Okay, so I am a senior, and I have narrowed my college choices to five main schools (in no particular order):
Holy Cross
UMichigan
Princeton
Boston U.
Mcgill (Canada)
I want to study both the Classics and writing in college, and I knew that all of the schools on my list have strong classics departments; however, I do not know if Holy Cross has as strong a program as does Michigan–Holy Cross and Michigan are my top two as of right now. Anyway, if anyone can, please get back to me. I appreciate all the help I can get.
It’s hard to compare College of the Holy Cross and Michigan because they are such different schools and they are so different in size. But Holy Cross has one of the strongest Classics departments around, and for a liberal arts school, has more faculty and students majoring in Classics than other LACs, with a great deal of depth and breadth in the course work. There are also research opportunities within the department.
As for creative writing, HC offers a concentration within the English department, but you don’t necessarily need to be an English major to partake. U.S. news did name Holy Cross as one of the top colleges for English majors.
Regarding HC, the offerings of their classics department should be apparent from their course catalog. Any shortcomings with respect to the larger Michigan would need to be material to you personally in order to be relevant. For example, you might prefer the classics course descriptions at HC, even if they might be fewer (but still more than sufficient) in number.
I doubt you’ve considered it but I highly recommend Bard College for its phenomenal writing and literature department and also for its small but exceptional Classics dept. The professors are wonderful in the Classics dept. and are wide ranging in their interests beyond traditional academe. For instance, Daniel Mendelsohn teaches in the Classics department. And the Writing Program is world class.
Generally colleges with strong classics programs will also offer excellent training in writing, both in writing-specific courses (for creative writing) and in most humanities courses. Many of the universities on USNWR’s [writing in the disciplines list](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/writing-programs) are well-known for classics – Brown, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, etc. It’s unsurprising to see LACs like Middlebury and Williams on the list, colleges which heavily emphasize writing skills across the liberal arts.
No LAC and very, very few universities can match the depth and breadth of Michigan’s offerings in ancient studies or its classics-related resources. For writing, it is likewise tops. That said, Holy Cross obviously has one of the best undergraduate classics programs in the country. One could hardly go wrong with either.
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Much of my post remains useful, but any list of LACs strong in a niche subject like classics (other than Bryn Mawr, Barnard, and Holy Cross) can fluctuate a lot over time due to the gain or loss of faculty members. Small departments at LACs can be very heavily affected by the addition of new TT hires or visiting professors (often ABD graduate students) or the loss/retirement of faculty.
That said, most of those LACs are still quite good for classics.
You might want to consider looking into Hamilton’s classics department. Of note, the *American Journal of Philology/i has only once chosen a liberal arts college professor as editor in 137 years of publication. That professor was from Hamilton.
Hamilton’s classics offerings in combination with their impressive creative writing program could appeal to you.