Chances for Classics Grad School admission- little language experience

Graduate School
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Hi everyone, I have no idea where this post actually needs to be as I’m new to the site and not sure how everything really works, but for now this is where I’m hoping this goes.

This is sort of a long-winded story, but I’ll try to keep it as concise as possible: I switched into Classics late (spring semester of my second year of undergrad) and I’m now a current senior who (all going as planned) will be graduating May 2020. Up until recently, I had no plans on going to grad school and had simply thought I would be going on to become a professional athlete in my sport (a long and drawn out story that isn’t necessary to go into here). I have realized, however, that my passion lies with Classics and the study of antiquity and I want to pursue (for now) a terminal M.A. and, eventually, look into going onto a PhD.

Because of my late discovery of what exactly I wanted to do, I only have the equivalent of 2 years of Latin (I took an advanced beginner course that fit a full year into one semester) and no Greek. This is, however, an issue because my specific interest lies within the Greek world and not the Roman world–I had chosen Latin at the time because it was the only one in my relatively small program that would allow me to graduate on time and maintain my 8-semester-only scholarship while meeting the requirements for my degree. Plus, once again, I didn’t think I would be going for an M.A. or more and had already taken three semesters of Arabic when I switched, so I figured I had paid my language dues (ha, ha). I’m currently studying abroad for the fall semester, as well, so I’m unable to tack Greek on for two semesters in my last year just to get some sort of basics. I have a 3.7 GPA and a good record with my classes and course-load otherwise, it’s just the ancient languages that are hindering me.

I’ve been looking into possibly going for a Post-Bacc program after undergrad to fill in the gaps with my languages, but I’m curious to see exactly how behind I will be with trying to get into an M.A. program afterwards–will I only need one semester of Post-Bacc? Two? Should I leave Latin as it is and put all of my energy into Greek for now until it catches up with my Latin? I really have no general gauge for the time my original indecisiveness cost me, and money is–as with most other students–an issue for me, so I need to be able to determine what sort of finances I will need to be putting into this. Or is Post-Bacc not something that would be completely necessary? I want to take an archaeological focus rather than a philological one, but I’m not sure exactly how that would change my course-load for an M.A. program. Would there be a way for me to work on my languages as I go while in an M.A. program so by the time I’d be ready to apply for a PhD they would be more on par with expectations? The less unnecessary money I can avoid spending, the better, especially if I end up looking into PhD programs, since I’ll certainly end up out of state for that (my uni is the only one in my state that offers a Classics program and, while it’s a decently solid program considering the amount of funding it gets, the grad school is lacking and there’s no PhD option).

Any sort of guidance would be much appreciated, whether it be regarding a Post-Bacc or M.A. programs for Classics/Classical Archaeology in general–particularly what schools offer good terminal M.A. programs that have at least some funding, fellowships, or assistantships available. I would most likely transfer for a PhD anyway, if I decided to go that route, but it would be great if the school also had a good PhD program to look into. I’ve done a little bit of research, but it’s been hard without knowing exactly how the language issue will affect my path, and I’d like to get some advice from others who have been through the Classics grad school situation or are well-versed in it.

Thanks in advance to any commenters!

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First, speak with your major advisor. They’re key to applying to grad school, their support is vital, and they’ll offer feedback. Sounds like you haven’t looked at specific grad programs yet, their requirements and courses.

Yes, it’s possible to pick up Greek in grad school. But it’s likely Ancient Greek, not Modern. Grad programs need a high facility in Latin/Greek, for reading, as well. You may be better considering an archaeology degree, not Classics.

Talk to your faculty.

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The general bare minimum for Classics programs:

[ul][] PhD program - 3 years of one ancient language, 2 years of the other, reading knowledge of German and French
[] MA program - 2 years of one ancient language, 1 year of the other, reading knowledge of German and/or French[/ul]
This is a minimum; successful applicants usually have 3/2 years (for an MA) and 4/3 years (for a PhD). Archaeologists are given slightly more leeway in language training than philologists, but your chances of admission are better with a strong language background. The best classical archaeology programs - Michigan IPCAA, UCLA Cotsen, Berkeley AHMA, Brown Joukowsky, Penn AAMW, etc. - each accept only a small handful of students each year, so just meeting the bare minimum doesn’t cut it. Keep in mind that newly hired classical archaeologists are usually expected to be able to teach Greek and Latin at all levels.

You could probably teach yourself enough Greek to be able to jump into an intermediate Greek class in a postbac or MA program. Mastronarde’s *Introduction to Attic Greek/i is the best introduction to classical Greek, in my opinion, but JACT’s Reading Greek is good too, and of course Hansen & Quinn is a classic.

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Are you sure your University abroad doesn’t offer Ancient Greek? It’s pretty common in Europe at least and I doubt the professor would object to your auditing (in list cases, it’s not like there’s a wait list of people unable to take introduction to ancient Greek)

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^
Though the university may indeed offer Greek, the issue is that OP is abroad for only one semester. Each introductory Greek course is taught at a different pace, using a different textbook, learning different vocabulary, etc., making it very difficult to transition from Greek I at School A to Greek II at School B. Some elementary Greek courses spend the entire fall semester focusing on drilling declensions and paradigms into students’ heads, for example, whereas other courses introduce basic sentences and inductive learning from the get-go. Years ago I was advised to spend a full year at CYA in Athens rather than just a semester for precisely that reason.

That’s not to say it’s impossible. OP probably could jump into Greek II at his/her home institution, but it’d require a fair amount of work over winter break getting caught up to speed.

In any case, not every college offers introductory Greek every year, so there’s a possibility it’s not offered this year at both OP’s study abroad school and home institution.

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I agree that you should talk to your advisors at your home university to get a better handle on this. It may end up being a good choice for you to apply to a handful of really good fit MA programs just in case, but also focus on finding a post-baccalaureate program (or creating one yourself) in which you can study ancient Greek and pick up some other stuff that would make you a better candidate for an MA and eventually a PhD program.