Fall 2018 Applicants

[anphph]

28 minutes ago, Pius Aeneas said:

I don't know that your writing sample will hurt you, as long as you show that you can engage thoughtfully and competently with secondary scholarship and didn't ignore anything seminal, it's probably not a bad thing that you also showed your facility with the ancient sources. 

Also, the writing sample is just one component of your application--I would say equally important are your letters of recommendation and your statement of purpose. 

 

Hey Pius Aeneas! Thanks for passing by even though you're already attending. While this is already banking on the big uncertain If of getting accepted, what would your advice be concerning things to do in the months between now and (inshallah) the PhD? Of course everyone is going to have different areas they need to work on, but what was it that you do that you're glad you did in time in-between, or alternatively did not do that you later regretted not having done?

Thank you, and I'll also take the opportunity to wish everyone a happy 2018! 

Edited January 5, 2018 by anphph

[geedhey]

Hi everyone.... i want to apply for MS EE for Fall 18 in the US. I already have some schools right penned down i would be applying to but my Profile aint that great so i would be open to your suggestions on these.

GPA (3.45/5.0)

GRE(Q:155, V:145 , AWA:3.0)

IELTS(L:6.5,R:6.5,W:7.0,S:8.0)

schools: Cleveland State Uni, Texas Tech Uni, Tennessee Tech Uni, Oklahoma State, Praire View A&M Uni, University of Tulsa, Southern Illinois Uni Carbondale. 

[anphph]

6 minutes ago, geedhey said:

Hi everyone.... i want to apply for MS EE for Fall 18 in the US. I already have some schools right penned down i would be applying to but my Profile aint that great so i would be open to your suggestions on these.

GPA (3.45/5.0)

GRE(Q:155, V:145 , AWA:3.0)

IELTS(L:6.5,R:6.5,W:7.0,S:8.0)

schools: Cleveland State Uni, Texas Tech Uni, Tennessee Tech Uni, Oklahoma State, Praire View A&M Uni, University of Tulsa, Southern Illinois Uni Carbondale. 

Hello! I may be mistaken about this, but if by "MS EE" you meant Masters in Electrical Engineering then I think that is the wrong forum, and that you'll want to try to post here.

[Pius Aeneas]

13 hours ago, anphph said:

 

Hey Pius Aeneas! Thanks for passing by even though you're already attending. While this is already banking on the big uncertain If of getting accepted, what would your advice be concerning things to do in the months between now and (inshallah) the PhD? Of course everyone is going to have different areas they need to work on, but what was it that you do that you're glad you did in time in-between, or alternatively did not do that you later regretted not having done?

Thank you, and I'll also take the opportunity to wish everyone a happy 2018! 

What you should do between getting accepted and actually beginning the PhD will depend, I think. I was working a typical full-time 9 to 5 job when I applied and got accepted, so I honestly didn't do a whole lot because by the time I finished work each day I was usually mentally exhausted. I wish I'd spent more time reviewing the ancient languages, filling in gaps in my knowledge of Greek and Roman history, getting a firmer grasp on reading German, etc.

I ended up spending a lot of time preparing to move, though. I talked to current students about where to live, did apartment and roommate hunting,  weighed whether I'd need a car since I was going from a major metro area to a smaller town--the standard practical stuff.

If you're still in school then in theory you might have more time to brush up on the academic things, assuming that you have a slightly lighter load in your final year. If you've got any academic stuff to brush up on then I'd say maybe focus on that, since you probably won't get a chance again while you're actually completing your PhD until you finish your coursework and exams and are ABD status. 

Hope all this is useful! 

[ClassicsCandidate]

1 hour ago, Pius Aeneas said:

What you should do between getting accepted and actually beginning the PhD will depend, I think. I was working a typical full-time 9 to 5 job when I applied and got accepted, so I honestly didn't do a whole lot because by the time I finished work each day I was usually mentally exhausted. I wish I'd spent more time reviewing the ancient languages, filling in gaps in my knowledge of Greek and Roman history, getting a firmer grasp on reading German, etc.

I ended up spending a lot of time preparing to move, though. I talked to current students about where to live, did apartment and roommate hunting,  weighed whether I'd need a car since I was going from a major metro area to a smaller town--the standard practical stuff.

If you're still in school then in theory you might have more time to brush up on the academic things, assuming that you have a slightly lighter load in your final year. If you've got any academic stuff to brush up on then I'd say maybe focus on that, since you probably won't get a chance again while you're actually completing your PhD until you finish your coursework and exams and are ABD status. 

Hope all this is useful! 

I'll be doing this right now while I finish up my Museum Studies work while I wait to hear back from my Classics programs. I'm working a 9-5 (well, 8:30-5:30, technically) job right now and plan on doing my schoolwork and brushing up in between. Moving always takes the most energy (second after applying!) to me, anyway. But it always helps to know what people did / planned to do vs. what they ended up doing before starting a program. 

