Graduate School
|
Getting into graduate school is difficult these days as so many people are applying. Some graduate schools reject 90% of their applicants. You can get in, but you need to take the process seriously. Following the steps below will increase your chances of creating a successful graduate school application.
Freshman and Sophomore Years
1) Set a goal for yourself to improve your GPA a little bit each semester. Learn how to study and write papers so that your GPA can go up. If you have trouble with your grades, follow this link for help. The minimum GPA required by graduate schools varies, for more information on these minimums, follow this link. If you want a good shot at getting in you will probably need a GPA above 3.0 and if you want financial aid, you will probably need a 3.5 GPA or better.
2) Prove to your professors you are a serious student. Work hard. Get your work done on time. Do not miss any classes. Attend events organized by the department such as lectures by visiting professors and the opening of the year picnic. You will need 3-4 letters of recommendation and your professors will be honest in their letters. If you try only half-heartedly, come to class in your pajamas, and never see your professors except in class, they will inform the graduate schools you want to attend that you are lazy, unmotivated, and unwilling to go beyond the minimum required of you. That will not get you into graduate school.
Junior Year, Fall Semester
Attend Dr. Thomas' talk about how to get into graduate school. It is an excellent talk in which he will share information with you about what graduate schools really want that you will not hear from any other source.
Think about the types of graduate programs for which you might apply. There are many subfields within archaeology, art history, and classical studies as well as related fields of which you should be aware. See a partial list at:
Incomplete List of Types of Graduate Programs
Junior Year, Spring Semester
Make a list of the top 12 graduate schools you want to apply to, including deadline date of application, number of letters of recommendation they expect, and special provisions for application (i.e. how many languages they expect you to know, minimum GPA and GRE scores if given, field work experience they expect etc.). Be sure to indicate the name of one professor at each school with whom you would be interested in studying. Present this list to your advisor so that the two of you may discuss which schools are best for you.
In April, register for only 12 credit hours for the fall semester of your senior year. To write a graduate school application that will actually get you in requires an tremendous amount of work, which is difficult to do with a full load.
Here are some links to help you find a graduate school:
UE Students' Graduate Schools:
The place to start. A
partial list of the graduate schools in which UE students have expressed
an interest with links to those schools. This is a great place to
learn about the best-known and some of the lesser-known schools
specializing in specific fields.
UE Archaeology and Art
History Department Blog:
Many graduates have written about where they went to grad school.
Find out if any of them have attended a school in which you might be
interested so that you may contact them and ask what they thought of the
program.
Archaeological Institute of America's Directory of Graduate
Programs in the US and Canada:
This site is a bit difficult to use since there is simply a list and no
database, nonetheless it is rich in listings not only for grad programs
in archaeology but also in art history, museum studies, and conservation
programs.
CAMWS' list of Classical Studies Graduate Programs:
The Classical Association of the Middle West and South has a website
with links to a number of classics graduate programs. It is
simply a list, so you must click on the links to learn more about each
program, but it is useful nonetheless.
Peterson's Guide to Graduate Schools:
Has a searchable database and links to different programs.
Gradschools.com: Another
searchable database.
Graduateguide.com: Another
searchable database.
Summer between Junior and Senior Year
1) Study for the GRE using books or by taking a class. Then take the GRE. If you don't know what the GRE is, click HERE to find out. Here are two useful links that might help you:
Sylvan Learning Center: The
place to take the GRE in Evansville.
2) Determine why you want to go to graduate school. Once you have an answer to the question "Why do you want to go to graduate school" visit the website below. There are good reasons for wanting to go to grad school and bad reasons; this site will help you figure out if you will be making a wise investment by continuing your studies.
The Idealist.org's Bad Reasons to Go to Grad
School
3) Visit the top two or three schools in which you are interested. Find out how many students receive financial aid, what the holdings of the library are in your area of interest, what lab resources they have, etc. Meet with the person with whom you would be interested in studying to see if you can get along with him/her. This also allows you to meet some of the people who will be making admission decisions, which will give you an advantage over applicants they have not met when they are deciding who to admit and to whom they should give financial aid. Interview a graduate student as well. You can get tips for questions to ask from the Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education, as well as from your advisor. Ask the director of graduate studies in the department to which you want to apply for the names of graduate students with whom you may speak.
4) The University of Colorado Classics Department has an excellent page explaining to students what they need to do in order to apply for graduate school in any field, not just classics. Read this page and do everything it says EXCEPT making a CV; few schools require that now.
Advice for Applying to Graduate School from the
University of Colorado Classics Department
Senior Year, Fall Semester
Write your applications. Here are some useful websites to help you get a better idea of what grad school is like and how to get in:
UE Office of Career Services: They have
resources to help you research graduate school programs and to write
your personal statement for the application.
How to Get a Great
Letter of Recommendation!:
Everything that you need to know about getting the best recommendation
letter you can.
How to Write a Great Personal Statement for Your
Grad School Application:
It is very difficult to write a good personal statement for your grad
school application. Read these steps and especially read the samples.
They do not come from applicants to programs in archaeology, art
history, or classical studies, but they should give you ideas about how
to write an excellent statement.
Society for American Archaeology:
Has information about specific programs as well as general
information about what graduate school is like. This does require a
membership.
Senior Year, Spring Semester
Apply for financial aid independent of the school you will be attending:
Hayek Fund for Future Scholars:
The application fees for graduate school are high. The Hayek Fund
provides students applying for Ph.D. programs with $300 to cover the
cost of application.
The Humane Studies Fellowship:
This fellowship awards $15,000 to the future graduate student who can
convince them that their studies have to do with liberty.
Davies-Jackson Scholarship: For
students who would like to attend Cambridge University.
Ford Foundation Fellowships Programs for Achieving Excellence in College
and University Teaching: Are you
planning to teach humanities or social sciences (archaeology, classical
studies, and art history count) at the college level after you graduate?
This is the fellowship for you!
Prestigious Scholarships: The
University of Evansville Office of Career Services has a long list of
scholarships available to outstanding students.
