we weren’t aware of them. thanks for sharing your ideas!
She’s not interested in going back to the UK right now and because she did three years of high school here, she’d have to apply as an international student and pay international tuition. (She only has one GCSE; most have 7-9 plus 3 A-levels to apply as UK students)
At UT Austin (presuming you mean this one, since UT Arlington does not appear to have a classics major), classics is a small major with 14 bachelor’s graduates out of 10,094 total in a recent class, according to College Navigator - The University of Texas at Austin . So this could be a case of a big school feeling smaller in the major.
However, if the major is that small, it may be worth checking how broad and deep the offerings in it are (at any school where this is the case).
If Texas public universities are of interest, what is her class rank?
Her high school is non-ranking, but she knows she’s not in the top 10 percent because the counsellors notify students of this. This is largely because her freshman year was in the UK, and so that year the grades were all approximations from a different grading system and she couldn’t take AP or Honors courses. She goes to a competitive high school which adds GPA points for AP and Honors courses, and where everyone in the top 5-10% takes AP courses every semester. She was unable to do this freshman year. She also chose to take electives she enjoys (such as Theater and Dance) which weren’t AP, whereas many students at her school take AP for arts credits or anything they can, for the GPA boost. So she won’t get auto-admission to any UT schools, though her high school has a high percentage of kids who get into UT-Austin who aren’t in the top 5%.
SIDE QUESTION: Does anyone think it’s a good idea to add a short explanation of the above situation in her ‘Additional Info’ section on the Common App? Or does it sound like we’re whining that she didn’t make the top 5-10%? Her GPA was just below the 10% cutoff and I believe if she’d been at the high school for her freshman year, there’s a good chance she would have made it. Of course, we’ll never know for sure and class rank isn’t everything I suppose!
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Does anyone think it’s a good idea to add a short explanation
Yes.
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In the CommonApp “additional information,” section, include something like "Because I spent Year 7-Year10 preparing for the OCR GCSE curriculum (*. ) in the UK, I couldn’t be placed into the Honors/AP track when I returned to the US during 9th grade. As a result, I couldn’t be included in the top 6%/10% ranking rule for Texas universities. "
(*. Or whatever’s appropriate)
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I’m very impressed she got a 9 in Ancient Greek in year 10.
Even if not the desired choice, I think it would be wise to consider a UK application as a backup. Unless you are eligible for significant financial aid in the US, paying international fees for a UK degree can still be much cheaper than US private colleges, especially when considering its 3 years rather than 4. You haven’t said anything about budget and EFC which is pretty important in shaping a US application list.
5s on the key APs plus a high SAT score (especially in English) would be plenty to apply with. And UK universities are much more interested in highly focused kids so I think her admission results could easily be better there than in the US.
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I personally think that is unlikely to be necessary for any selective colleges outside the Texas system, because I think they will see the freshman year in the UK and not care about school reported rank, just how she did once she was in the US.
I also think what another poster suggested would be perfectly fine to include, even if unnecessary, so why not?
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I note that Classical Studies is one of the six majors you can choose if you do the William & Mary/St. Andrews joint degree program:
There are then two options inside Classical Studies:
Classical Studies
The BA (International Hons) in Classical Studies offers two pathways:
- Greek and Latin
- Ancient History and Archaeology.
Both pathways allow you to explore the cultures of the Mediterranean world in great depth, from the Bronze Age through Late Antiquity. You will also have the option to take courses from both pathways, giving you an all-round perspective on the Greek and Roman world.
As I understand it, you can apply for that program from either end, so could apply for it through St Andrews, but then would start at St Andrews.
Which may not make more sense for the OP’s kid than just applying to W&M, but I thought it worth noting. including if W&M would otherwise drop from the list, maybe adding it back via St Andrews would not be the worst idea for a contingency plan.
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To add an explanation because she chose classes that weren’t AP.
Hmmmm - heck no.
And it’s fine - she pursued what she liked.
