<p>Which is better?</p>
<p>My understanding that both schools have excellent classics departments, so I'd apply to both and, if admitted, attend whichever place I felt was a better overall fit.</p>
<p>really? I thought I read somewhere that Yale's dept was very low in the national ranking like #15th.</p>
<p>Both are extremely strong choices. Visit each for a few days, talk with profs, and see which you prefer. I would say Yale has an edge at the undergraduate level, however. Yale also has popular undergraduate programs that are related and more broadly-focused than just Classics (although Classics is also somewhat interdisciplinary), particularly the well-known "Humanities" program. </p>
<p>In terms of Ph.D. productivity in this area (the % of undergraduates who go on to earn a Ph.D.), Yale ranks #1 in history, #2 in humanities, #9 in foreign languages, and #1 in literature. Harvard doesn't crack the top 10 in any of these areas. Generally, the top 10 schools are places like Swarthmore, Amherst, Pomona, Williams, and Oberlin -- Yale and to a lesser extent, Univ of Chicago are the only two universities that do as well or better than the top LACs in terms of sending their alumni on to complete Ph.D.s in the humanities.</p>
<p>I will give you one reason to attend Yale if you're interested in classics: Peloponnesian War & Donald Kagan. I know it's not exactly classics, but if you are even remotely interested in Ancient Greek history, and it is truly fascinating (I'm Greek, so I'm a bit biased :D) then Donald Kagan is a must. I have worked with his research for my IB extended essay ( A Comparative Study of the Origins of the Peloponnesian War and the First World War: Patterns of Nationalism, Imperialism and the Alliance Systems ) and I think he is absolutely brilliant..I cannot w8 to take a course from him..</p>
<p>thanks all for your reply</p>
<p>J mom--I think the ranking may be more about the grad school than undergrad, although I am surprised to hear that Yale's department would be ranked as low as 15th. I'd be curious to know the formula for the rankings as well. All the people I knew who were classics majors got into top Phd programs (and they gave me to understand that Yale and Harvard were considered at or near the top of the heap in this field) and are now professors at USNWR top 25 schools. These are just anecdotes about my friends, but I hope it helps.</p>
<p>I've been very pleased with the two courses i took in the classics department at yale (history of the roman republic and latin and the romance languages), but i can't offer any advice about other colleges' departments.</p>