Looking to transfer into LACs with small, solid Classics programs

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I’m currently a freshman at a lesser known LAC, majoring in Classics. I want to transfer into an LAC with a realy solid Classics program in the spring. There are only 3 things I’m looking for

  1. A place that has less than 3000 students
  2. A place that has a small, well-regarded Classics program and an intellectual stdent body
  3. A place that’s known for being kind to transfers

Any thoughts?

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  1. Reed College has maybe 1,500 students.
  2. Reed is regularly included on lists of "most intellectual" colleges. Classics are solid; all freshmen are required to take a one-year class (the famous "HUM 110" sequence) on Ancient Mediterranean Culture. Transfer students may also be required to take this class, unless they have already taken equivalent coursework elsewhere.
  3. According to the Common Data Set, Reed had a 30% transfer acceptance rate for Fall 2016 (109 admits out of 364), which is relatively high for a top LAC.

However, also note that:

  • Reed has a very strong countercultural vibe, despite the relatively traditional curriculum. It's not a fit for everyone.
  • Reed has a terrible USNWR ranking, because they object to the ranking and refuse to supply USNWR with the data that they request. They were in the USNWR Top Ten for National LACs before they stopped playing ball.
  • Reed is located in Portland OR, in a more urban setting than most top LACs.
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If you are female, look at Bryn Mawr.

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Bryn Mawr has the strongest classics program among LACs. If you’re male, Haverford is a good choice. Barnard, with its cross-registration with Columbia, is another superb option for female classicists.

Several LACs have pretty good classics programs – Oberlin, Franklin & Marshall, Davidson, Colgate, Wesleyan, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Kenyon, Williams, Smith, and so on.

Do you already have a strong background in Greek and/or Latin? You may run out of language courses at some colleges.

My rule of thumb for a strong classics program:
[ul][]Beginning Greek and Latin offered every year
[]Intermediate Greek and Latin offered every year
[]At least one advanced seminar in Greek and Latin every semester
[]Decent civilization and art/archaeology courses (3+ per semester)
[li]Other things like a good classics library, excavations/field schools in Greece or Italy, collections of papyri, squeezes, and/or numismatics, and a good classical art collection are nice to have but definitely not essential for undergraduates.[/ul][/li]

By small, do you mean the number of majors, the number of faculty, or the size of classes? In any case, classics courses at even the largest colleges will be small and intimate. In the age of STEM, classics is not as popular as it was 100 years ago. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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@Corbett
I’ve thought about Reed( I have great respect for their academic program) , and I had a few questions about it

  1. I know Reed is very, VERY Liberal. I’d say I’m a socially conservative Libertarian. However, I’m not all that political, and I tend to keep to myself. I’m a quiet/introverted scholarly guy. If I did go to Reed, it’d be for academics. Are the students at Reed realy ideological. Are the faculty openly liberal in classes?
  2. Does Reed take Spring transfers, or just fall?
  3. If you think Reed might be too Liberal, do you know of any other places as rigorous as Reed, but maybe a bit more accepting of people with different views?
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Also meets (1) and (2). Transfer acceptance rate may be relatively low though; the most recent number I could find was 16.5% for Fall 2014.

Different atmosphere from Reed. Bryn Mawr students honor Athena, Reed students prefer Hippocleides.

7

College of the Holy Cross has a very strong Classics department and it is large by LAC standards in terms of depth and breadth of courses and number of professors.

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Sorry, I never attended. You should ask on the Reed forum.

Bryn Mawr and Haverford are located in close proximity, and function almost as a single school. A male student could go to Haverford and take classics courses at Bryn Mawr. In fact, he could even choose to major in classics at Bryn Mawr, rather than at Haverford, if the Bryn Mawr department seemed like a better fit. Haverford transfer acceptance rate = 14.6% for Fall 2016.

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I’m a guy. How difficult would it be to transfer into Haverford or Holy Cross

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When I say “small Classics program”, I want a place that has no more than 12 students in Classics courses. I want the most individual attention I can get.

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^^In general at LACs, the admit rate for males is higher than girls. Both schools are competitive, but Haverford is more selective and admits higher stats kids. Holy Cross does love kids who love the Classics.

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To the best of my knowledge, the American Journal of Philology has been edited only once out of a liberal college in its ~125 year history, when a current Hamilton professor held the position. As a basis for looking into a LAC’s classics offerings, this would seem to be a good one.

The suggestions of Reed, Bryn Mawr/Haverford and Holy Cross appear to have covered some top LAC programs.

As a school to research, Vassar might meet your general criteria, though I’m not familiar with their classics department.

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At most LACs, the Classics courses would be small and intimate. I know at Holy Cross and Bryn Mawr they definitely are and suspect the same at Haverford

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Holy Cross is the top-ranked Catholic liberal arts college. Enrollment is less than 3,000. Transfer acceptance rate = 29.2% for Fall 2016, could be higher for males. Strong classics program; if anything, it might be too large for you:

https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/classics

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Do these places accept Spring transfers?

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Holy Cross does. https://www.holycross.edu/apply/transfer-applicants

Reed and Haverford may not.

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You should look at Hillsdale. Christian, socially conservative, and supposed to be very good for classics. If you are libertarian, you will appreciate that they don’t participate in federal financial aid programs.

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In that case, you have plenty of options beyond LACs, as intermediate and advanced courses in Greek and Latin virtually everywhere will have <15 students. For example, non-intro Greek classes offered at Berkeley this fall include Plato and Attic Prose (5 students), Medea (4 students), and Herodotus (9
students). The non-intro Latin courses offered are Republican Prose (15 students), Vergil (7 students), and Latin Epic (15 students). Such programs are arguably the best of both worlds – the large faculty, enormous variety of offerings, and resources of a major program but the small classes of a LAC. If you want ALL of your classes to be small (i.e. not just classics), however, you should focus on LACs and possibly universities with loose/no requirements that allow you to select small classes (e.g. Brown). LACs are also preferable if you prefer the cozy social scene of a small school.

Consider Wheaton if you don’t mind a religious bent. It has an excellent reputation for classics, biblical studies, archaeology, etc. Some of the southern LACs (Sewanee, W&L, perhaps Rhodes) are other good options. Up north, F&M and Bucknell are a bit more moderate than many other selective northeastern LACs.

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