Disappointed in your first GRE score?
Remember that you CAN take the GRE test more than once if you did not score well the first time!

Thinking of Graduate School In Classical Studies, Classical Archaeology, or Ancient History?

Do you like Classical Studies (language and literature, archaeology, or ancient history) so much that you want to study it more, and perhaps even make a career out of it? Graduate school may be the right choice for you. Many people find it a valuable, and very fulfilling, experience. People go to graduate school in Classical Studies for numerous reasons: to become secondary level teachers, professors, researchers, museum curators, archivists and much more. Graduate school is also not just for getting a Ph.D.; depending on what your goals are, you may find that only one or two years of graduate school will give you what you require.

Before you decide whether to go to graduate school in Classical Studies or to pursue an academic career, you should know both the downside and the upside of such decisions. The downside of graduate school is that the workload is often very intense, so you really need to enjoy the material to enjoy the experience. The upside is that you get to spend all your time reading and studying a subject that means a lot to you, and to spend time with other people who share the same passion.

As for pursuing a scholarly career in Classical Studies (for which a Ph.D. is almost always required), the downside is that you will need to spend at least another five or six years in school, will have only a limited ability to choose where you ultimately will work, and will reap good but not lavish financial rewards. The upside, again, is the chance to study and teach a subject that you love, as well as the chance to make original contributions to knowledge, and to meet and exchange ideas with exceptional colleagues from around the globe.

For some preliminary advice on how to think about, and how to apply to, graduate school in classical studies, classical archaeology or ancient history, continue to the next page. Our best advice, however, is this: Students are strongly encouraged to talk to their concentration advisor or other mentors early and often about their graduate school ambitions.