[ciistai]

I was also working full-time, 8:30-4:30. I tried to spend a lot of time reading to prepare for the term, but I was also preparing to teach at a field school the following summer, so that took up loads of my time. I did try to force myself to take breaks, because after a lengthy applications process (which can start quite early if you're applying for particular grants, like I did), you need some time to rest!!!! 

[promethea]

Most of the programs that I applied to have a really long range of time in terms of when they make application decisions-- January through March or April! But I've also heard, unofficially, that most decisions get made by January or February. Has anyone heard back from programs yet, or does anyone know when programs will actually start sending out acceptances?

[aigilipos]

2 hours ago, promethea said:

Has anyone heard back from programs yet, or does anyone know when programs will actually start sending out acceptances?

I haven't heard back from anywhere yet, but if you look back at acceptance data over the past few years it seems like the first round of interviews/acceptances goes out after around the third week of January. It tends to go in waves after that; there's another spike in February and a third in March. That doesn't make the wait any less nail-biting, though!

[Pius Aeneas]

Yeah, generally the acceptances and interview requests start to come in toward the end of this month and continue through the next few months. Even if you don't hear anything early on, there's always the chance that notifications might go out quite late, even into April, for waitlist candidates. 

[promethea]

18 hours ago, aigilipos said:

I haven't heard back from anywhere yet, but if you look back at acceptance data over the past few years it seems like the first round of interviews/acceptances goes out after around the third week of January. It tends to go in waves after that; there's another spike in February and a third in March. That doesn't make the wait any less nail-biting, though!

 

3 hours ago, Pius Aeneas said:

Yeah, generally the acceptances and interview requests start to come in toward the end of this month and continue through the next few months. Even if you don't hear anything early on, there's always the chance that notifications might go out quite late, even into April, for waitlist candidates. 

Awesome, thanks for the intel, y'all! Guess I'll have to just find a way to make myself chill out and wait now. Maybe I'll start Myths & Monsters like someone else here suggested earlier...

Edited January 9, 2018 by promethea

[hypsipyle]

21 hours ago, promethea said:

Most of the programs that I applied to have a really long range of time in terms of when they make application decisions-- January through March or April! But I've also heard, unofficially, that most decisions get made by January or February. Has anyone heard back from programs yet, or does anyone know when programs will actually start sending out acceptances?

At my institution, interview requests are usually sent out in the 3rd or 4th week of January. We typically only make official offers once all of our prospective students have visited/interviewed so that everyone is given an equal shot (usually late February or early March), but other schools prefer to assess/make offers on an individual basis. If you get an interview, it also doesn't hurt to ask the DGS (who should have a decent sense of the AdComm schedule) when you should expect to hear from them re: a decision so that you don't have to be waiting in limbo forever!

[Bogut]

Hello, (prospective) classicists,

I spent the last few months preparing and submitting PhD applications to lots of US institutions - most of them highly selective - and now I'm awaiting admissions results. Having lurked here for a while, I figured I'd post.

 Like most/all other this-cycle applicants who have posted in this thread, I'm bearish on my odds. My undergraduate GPA is very low, probably below the "floor" at schools who use minimum GPA cut-offs. Other aspects of my application all seem adequate, but I doubt they'll impress enough to outweigh the GPA. Nevertheless, I've been working toward a career in classics for a while now, and it seemed right to give it the old college try. I have no regrets, even if it's all a big swing-and-a-miss.

Good luck to all the other applicants, and may we all keep our heads in the coming weeks.

[ClassicsCandidate]

On 1/5/2018 at 8:24 PM, ciistai said:

I was also working full-time, 8:30-4:30. I tried to spend a lot of time reading to prepare for the term, but I was also preparing to teach at a field school the following summer, so that took up loads of my time. I did try to force myself to take breaks, because after a lengthy applications process (which can start quite early if you're applying for particular grants, like I did), you need some time to rest!!!! 

I've got so many reading lists off sites and now I'm trying to cross-reference them to see how many of them overlap and add in additional ones from other schools to try and get a lot of reading done if I can. I'm preparing to go to my first field school now, so I'm a little anxious about that but resting is always good!

On 1/8/2018 at 2:05 PM, promethea said:

Most of the programs that I applied to have a really long range of time in terms of when they make application decisions-- January through March or April! But I've also heard, unofficially, that most decisions get made by January or February. Has anyone heard back from programs yet, or does anyone know when programs will actually start sending out acceptances?

My program application isn't due until February, so I'm still tailoring things to the last bit and honestly I'm just trying to bite the bullet and make myself send it already. The UK school I'm applying to allows you up to six weeks before the term starts to apply, so I was going to wait to see what response I got from my American application first. 

17 hours ago, Bogut said:

Hello, (prospective) classicists,

I spent the last few months preparing and submitting PhD applications to lots of US institutions - most of them highly selective - and now I'm awaiting admissions results. Having lurked here for a while, I figured I'd post.

 Like most/all other this-cycle applicants who have posted in this thread, I'm bearish on my odds. My undergraduate GPA is very low, probably below the "floor" at schools who use minimum GPA cut-offs. Other aspects of my application all seem adequate, but I doubt they'll impress enough to outweigh the GPA. Nevertheless, I've been working toward a career in classics for a while now, and it seemed right to give it the old college try. I have no regrets, even if it's all a big swing-and-a-miss.

