Grad school

I am applying for grad school.

It's so terrifying to say outloud. But I am. That's what I plan to do next year. A Master's degree in Classical Archaeology.

I have to get a few things together in order to do this. I need a thesis proposal, references and an academic CV. Today, I talked to my 4th year seminar professor about being one of my references, and he said yes. So that's one step. I also plan to ask the professor I'm TAing for.

I'm not sure if I'm going to get in. Most of the schools I'm applying to are in the UK, and they take the classics a lot more seriously over there. My marks are okay, but not stunning. My resume, I hope, is impressive. Most of my experience goes with my journalism degree, but I also have museum experience, and TAing experience. I hope those will help me seem more qualified.

I'm also really hoping that my journalism degree will work for me. Technically, I feel like proof that I can communicate as well as research, write, understand and interpret history will be something that I can bring that not many applicants can.

I'm just not sure that the universities will feel that way. And that having done two degrees will actually be mark against me. Because a lot of my time is spent on journalism, I don't do as well in my Classics classes as I could. Because I'm doing a combined honours, I don't have as many credits in Classics as I would, and I definitely don't have the language credits I should.

When I applied for my undergrad, I knew I was going to get in. My marks in high school were in the top range, and that's pretty much all they looked at. From that, I got early acceptance and a scholarship.

Now, I think I'm just one in a thousand similar candidates. And not even in the top range. The only hope I have is to make my thesis and resume stand out. On top of that, to go to school in the UK is VERY expensive for international students. Not only would my tuition be about 9000 pounds a year, but I also have to move and live there. In order to avoid getting a $20,000 student line of credit, I'd like to get a scholarship to at least cover my tuition. There are lots of scholarships available, particularly for Commonwealth citizens. But am I good enough to get them...?

All of this is incredibly scary, and all of this has to be done this month, over the Christmas break. Because it's due at the end of January and I'm on overload next semester.

On a slightly more positive note, these are my top schools:

University of Edinburgh - Classical Archaeology (or Classics)
University of London - Classical Archaeology
University of British Columbia - Classical Archaeology
Simon Fraser University - Archaeology, Creative Writing
University of Ottawa - Classics
University of Leicester - Classical Mediterranean (Archaeology and History)
University of York - Historical Archaeology, Field Archaeology
University of Glasgow - Classical Archaeology and Ancient History
Newcastle University - Greek and Roman Archaeology

My favourites are University of Leicester (45 mins from London), University of Glasgow (where I get to do history as well as Archaeology) and the University of Edinburgh (one of my favourite cities EVER).

But on top of everything else, if I do get in I have to move to a completely different country all by myself and that's terrifying.

I don't want to grow up.