I’m currently a sophomore and have just started researching colleges and am a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information I’ve found. I attend a public school in Iowa and have ~115 students in my grade I have a 4.0 unweighted and have taken the hardest classes possible, but my school only offers a handful of AP courses. My PSAT score was 1370. I am strongly considering a major in Classics and would like to know what schools are realistic in terms of costs and chance of admission. I highly doubt I will be able to attend an Ivy or absolutely top tier school or afford a school like NYU. Sorry if my post is vague, I’d be happy to provide more information if needed.
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there are many fine Classics programs. First, talk with your parents about how much they can spend on college each year. then have them run the Net price calculators on some schools’ websites.
Practice for the SAT and ACT, so you’ll have the best chances at affordable schools.
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http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1810444-top-schools-for-classics-degrees-p1.html
(see post #7)
Private schools cited above that claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need include:
Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley (women only)
Oberlin, Davidson, Wesleyan
Northwestern, Tufts, USC
State universities cited above include:
Arizona, Colorado-Boulder, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio State, Oregon
Try running the online net price calculators for a few of these schools (and also for your own state flagship.)
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College of the Holy Cross in MA, has one of the strongest Classics majors out there. They do meet 100% need. They also have several scholarships available specifically for Classics majors and with your strong stats, you could be in the running for those
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I think it’s a bit early to start narrowing down colleges by major. You may change your mind a couple times between now and your sophomore year in college. Not that it’s a bad idea to start thinking about your interests, or even to check out colleges with a classics major so that you can choose it if you want - but you want to look for good, well-rounded experiences and colleges you’d want to attend overall, not just places with a specific major.
Ugh, why does the College Board keep changing the way they score their tests? I was super confused by the 1370 PSAT until I ran to look it up and realized the scoring is completely different from the way they used to do it (and shifted back 80 points from the SAT scale, which also makes no sense). With that said, it seems like your projected SAT scores will be strong, and you have a 4.0 unweighted GPA, so why do you think you won’t be competitive for top tier schools?
Also, you said you want to know what schools are realistic in terms of cost. People can only recommend that for you, though, if they know how much your family can spend. Given it’s almost the end of sophomore year I guess it’s not too early to have a conversation with your parents about how much your family can contribute to your college education. Figuring how much they are willing to pay every year will help you construct your list - it’s going to be fairly different if they can pay $25,000 a year than if they could pay $40,000 a year, you know?
Anyway, to start with, the University of Iowa has a major in classical languages (which despite the misleading name is also about the history, literature and culture of the Mediterranean basin from approximately 2000 BCE to 600 CE.) Iowa State University also has a major in classical studies. So those are your good in-state options.
Public universities in other states are usually more expensive and don’t offer great financial aid to nonresident students. That said, there are some public universities that offer large merit scholarships to top applicants from any state, so it might be worth checking out whether some of those schools offer a big scholarship or some merit aid. Indiana also has a strong classics program.
Here are some other great, but not super-competitive colleges that offer a classics major: Agnes Scott College (women’s, GA), Beloit College (WI), Clark University (MA), Duquesne University (PA), Dickinson College (PA), DePauw University (IN), Denison University (OH), Connecticut College (CT), Hendrix College (AR), Fordham University (NY), Earlham College (IN), Lewis & Clark College (OR), Loyola Marymount University (CA), Loyola University Chicago (IL), Lawrence University (WI), Marquette University (WI), Macalaster College (MN), Rhodes College (TN), Sweet Briar College (VA), Siena College (NY), Skidmore College (NY), Smith College (women’s, MA), St. Olaf College (MN), University of Puget Sound (WA), Whitman College (WA), Willamette University (OR), Villanova University (PA).
All of these colleges have acceptance rates that are 40% or higher (I fudged a little on a few - Skidmore, Smith, and St. Olaf are in the 35-40% range). But they are all well-regarded colleges and universities at which you can get a great education, and several of them offer great financial aid. With your grades and test scores, they are matches and safeties for you.