Good luck to all the other applicants, and may we all keep our heads in the coming weeks.

Hey, Bogut! 
I was a sub-3.0 student and had a 3.0+ major GPA, but some Latin/Greek courses were less than stellar. However, I have done an independent study as an undergrad, professional work involving Classical archaeology (museum identification and artifact provenance), and I'm going to be doing a field school excavation this summer, which I feel like will help my odds against my undergrad GPA. Additionally, my current MA is in Museums and I have a 3.86 (a 3.9 predicted at the end of the semester) and plan on doing an MA in Classical Studies before heading to a Ph.D. program. I have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C all laid out for myself. I feel that if you have strong experience in the field, it'll boost your chances. Best of luck to you!  

[ClassicsCandidate]

So, I actually just put the final touches on my application and I turned in my first one. Not 20 minutes after I submitted it, the status moved to "under review." I'm so anxious now!

[promethea]

4 hours ago, ClassicsCandidate said:

So, I actually just put the final touches on my application and I turned in my first one. Not 20 minutes after I submitted it, the status moved to "under review." I'm so anxious now!

My goodness, that's such quick turnaround! Best of luck!

[ClassicsCandidate]

3 minutes ago, promethea said:

My goodness, that's such quick turnaround! Best of luck!

That's what I said!! My first MA program got back to me in five days so I'm gonna try to distract myself with YouTube for now and cross all my fingers.

[ClassicsCandidate]

For the first program I applied to, we're supposed to e-mail the director to indicate our campus of choice because there is an online option and a campus option and there isn't anywhere to indicate it on the application. I just heard back from her and she told me the accepted individuals will be notified after February 1st. At least my new semester starts soon and I'll have something else to distract me! *bites nails anxiously*

Edited January 12, 2018 by ClassicsCandidate

[Passer]

Congrats to the Oxford admit and the Duke interview, if you're lurking in here!

[aigilipos]

6 hours ago, Passer said:

Congrats to the Oxford admit and the Duke interview, if you're lurking in here!

Oh whoa, here come some results! Congrats to them! I applied to Duke but haven't heard from them; IIRC, it wasn't as good a fit in terms of research/profs as other places I applied to, though. Time for the anxiety to ramp up some more...

[ClassicsCandidate]

Congrats on the acceptance to Oxford and the interview at Duke to that person  I'm lurking as well to see if anyone else has gotten results while I wait for mine! 

[FlosVeterisVini]

Hi all,

It's comforting to know everyone else is as anxious as I am! I'm applying to PhD programs as an undergrad from a public university with a 3.94 GPA (3.92 on the apps, since there was an issue with proper records of grades from my study abroad program). I have 4 years of Latin, 3 years of Greek, 1 year of Italian, and a semester of German. I've just received an email from UPenn for a skype interview. I'm excited, but nervous! I have also applied to Princeton, Brown, UNC- Chapel Hill, UChicago, UWashington, UVirginia, Oxford and Cambridge (MSt and MPhil). Good luck to everyone, and I hope I get to meet some of you in person at recruitment weekends!

Edited January 15, 2018 by FlosVeterisVini

[aigilipos]

8 hours ago, FlosVeterisVini said:

I've just received an email from UPenn for a skype interview.

That's awesome, congrats!!! Let us know how it goes! We have some schools in common: Princeton, Brown (my top choice, fingers crossed), Washington, and UVA. Did you hear anything from Princeton? Someone else posted an interview, which makes me a little nervous, though there are always multiple rounds. I hope you get more encouraging news from the rest of your schools!

[FlosVeterisVini]

5 hours ago, aigilipos said:

That's awesome, congrats!!! Let us know how it goes! We have some schools in common: Princeton, Brown (my top choice, fingers crossed), Washington, and UVA. Did you hear anything from Princeton? Someone else posted an interview, which makes me a little nervous, though there are always multiple rounds. I hope you get more encouraging news from the rest of your schools!

Thank you! No, I haven't heard anything from Princeton, but I looked at past submitted results and usually interview emails aren't sent from Princeton until the end of January. It looks like we may very well run into one another! What other programs did you apply to?

[aigilipos]

12 hours ago, FlosVeterisVini said:

Thank you! No, I haven't heard anything from Princeton, but I looked at past submitted results and usually interview emails aren't sent from Princeton until the end of January. It looks like we may very well run into one another! What other programs did you apply to?

Someone posted in the results section that they received an interview request from Princeton on January 10th, which is why I'm a little nervous! I applied to lots others... Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Duke, Johns Hopkins, UT Austin, NYU, BU, and OSU. I'm playing the numbers game, since I've been out of academia for a few years; I think I have 13 total schools. Hoping somewhere wants me! Which school is your top choice?

[FlosVeterisVini]

I would be overjoyed to be a part of any of them, but I must say that I was extremely happy to hear of UPenn's interest. ? I'm sure you'll get plenty of offers! If I remember correctly, you have teaching experience, and I think that's highly valued by departments.