<p>Hey everyone, I've posted a thread like this before where people helped me find colleges I liked based on atmosphere and it was quite helpful. However I forgot to compare the strengths of their departments. I'd really love to study classics, not like American literature, more Latin and Greek history, language, and literature, etc. Could someone help me pick out colleges with strong classic programs? I'd prefer something in the northeast or possibly California. I'm really not a fan of the south, nor the midwest as it would be going to far away from home without the area really being worth it. I'm from New York if that helps in anyway and I'm interested in all area types. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do what I'm older, but I could see myself being a lawyer, a doctor, or a professor of classics at a university so if the college had a good pre med program where I could take the courses needed for the MCATs as well as taking Classics courses that would be fantastic.</p>
<p>One of the better ones, Columbia University, is in your back yard.</p>
<p>I love Columbia, it’s in my favorite area in the city, I’m a huge fan of Alexander Hamilton and that was where he went, everything about that school i wonderful, but for anyone it’s hard to get admitted so I wanted to try to pick some less selective schools around the 15%+ admission range. One of the schools I really like is Wesleyan in Connecticut, but I’m not sure how strong their department is. I don’t really know how to check how strong a department is either. Is it measured by the amount of faculty, the prestige of the faculty, the success of it’s graduates? I feel like there’s a lot of factors that go into determining this and that’s what I wanted assistance with.</p>
<p>St. Johns - it’s a no-brainer.</p>
<p>I meant the choice is a no-brainer - the college is all classics all of the time.</p>
<p>You can see the St. John’s curriculum/reading online. Have to say, it’s not for everyone. </p>
<p>The way to feel out a dept is by looking at the courses, seeing the breadth and depth, then the profs’ academic backgrounds, interests and how active they are in their fields (research, conferences, etc.) Also, how often these courses are actually offered. That’s a start.</p>
<p>One pothole to avoid: where the dept is so small some courses are taught by specialists in other fields. The easy example is where, say, women’s lit is actually taught by a gender studies person. Or something to do with regional history is taught by a religion prof. If they are expert, fine. Sometimes, this is just load sharing or filling the other guy’s schedule. You have to get a feel for this.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that St. Johns specializes in classical literature which is why I pointed out that I was interested in Greek and Roman history/language/literature. If I am wrong please correct me, but I was almost positive that St. Johns was more focused on classical literature.</p>
<p>
[St</a>. John’s College | Academic Program |](<a href=“Concrete CMS Is An Open Source Content Management System For Teams”>Concrete CMS Is An Open Source Content Management System For Teams)</p>
<p>Are you interested in Ph.D program after undergrad? That could affect your focus as you might then want university with depth of curriculum and well-known scholars who can write recs for grad school. If, instead, your focus is undergrad only, then there are some other schools with good classics depts. </p>
<p>From your screen name, I assume you could not apply to Bryn Mawr directly, but Haverford students can major at BMC (and vice versa). Bryn Mawr historically has well-known classics dept.</p>
<p>Yeah I really was interested in Bryn Mawr until I realized it was an all girls school lol. I originally wanted to go to law school, but because of the surplus of lawyers and the scarcity of jobs I’m not sure I see the point. That’s why I want to take the MCAT course requirements because if I decide I want to go to med school I have the opportunity. I could also see myself teaching at a university so I don’t think I’d want to exclude myself from Ph.D program admissions either. Haverford would still be an awesome school, but I’m worried it’s too selective. I have fantastic grades, I just finished this semester with a 101.5 weighted and around a 98 unweighted, and I took the SAT without much studying and got a 2000 my first time, but my extracurricular activities are lacking. I did more what I enjoyed as opposed to what everyone else was doing, so I don’t have a long list of accomplishments like a lot of people.</p>
<p>This is pretty North East! Maybe worth a look; good program.</p>
<p>[Department</a> of Classics](<a href=“http://classics.chass.utoronto.ca/]Department”>http://classics.chass.utoronto.ca/)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t give up on H’ford, though it is wise to have some alternatives. If you read up on the school, and visit, you could write some great essays about it – including BMC classics.</p>
<p>I’ve never thought about going to school in Canada, and it seems to have a large faculty so maybe. I’ll try Haverford still, is there any alternatives that you recommend? Franklin and Marshall seems like a save choice and that was one of the schools I was looking at, but again not sure of it’s strength.</p>
<p>You aren’t going to get around this without starting with what they offer. And remember, at some large schools, some of that extra faculty may be devoted to grad students.</p>
<p>Off the top, the profs at F&M seem committed to their interests, active. Look at their faculty page and then classes. <a href=“http://www.fandm.edu/classics/fps[/url]”>http://www.fandm.edu/classics/fps</a></p>
<p>They seem to offer only 3 majors- Greek, Latin and Classical Archaeology and Ancient History. You see if that fits you. And/or how you are permitted to make your own hybrid.</p>
<p>My D was also classics. But each person has his/her own needs.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking where did your daughter go to school and what were some of the factors that influenced her choices when applying?</p>
<p>That’s a pm, k?</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the PM.</p>
<p>Could anyone weigh in on the difference between going to Bryn Mawr versus Haverford for Latin? Haverford is the higher-ranked school in general, but Bryn Mawr seems to be the one with the better reputation for Classics. I know there is cross enrollment, but Bryn Mawr’s department webpage links with Haverford’s but not vice versa. Should I read anything into that?</p>
<p>GFG – you can major at either school, whether you are a Ford or Mawrter. Not a reason to select one or the other.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr totally and completely stomps Haverford in classics. It’s not even close.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr is regularly a feeder school to top classics PhD programs. Haverford is not. Bryn Mawr also has its own PhD program.</p>
<p>Plus, Bryn Mawr has 5 permanent faculty. Haverford has 3 plus some visiting post-docs. And one of the permanent faculty is joint with comp. lit.</p>
<p>For general rankings, there’s a good argument that women’s colleges are under-ranked. My personal perception is the Bryn Mawr name carries more prestige.</p>
<p>Haverford is a good school too, though.</p>