Have I ruined my chances?

Graduate School
1

<p>I am an undergrad double majoring in Ancient History and Classics at a well known Classics department. I am about to start my senior year in the fall and I would like to enter into either an Ancient History or Classical Archaeology program following my senior year, but I believe I may have ruined my chances. Up until now, I have been able to keep my grades high, 3.8966 GPA, but after this semester I believe I will make a handful of Bs if not worse which would drop my GPA down close to the 3.5 cut off point for many programs. For some reason, I decided at the end of last semester that it would be an excellent idea to take a bunch of rigorous history courses on top of my languages. Anyhow, will this bar be for getting into top grad programs?</p>

<p>By the way:</p>

<p>The GPA above above is just my current university GPA. I took a lot of course work at a community college where I earned a 4.0. I am involved in a personal research project with a faculty member in my department in an attempt to writing a senior thesis concerning a topic of Roman history. I should have enough of it done by application time to use it as my writing sample. I should have 2 years of German along with 3 years of both Latin and Greek once I graduate. I have good letters for know faculty members. And lastly, my GRE should be about average if not a little below. For, I am and never have been very good at those kinds of exams.</p>

<p>Well, do you think that I have ruined my chances of getting into top grad programs by making poor marks in a handful of classes in my major(s) so late in the game? Or am I just over reacting.</p>

2

<p>Some of the best people to advise you about this are your professors. Set up an appointment with one or two who you feel confident about speaking with, bring in copies of your transcript, and talk about your future options. </p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

3

<p>happymomof1 is right. Professors usually know best and can point you in the right direction.</p>

<p>GPAs above a certain point are generally not too much of a major factor for admissions, though they can be for fellowships. Your lack of French is a glaring weakness, however, and no field experience might hurt you when applying to classical archaeology programs. I say this not to stress you out further but rather to warn you that the fields you’ve chosen are very, very competitive. If it is available, I highly recommend taking a “French for reading” course over the summer or fall.</p>

<p>You should, of course, have safety programs to which you can apply. Often these are funded MA programs, of which there are a few (e.g. Arizona and FSU).</p>