year. And yes, that is enough to find a decent place in Brentwood, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, among other places.