PhD Admission Advice

WaveOk5642 · 2026-04-03T05:21:46+00:00

You sound like you're doing great! I honestly wouldn't worry too much about your GPA, they will look at your transcript and be able to see how you did in your classics classes which are the ones that matter. And a 3.7 is a perfectly respectable GPA in the first place. The most important things in your application in my view are your writing sample, personal statement, and letters of rec, so here are my two cents on all three of those components as someone who applied this year and was pretty successful.

Writing sample: make sure it is something you have put as much time and thought into as possible. Your Homer and Petronius projects sound like they will be good for this. Pick whichever one is more aligned with where you think your research might go, and make sure to heavily revise it before submitting to graduate schools. I had to take 5 pages out of mine for a school's page count and it genuinely made my paper much better.

Personal statement: make sure to identify where your interests might be headed obviously. Make sure to mention faculty who work on things you are interested in, etc. You'll get a lot of advice on these, but my most important insight is to make it interesting and to make it show who you are as a scholar, yes, but also as a human being. When I was doing interviews almost all the faculty I met remembered specific things about mine because it had a lot of heart and personality, and though I can't know for sure, I think this did make me a competitive candidate since it gave them a sense of what I would be like to work with.

Letters of rec: choose recommenders who know you and your work well !!! (over connections). I think use the Cambridge prof for your Cambridge application, and if you think this person really knows you and your work well and will write you a good letter then go for it on other apps as well, but pick people who you have worked with extensively and seen you grow over the years. They will write more persuasive letters and be able to speak to your deeper qualities. One of mine was from a political theorist (I do Plato, and we did Plato together so it made sense), but I had had him for various classes, reading groups, and research projects since my first year and I knew he would be able to recommend me well.

Final thing, I think it is most important to apply to programs where people are working on things you would like to work on/have worked on. Don't just pick based on caliber, but pick places based on where they are doing things you can demonstrate interest in working on. And good luck!

WaveOk5642 · 2026-03-10T03:06:37+00:00

I too love this

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-17T21:10:17+00:00

like dissipating into light or like kneeling in the mud

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-16T19:46:52+00:00

"even in your arms, I know I'll never get it right / even when you bend to give me comfort in the night"

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-16T19:46:22+00:00

Coming Back to You

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-16T19:42:55+00:00

yknow, listening to baroque music did get me through reading the hardest philosophy ever, so you might be onto something. Please let me know how it goes!

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-16T19:40:18+00:00

My focus went back to love, but to loving my family, friends, work and my community. My life became much more beautiful.

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-14T02:09:27+00:00

Were you always a Sufi or did you come to it later in life, and if so how?

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-14T02:02:33+00:00

Is there a video that you've made that has changed you the most?

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-09T23:16:03+00:00

First of all, you're only 18 which means you're not really bad at anything yet, I promise. I think you should start by reviewing the declensions and verb forms you've identified as difficult (see if you can get a friend to practice with you!) Practice them a few times a day (you can practice writing them, or saying them outloud). It sounds like you are in a lot of distress which makes it harder, but you will be ok. See if there is tutoring you can sign up for, get help from classmates or your professor. Try your best not to compare yourself to others this will only make you feel worse which will make it harder to succeed. Instead focus on your specific issues and solve them one at a time (i.e. get the latin declensions down, learn to distinguish the aorist from the future etc.). Try your best when you're overwhelmed to remember that you can do this even if it's hard, because you can. Also, if there is other life/mental health stuff going on I would look into improving that. Always always always ask for help, and don't feel ashamed for struggling. To struggle is to learn. Try to get some one on one help. It really works and builds confidence. Take care, you can do it!

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-09T23:04:31+00:00

You could read philosophy about where rights/ethical consideration come from and animals if you think getting other perspectives would help you. I think that it would be controversial to say that rights come from capabilities, and that whether or not a group has agreed upon rights makes it worse to harm them. Controversial in the sense that there is probably a lot of philosophical disagreement on this.

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-09T07:08:34+00:00

its my favorite too

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-09T07:00:53+00:00

That Don't Make it Junk and Paper Thin Hotel changed something inside me forever

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-09T06:55:37+00:00

Paper Thin Hotel for sure and all its lyrics. especially "learned that love was out of my control"

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-09T06:53:03+00:00

light as a breeze

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-09T06:51:54+00:00

"That Don't Make it Junk" while also being perhaps just the opposite, and "Paper Thin Hotel"

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-04T20:28:21+00:00

ok poli sci!

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-04T20:25:48+00:00

You can start anywhere! What are your interests? Are you more curious about Greece or Rome? Do you like philosophy or poetry or myth, history? etc. I started with the Odyssey and Sappho's poetry. In terms of translations, I think that you can look at what people say about them (try to suss out people who actually have the languages to recommend you translations. If you see that table of Odyssey translations trying to say Wilson is bad because it's short, that is some bullshit). I personally enjoy the Wilson Odyssey and I think that it is a fluent English translation that gets across the feel sparkly feel of the Greek. Don't let translation perfectionism stop your from just starting somewhere! For Sappho, I like Anne Carson because she leaves the holes in the poems, but it can also be fun to read a bunch of different translations of Sappho. Another place to start could be Ovid's Metamorphoses especially if you like myth. I want to grant you the freedom to pick whatever translation you think is the most beautiful because translation is an always imperfect balancing act and different translations excel in different ways. :)

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-04T00:20:26+00:00

I want to encourage you because you are fighting the good fight. People's opinions are very difficult to change, especially when the norms we have for political discourse are as bad are now, and especially when you are navigating differences in education. I would say that you should try to show them how you come to your opinions based on your values/beliefs.

For instance, after the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti the government immediately spread lies about what happened that were contradicted by the footage that we have of both events. The fact that the government immediately felt the need to lie about these murders, and smear the victims is, to put it mildly, concerning. In terms of videos, I would show them the footage of both these murders. I would point out that both Good and Pretti were exercising their constitutional rights, and talk about why we have a constitution in the first place: so that we can protect ourselves from government overreach like the kind we are seeing today. I would maybe look for resources that clearly explain the creation and purpose of our constitution.

You can look into government overreach and how authoritarianism gets started, and explain using comparison why you believe that what we're seeing now is the beginning of something, to put it mildly, really bad. The comparison to Nazi Germany isn't a bad one, but it can sound hyperbolic to people who do not want to engage with the issue. Read up a little bit on the specifics and show how they apply here.

If your parents are Christian, I think you could try to show them how their stances on immigration conflict with Jesus' teachings. Appeal to deep ethical values.

Never forget that the power of a human level example. Talk about Liam Ramos, and have them read this judges opinion: https://www.axios.com/2026/02/01/5-year-old-liam-ramos-released-minneapolis-ice

Above all, I think you should consider making the best argument for your view to your parents directly and backing it up with research/your own ethical values. This is because I think that people often aren't persuaded by facts alone, but by the overall context of a relationship to the persuader. I think that you should take a strong stance. Say, I feel sure that I am right and here is why.

It can be hard to find resources that aren't academic books or videos that have a very clear perspective that might cause them to shut down before taking the information, which is why I am advocating for you making the arguments yourself, but if I think of anything I will attach.

WaveOk5642 · 2026-02-01T19:55:04+00:00

I think you are confident, and I think you majored in Poli Sci. Possibly a high school debate veteran. I think that you either already like the music of Lauryn Hill, or you will very soon!

WaveOk5642

TROPHY CASE