Boston College, Colby College, Colgate University, Case Western, Bucknell University, Trinity College (CT), Colorado College, and Brandeis are also places that are more competitive/elite bit not quite Ivy-level of competitive - they’re more in the 20-40% admissions range.
As a general observation, Catholic/Jesuit universities seem very likely to have classics majors.
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For anyone who questions the relevance of a liberal arts education and/or a college’s Classics Department, here
is a very recent article by a Colgate professor that gave me great pleasure when I read it:
https://theconversation.com/the-one-trump-comparison-you-havent-heard-yet-58571
And about an applicant’s particular interests, please encourage him or her to delve into each department’s course offerings and off-campus study opportunities.
Go 'gate!
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Mr. Garland is a weak imitator of Plutarch. It is wonderful that the OP is interested in the classics, but majoring in the area is foolish unless you are content being a high school Latin teacher. For reference, see the placement for classics majors at UC-Berkeley.
https://career.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/Survey/2015Classics.pdf
And then compare it to other fields at Berkeley.
https://career.berkeley.edu/Survey/2015Majors
UC Berkeley is a far better school than the ones that julliet mentioned, and if the best jobs their Classics majors can get at working at the YMCA or being an intern at Kaiser Permanente, look for a more relevant field in today’s society. You can always do your 20 lines of translation on your own free time.
I agree that a school shouldn’t be chosen just for the major because students often change majors
First find out what the budget is. No point in getting one’s heart set on X school or Y school only to find out that parents can’t afford it, even with aid.
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Zinhead (and everyone else),
Beware of joined up thinking.
Go 'gate!
Check out St. Johns College with campuses in Annapolis and Santa Fe. With just one “Great Books” major, their curriculum will certainly address your interest in Classics. If you’re interested in trying their curriculum, they have a summer academy for rising juniors and seniors. My D15 absolutely loved their program, but ended up elsewhere.
http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/summer-program-for-high-school-students/pre-college-about/
P.S., summer academy attendees automatically get merit aid offers.
@1518mom My son is at the Summer Academy right now. I just talked to him, and he absolutely loves it. I had no idea that Summer Academy Attendees automatically get merit aid offers. Could you tell me more about that? My son went to the College 101 seminar, but didn’t relay that back to me. Thanks!
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@Zinhead : If you settle for a BA, then a high school Latin teacher is probably the most you can hope for – and even that would not be a sure thing. Most classics majors I know had their eyes set on grad school and assorted positions around the world. I don’t think you should be so dismissive.
My niece graduated from UT Austin 2 years ago with a Classics and Archaeology degree and is now in a Bachelor to PHD program at Bryn Mawr (at no cost to her) - for her cousins who are/were in Engineering and Computer Science majors, they are terribly envious of how well she architected her education.
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That’s not unusual. Most PhD programs fund their students, often asking them to work in return as a TA or RA and sometimes there is pure grant money available.
The tricky question is what do you do when you get the degree? The NY Times had a recent article about the trouble those in the sciences are having finding jobs, and its long been that way in the liberal arts. See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/upshot/so-many-research-scientists-so-few-openings-as-professors.html
@mikemac - well news to me. I thought PHD programs were funded from masters but I didn’t know it was common from a bachelors. She was also looking at the University of Chicago for the same program. I think she will be a professor…still sounds awesome.
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Hook 'em, Horns!
My kid has a 6 year Mellon fellowship at Berkeley. I am not worried about the career choice. It may lead to a tenure track position at some college/university; it may lead to teaching high school Latin/Greek/Ancient History/whatever. You do not go into it without thinking through the potential outcomes and being comfortable with any of them. Just … don’t dis classics. Don’t do it. You only display your ignorance, One of my best law clerks was a classics major from Reed. Did not stop him from getting into a top10 law school.
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