Freshman year - many don’t take anyway and the most is typically one (Human Geo).
Your daughter did her thing - so it’s fine.
You don’t need to explain that away or justify it.
She made a choice - and her background is her background.
If you want to note you came from England after one year, that’s ok but better from the Counselor.
But don’t justify or make excuses.
That she’s not a top top student rank wise - is fine. Her stats, rigor, and overall record will speak for themselves.
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As you are looking at very high priced schools, are they all affordable ?
Make sure you look not just at course offerings but schedules as well. You want to ensure courses are offered regularly and not just once every two or four years.
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Yep. Classics departments tend to be small everywhere, even at large universities.
UT Austin has a fantastic Classics program and will be hard to beat barring substantial merit or financial aid elsewhere. It also has several top-notch scholars specializing in other ancient languages (e.g. Akkadian and Comparative Semitics).
Anthropology and archaeology are very strong at UT Austin as well. Like Tulane, it’s long been an epicenter of research in Mesoamerican studies and Maya archaeology.
Yale has traditionally not been a powerhouse in classical archaeology like Berkeley, Penn, Arizona, Michigan, etc., but one could do a great deal worse, and it is excellent for classical art history.
Additionally, Yale is one of the very few places one can study related disciplines like Egyptology and Assyriology.
Chicago is indisputably the best place in the Western Hemisphere to study the ancient world (quite frankly it’s not even a competition).
It should be on the list of any student seriously interested in Classics, even with budget cuts.
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It was a Classics professor who raised an alarm about the current situation with the humanities at U Chicago. I’m with @Shelby_Balik on that. It’s not just about budget cuts, it seems to be a complete reorientation of this institution and its mission.
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To be more clear, I do not use Classics and ancient studies interchangeably.
Much of Chicago’s research in ancient languages and archaeology is not through the Classics department, which is excellent but not unusually strong compared to the Ivies and comparable universities like Stanford and Duke, but rather ISAC (formerly the Oriental Institute), which is well funded and has been an integral part of the university’s identity and academic mission nearly since its founding.
In any case, humanities departments are in dire straits virtually everywhere; this is hardly a phenomenon unique to Chicago. Some colleges are eliminating their Classics programs entirely (e.g. UNC Asheville).
Chicago’s programs will fare better than those of most universities, and certainly better than any LAC aside from Bryn Mawr.
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Chicago’s programs will fare better than those of most universities, and certainly better than any LAC aside from Bryn Mawr.
After reading about the financial crisis at Chicago on another thread, I certainly wouldn’t put money on your conclusion panning out. Not at this point anyway.
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Exceedingly few universities and no LACs offer courses in ancient non-classical languages like Hittite, Old Persian, and Sumerian as it is, so I struggle to imagine how they would fare better than even a slimmed down Chicago in this regard. Is Bowdoin expecting to get a sudden gift of money to establish programs in Egyptology and Iranology?
But what do I know? I only have a PhD and almost a decade of teaching experience in this field, with colleagues and research collaborators at Chicago. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Did you read the other article?
I don’t think OP’s daughter is interested in Hittite, Old Persian, etc., at the undergraduate level. This may matter to her far more at the graduate level and at this point UChcago’s situation will have clarified.
Nobody knows what they are interested in until a professor gets involved.
Did I know I wanted to learn Aramaic? I did not. Did my classmates walk onto campus knowing how important it was to learn French or German depending on what part of antiquity they were excited about? They do not.
The ancient world is vast and complex. That’s why choosing “optionality” is such a great strategy…if possible.
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Thanks so much for all of your feedback!
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Tulane for Classics. Should that be on the list? It’s in the South and seems to have a decent Classics faculty. Maybe instead of Rice? (Since posting I’ve heard Rice might not be the best choice.)
Also, in response to other posts, it is indeed hard to say what my daughter will want to specialise in at this point. For undergrad I think she needs to focus on language skills and start exploring different areas within ancient history and Classics and see what she’s interested in.