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I'm trying to decide whether or not to apply to the 4+1 accelerated master's of arts program in Classics at Tulane, which is a decision I have to make pretty quickly, as the application is due either February 1 or February 15, I'm not entirely sure from the website. (Standard School of Liberal Arts application deadline is February 1, but Classics says that they'll accept applications up till February 15 for consideration for financial aid for fall admission (which I think is what I'd want), but that they have rolling applications if one does not want financial aid.)
I -- am not sure it's entirely worth applying, because I don't have the language prep Classics wants. The website says, "We normally expect applicants to have had, at a minimum, the equivalent of three college-level years of one ancient language (Greek or Latin) and one college-level year of the other. We will consider applicants who have advanced preparation in one language but none in the second. However, we do not consider applicants who have no preparation in either ancient language." If I apply now, I'll have 1/2 to 1 year of Latin and no Greek; in theory, by the time I actually entered the program as a senior in the fall, I'd have a year each of Latin and Greek (if I take intensive Greek over the summer, which is the plan). I could barely come out of the program in 2013 with three years of both languages, let alone the ability to take and pass a reading exam in German, French, or Italian. And I feel like a year isn't really enough time to get a MA -- like, I know it's a 4+1 program, but I kind of expect my senior year to be taken up with my honors thesis (which, yes, is classics related, but I think it's more primarily a MEMS/English lit thing). So I guess my worries are two-fold:
1) I'm not qualified to get into the program in the first place.
2) Even if I got in, I'm not sure it would accomplish what it set out to do. I feel like a more traditional graduate program (MA straight into PhD, or a two year MA followed by a PhD at a different school) might be more helpful for me.
And I guess there's a (3) that builds off both of those: even if I got into the program I wouldn't be able to accomplish the requirements to get the MA degree in the first place.
Maybe I should e-mail my classics major advisor and ask her what she thinks. (I don't want to get a Classics PhD, either, I want to get a History PhD, so otherwise my plan is to apply to the UW's graduate program in History and maybe that of a couple other schools. Ohio's one I'm looking at for classics; I like one of the professors.)
I -- am not sure it's entirely worth applying, because I don't have the language prep Classics wants. The website says, "We normally expect applicants to have had, at a minimum, the equivalent of three college-level years of one ancient language (Greek or Latin) and one college-level year of the other. We will consider applicants who have advanced preparation in one language but none in the second. However, we do not consider applicants who have no preparation in either ancient language." If I apply now, I'll have 1/2 to 1 year of Latin and no Greek; in theory, by the time I actually entered the program as a senior in the fall, I'd have a year each of Latin and Greek (if I take intensive Greek over the summer, which is the plan). I could barely come out of the program in 2013 with three years of both languages, let alone the ability to take and pass a reading exam in German, French, or Italian. And I feel like a year isn't really enough time to get a MA -- like, I know it's a 4+1 program, but I kind of expect my senior year to be taken up with my honors thesis (which, yes, is classics related, but I think it's more primarily a MEMS/English lit thing). So I guess my worries are two-fold:
1) I'm not qualified to get into the program in the first place.
2) Even if I got in, I'm not sure it would accomplish what it set out to do. I feel like a more traditional graduate program (MA straight into PhD, or a two year MA followed by a PhD at a different school) might be more helpful for me.
And I guess there's a (3) that builds off both of those: even if I got into the program I wouldn't be able to accomplish the requirements to get the MA degree in the first place.
Maybe I should e-mail my classics major advisor and ask her what she thinks. (I don't want to get a Classics PhD, either, I want to get a History PhD, so otherwise my plan is to apply to the UW's graduate program in History and maybe that of a couple other schools. Ohio's one I'm looking at for classics; I like one of the professors.)