Classical archaeology - languages

<p>I'm applying to grad school this fall for classical arch. I have pretty decent stats, but one thing that has been worrying me is my modern languages...</p>

<p>I've got 4 years of latin, and 2 of greek, but for some reason I missed the bus on the whole french and german thing. I took 3 semesters of Italian. I wish I could go back a redo it but its a bit late.</p>

<p>Every program site has some blurb about "there is not much time in grad school for modern lang. work" blah blah. How do you think this will affect my chances?</p>

<p>Do you think indicating to the depts I am applying to that I intend to do some work on french and/or german this summer would help even the tiniest bit? Or would it just indicate my weaknesses even more?</p>

<p>All the programs I am applying to are pretty selective, but hey what programs aren't these days?</p>

<p>thanks for any thoughts on the matter</p>

<p>[url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/members/williamc.html%5DWilliamC%5B/url"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/members/williamc.html]WilliamC[/url&lt;/a&gt;] can probably answer this better than I, but yes, it will hurt you. Some programs allow you to take "French/German for reading" courses either during the summer or first year, but many programs expect you to get at least one language exam out of the way quickly- sometimes as soon as you get there. The general rule of thumb for admission is to have at least one research language for MA applications and two for PhD applications.</p>

<p>Check the research language requirements of your programs; some may allow you to substitute Italian for French. I would recommend addressing this in your personal statement. Knowledge of French and German is something looked for, and it would be best if you addressed how you plan to learn them.</p>