<p>I noticed that the University of Maryland is on your list. You should be aware that it’s startlingly selective – more so, perhaps, than its academic reputation warrants. I would not consider it a safety school.</p>
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<p>Also what are your finances? Will you be hoping for Merit aid? Need-based aid? no aid?</p>
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<p>Of course it’s way bigger than you want, but I think Temple has a pretty vibrant classics program (and, as several have pointed out, Greek and Latin classes are not going to be crowded, no matter how many students the university has). There are advantages to being in Philadelphia, because you would have access to lectures, programs, etc. at Penn, Bryn Mawr (the obvious answer to your question), and elsewhere. St. Joe’s also, although I think its department is more like an LAC department.</p>
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<p>What is her end goal? It may be if she wants a general liberal arts education and classics are her interest, that she could also look at schools with good course offerings but she could be a philosophy, English or other major. Friend of D was classics but really didn’t like Greek language (liked Greek philosophers and history) so changed major but other than Greek language he is still taking a lot of what classics covers since it pulls from a lot of departments.</p>
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<p>@TheGFG - I don’t think Bard’s classics department leans unduly towards arts/theater. On the other hand, a lot of classical studies does center around the extant plays. At least for Greek. As for the rest of Bard - yes, there are many students seriously into the arts. Again, I don’t know if the school itself would suit your daughter - she might be happier at a place like Bryn Mawr or Holy Cross - but the classics department itself would suit any classics student anywhere in my opinion.</p>
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<p>Changing majors: THE biggest classics jock among my kids’ friends wound up as a Comparative Literature major, because the (excellent, world-class) Classics department at her university wouldn’t let her write her honors thesis on medieval Latin poetry. (Plus, they wanted her to take more history/civilization courses than she thought really necessary.) This was the kind of person who not only was strong in Latin and Ancient Greek, but learned Akkadian and Middle Egyptian, too.</p>
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<p>My D declared she wanted to be a Classics major on her SCEA application to Yale. She had been taking Latin since 7th grade and was in AP Latin. Once she saw what classes an actual classic major entails, she quickly changed her mind. She is happily (for now) a Literature major with an emphasis in German. All this to say is that she may change her mind way before it is time to apply, so look more toward schools that are a good “fit” for her which a good liberal arts philosophy.</p>
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<p>St Johns is great for someone who buys into the great books program, but while everyone takes some Latin and Greek, it’s not like majoring in it. It wouldn’t be bad preparation for her possible interests though.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, our A/B student (who just graduated from college) had much better luck with college admissions that we expected, mostly by dint of having great recommendations and really crafting his essays to each school. </p>
<p>Bard is a great suggestion as long as she’s not put off by the location. It’s very much a tiny college in the middle of the woods. I love their educational philosophy.</p>
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<p>@TheGFG On another note, my S studied Latin and Classics in Rome a few summers ago with the Paideia Institute - your D would probably love it. Most of the other students were Classics majors from colleges all over the US.</p>
<p><a href=“Living Latin in Rome - Paideia Institute”>http://www.paideiainstitute.org/programs/living-latin-in-rome</a></p>
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<p>My D had a friend at Oberlin that was a classics major and is now at a very good grad program in Boston.</p>
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<p>Since the OP says her D wants to be a latin teacher, going to a NAME school isn’t necessary at all.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I suspect the market for Latin teachers is not quite the same as the market for social studies teachers. My kids’ Latin teachers went to Bryn Mawr (x3), Penn, Williams, plus one Jesuit-educated Haitian politician in exile.</p></li>
<li><p>What non-“NAME” schools with great Latin programs are you thinking about?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>^ I agree. There are jobs for high school Latin teachers, but I have no idea how competitive they are. Graduates I know accepting these sorts of jobs across the country, at public and private schools, graduated from “name” colleges, sometimes with MAs or PhDs. It would be interesting to know what the competition looks like. My experience is limited. Sometimes those who don’t get college teaching jobs look at high school positions.</p>
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<p>“suspect the market for Latin teachers is not quite the same as the market for social studies teachers”</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what % of high schools offer Latin in the first place? (And is it more concentrated in the Catholic high schools?)</p>
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<p>Please delete</p>
<p>All of the public and private high schools near me (southwestern Virginia) offer Latin. A quick search of the faculty bios showed degrees from not particularly “big name” schools - Hollins (women), Virginia Tech, Hampden Sydney (men), William and Mary (okay, bigger name).</p>
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<p>Loyola MD may not have as big a classics department as you are looking for, but the faculty are tremendous and incredibly supportive. They’ve just added an opportunity to do a semester abroad in Athens. They bring in lots of outside resources to enhance learning opportunities, and there are many enrichment opportunities because of the proximity to Baltimore and DC.</p>
<p>While Latin may be taught primarily at Catholic high schools, there’s a movement nationwide for classically-modeled academies that include Latin in their curriculum. At least around here, most are public charter schools.</p>
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<p>Amherst’s classics dept. website has a link to job opportunities for Latin teachers, which was encouraging. Here’s the introduction to that list: “Need for Teachers: Throughout North America there is a serious need for Latin Teachers. Each year, for lack of teachers, existing programs are canceled, thriving programs are told they cannot expand, and schools that want to add Latin are unable to do so. PromoteLatin.org is a cooperative effort with the American Classical League, the American Philological Association, and various regional and state classical organization.” </p>
<p>Last year my D’s Latin teacher left after only a few weeks, and the school was not able to replace him for months. The dept. head told me there aren’t enough Latin teachers out there, and they had to really woo someone away from another position. So I am hopeful that if D chooses the teaching route, she will have a shot at a job. That is a possible career option, but not what she has in mind currently.</p>
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<p>My girls HS has also had trouble finding quality latin teachers. Thankfully the one they had for part of the time was, hands down, one of the best teachers they ever had for any subject - they learned to be incredible writers in her class. My girls had latin in middle school magnet program and in HS, most HS in the area offer it at some level.</p>
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<p>My kids’ Latin teacher was working on her PhD at Columbia.</p>
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