Need Advice: Ancient History Ph.D programs...

[valaquenta]

Hi all,

I will be graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in December and am seriously considering Graduate School for History in Ancient Med. Studies... and I am in sore need of advice and feedback about the projected strength of my application and any possible schools to think of applying to!

My interests focus on society and religion in Late Antiquity, namely, social tension in terms of religious conflict... rise of Christianity v. paganism, influence of eastern religions, etc.

GPA: History 3.97, Religious Studies 4.0, Certificate in Ancient Med. Studies, 4.0, Cumulative should be around a 3.85ish with one re-take for a 100- level Geography class in which I received a D... complicated reasons. (I was in love... forgot about a test... whatever) But the re-take was an A. I have yet to take the GRE's, which remain an unknown quantity as of this point. I have taken 18 300+ level courses in History and Religious Studies and have created and ran a student organization affiliated with the RS program at UWM. In our first year, we've been able to bring in speakers from as far as Sweden. I will have 5 semesters of Greek, 4 semesters of Latin, including one semester in the ICCS: Sicily Classics study abroad program ran through Duke University. I could probably test into 3rd semester Italian as well.

HOWEVER, I spent 2 years previously at a different college. I was 18 and hated everything about the place, and thus have almost 1 year of nothing but F's. BUT, I will have spent 4.5 years at UW-Milwaukee, meaning I essentially started over. I have one professor that will be able to vouch for my character, and ask for me to be judged upon my performance at UWM alone. She is the most difficult teacher I have ever had and have taken 6 upper-level history courses with her. That's a minor! Every history class I have taken was with professors have have Ph.D's in history from Yale, Harvard, Michigan-Ann Arbor, UC-Berkeley and Chicago. One in particular is well-connected in Late Antiquity. I have always asked around to find the most difficult classes and have excelled in them. That experience at my previous college was also a blessing in disguise, I learned a lot about myself AND I was able to take 1.5 years of electives!

I understand that UW-Milwaukee may not be a well-recognized institution, but my experience with the Duke program has taught me that I have received a first-class education at a fraction of the cost. I was very successful in Milwaukee... all while working almost full-time to support myself while still being close to family. We can't all be rich kids... but I have no illusions that name recognition is important.

I am not exactly sure if I will be applying for Ancient History in Classics or History departments as of yet... but the schools that offer Ph.D's in this field seem... intimidating.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? I have talked extensively with my professors about the strength of my application... but it would be wonderful to hear any feedback from a student prospective. You're the ones receiving acceptance and (hopefully not!) any rejection letters.

I appreciate any feedback whatsoever, and best of luck to you all (even though I am sure most of you have heard back from your schools)

[brinswan]

It seems to me that you are a very strong candidate. Your first shaky year might raise some concerns but I think strong recs, your strong transcript, and strong GRE scores should dispel those fears. You must already have an idea of where you want to apply? In case you don't, my advice is to look at books you like, that have influenced you and see two things - where these people teach and where they have gone to school. In my opinion those are the places you should apply. I would really recommend applying to a good range of schools though as programs usually admit less than 10% of applicants - a "dream" school or two, a few good solid schools, and a few schools that you think you have a pretty good chance [relatively] of getting into and where you wouldn't mind going (although not necessarily your first choice).

[blukorea]

5/4 semesters of ancient languages do not sound enough to compete in top Classics programs. It is expected that Classics applicants have at least 6/6; they often have more. You may find more success applying to History programs.

Many specialized Ancient History programs, such as Berkeley's AHMA and Chicago's PAMW, have a strong focus on material culture and you will not find much success with zero experience in excavation.

Some programs that may suit your circumstances: Berkeley, UVA, UCLA, Duke, UC Santa Barbara, all History departments.

With economy being in such a wretched condition, I would say forget grad school unless you get a funded admission from a reputable program. A PhD in humanities nowadays is really not worth the time and effort.

[virmundi]

Another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of PHD programs relating to any aspect of European history require a good reading knowledge of both French and German as well as any other languages that are relevant to your field of study. Many of the programs that I've researched for my field will not allow you to substitute other languages for these two languages which, along with English, are often considered essential for the study of European history.

This is probably *not* a universal requirement, but it has been consistently a requirement listed on the web pages of every single top program that I have researched, so at the very least, I would make this a consideration as you continue to plan.

Also, vis-a-vis your Latin and Greek -- I would tend to agree generally with blukorea that the amount of time that you have spent studying them would not, in and of itself, be likely to get you into top programs. If, however, there are extenuating factors -- if, for instance, you have spent several of those semesters knocking it out of the park on texts that even trained PhDs might have trouble with -- then you would want to be sure that your recommenders know to make this clear, and that you also make this clear in your letters of recommendation.

In any event, you will absolutely want to take seriously blukorea's advice regarding funding. A PhD in the humanities without funding can turn into a life-long straight-jacket if you take on too much debt. I would not go so far as to say, however, that "a PhD in the humanities nowadays is really not worth the time and effort." If this is really what you want to pursue in your life, then make sure that you do the research to ensure that you can get into a top program which consistently places its graduates in tenure track jobs. It is also not a bad idea to consider working in the corporate world for a while. If nothing else, you will be absolutely certain whether or not you want to do a PhD after a few years spent in cubicle hell!

Good luck.

[thepoorstockinger]

Are you sure history is where you want to be doing this? Most people who deal with topics like yours seem to be in classics or religious studies. Even if you decide to pursue this in a history department I would really suggest applying to places with strong departments in either Classics or religious studies and a structure which allows you to work with those folks.

[TMP]

Ditto. You should look into religion as well. I had a MA student very interested in Late Antiquity stuff and she only applied to programs related to religion and got in quite a few...She wasn't really focused on the religion but the culture and you know very well that some information about ancient period are found in religious texts.

[blukorea]

Oh I actually missed your statement of interest. If you are interested in Late Antiquity and religion, definitely consider Medieval Studies and Religious Studies programs. And consider also applying to Cornell: they have several good historians of Late Antiquity.