Classics

College Majors
1

<p>Hi Everyone,</p>

<p>I am a high school junior in Canada. Although there is still three months left in this school year, I thought it would be best if I started the application process right now and have lots of time when the new school year starts in September to revise my materials!</p>

<p>I definitely want to major in Classics in university. I've always been passionate about studying Greek and Latin and am 110% committed to pursuing this interest further! Unfortunately, none of the schools in my school district (including my high school) offer any Latin or Greek classes. I've also checked out the local community colleges and I ran out of luck there as well. Therefore, I would be entering university with no knowledge of either Latin or Greek whatsoever. </p>

<p>As I want to major in Classics (possibly double majoring in Fine Art), I am really only considering schools with great Classics departments. I've done quite a bit of research and have narrowed down my list of colleges rather substantially. So far, here's what I've got:</p>

<ol>
<li>Yale </li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>U Penn</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li><p>U Chicago ** (Top Choice)</p></li>
<li><p>Berkeley * (Safety Choice)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Although I know there are other top schools with really great Classics programs such as Brown and Harvard, I've narrowed my list to these schools because they had other aspects which really appealed to me as well! </p>

<p>Can anyone comment on the Classics departments in any of these six schools? I've heard that U Chicago has a fantastics Language Department (49 languages!) but I haven't heard that much about the Classics program there, so it would be great if anyone can provide more information about this. </p>

<p>While I was checking out the department websites at these schools, I discovered (to no surprise!) that each school varies widely in their required number of courses for a Classics major.</p>

<ol>
<li>Yale: 10 (no pre-requisite)</li>
<li>Princeton: 8 (not including pre-requisite: First year Greek or Latin)</li>
<li>U Penn: 12 (not including pre-requisite)</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins: 12 (not including pre-requisite)</li>
<li><p>U Chicago: 17 for Intensive major and 13 for standard major (not including pre-requisite)</p></li>
<li><p>Berkeley : 12 (not including pre-requisite)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Although I'm sure that Classics at any school would be difficult, I'm concerned that at schools like Yale and Princeton where there are less requirements, you wouldn't learn as much and it would be less possible for students to go in depth compared to schools like U Chicago. Can anyone offer some opinions on this? </p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

<p>Sincerely,
thesoeulmate</p>

2

<p>I’m not sure how you’re so passionate about studying Greek and Latin as you haven’t done so yet—apparently, not even on your own. However, one can certainlt start the study of Classics in college without having studied Grrek and Latin previously.</p>

<p>All of the universities on your list have excellent Classics departments. All of them also are highly selective (so more so than others), and you should expand your list to include some matches and some safeties. Berkeley cannot really be considered a safety given the pressures of a huge number of highly-qualified in-state students who apply for admission. Also, Berkeley is certainly a different undergrad experience than the other unis on your list. Chicago is also different from the other unis in a different way. </p>

<p>Don’t worry about the differences across these unis in the number of required Classics courses to complete a major. Those are the minimum number—you can take additional courses in Classics or closely related fields. Also, Chicago is on a quarter system, so it’s not surprising that it requires a greater number of courses.
At Princeton, you will do independent work in your junior and senior years, so that adds additional depth. (I believe some departments also may have a reading list for major for a comprehensive exam in addition to required coursework.) Finally, students major in Classics for a number of different reasons and many students also double major or major-minor in Classics and another field. A lower number of required courses can be an advantage in providing greater flexibility and accommodating these multiple interests and purposes among different students.</p>

3

<p>Make sure these colleges have other aspects that you like, because you might start Latin and ancient Greek and find you don’t like them at all. I personally love Latin (taken it for 5 years), but hate ancient Greek (4 years). </p>

<p>They’re extremely different languages than the modern ones often taught in schools. A very solid knowledge of grammar is imperative for both languages (much more so than other languages with a similar sentence structure to English), so if grammar isn’t your thing, you should think twice about these languages.</p>