Update: I Have Applied to PhD Programs Again! (December 16th, 2023)

Hello everyone! Some readers may have noticed that I haven’t made any posts in nearly a month. That’s because I’ve been busy this month writing the first chapter of my master’s thesis and applying to PhD programs. Long-time readers may recall that, two years ago, in 2021, during the final year of my bachelor’s degree at IU Bloomington, I applied to four PhD programs. Unfortunately, as I described in this post, none of those programs made me an offer of admission. This led me to go into the MA program in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies at Brandeis University, which I had applied to as a backup option in case none of the programs I applied to accepted me.

I am expected to graduate with my MA in May 2024, so I have now applied to PhD programs again for the 2024-2025 academic year. This time, I am applying to the PhD programs in classics at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, Princeton University, the University of California Berkeley, and the University of California Los Angeles. As of the time I am writing this, I have submitted my applications for all of these programs except UCLA, which has a later deadline than the others. I think I am in a much stronger position this time than I was last time, I have applied to more programs than I did the first time, and I am hoping that this time at least one program will make me an offer of admission. We will see how this turns out.

Author: Spencer McDaniel

Hello! I am an aspiring historian mainly interested in ancient Greek cultural and social history. Some of my main historical interests include ancient religion, mythology, and folklore; gender and sexuality; ethnicity; and interactions between Greek cultures and cultures they viewed as foreign. I graduated with high distinction from Indiana University Bloomington in May 2022 with a BA in history and classical studies (Ancient Greek and Latin languages), with departmental honors in history. I am currently a student in the MA program in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies at Brandeis University.

36 thoughts on “Update: I Have Applied to PhD Programs Again! (December 16th, 2023)”

  1. Best of luck Spencer!! I had to go to my backup MA program too, so I know the annoyance and frustration. Unfortunately, when my MA program ended, I was still not accepted anywhere but I think you would stand a much, much better chance than I, lol. Love your posts, get that degree!

    1. Thanks for the offer! I will definitely let you know if that is where I end up. That being said, UC Berkeley and UCLA are currently the lowest on my list; those schools have excellent faculty, including some I can envision myself working with, but I would rather not move across the country to California unless I have to.

  3. congratulations!! I am sure you will make a great PHD. I did want to ask if you are willing to reopen your article on Were the Greeks Really Obsessed with the Golden Ratio given lots of discoveries are happening showing the Greeks were far from the first to discover the Golden Ratio or the now misnamed Pythagorean theorem. M1178 from the Babylonians has turned things on its head.

  5. Wishing you all the best, and either one of those universities will be lucky to have you added among it’s ranks!

  6. Hopefully this is the next step on the road to there being peer-reviewed history papers with your name on them.

  7. Wishing you the best of luck on this! If I may ask, what is the subject of your master’s thesis? Also, apologies for not keeping up with your blog for while

    1. There’s no need to apologize!

      I’m writing my master’s thesis about the representations of the orgia/teletai of Kybele in Classical Greek literary sources and how these representations reflect broader Greek ideas about ritual, gender, and foreignness. I used the first chapter of the thesis, in which I discuss problems in the nature of the surviving evidence for Kybele’s worship in Classical Greece and problems in how scholars have interpreted this evidence, as my writing sample for my PhD applications.

      1. Interesting topic! I’d love to read your academic work some day. If you continue like this, you will be a great expert on Cybele by the time of your doctorate (if not to say already)!

  10. Yes, ditto to what all above have said! You deserve it. All our fingers and toes are crossed for your successful application.

    1. Dear Spencer,
      You may use me as a reference. Nobody is more deserving of admission to a PhD program (and full fellowship) than you. Not even me 67 years ago.
      Best wishes,
      Danny

  11. We wish you all the luck in your endeavors.
    As a thought, there are also universities in Canada and the UK. We are sure any one of them will be pleased to have you.

  12. Best of luck to you. You would be an asset to any University. I enjoy your blog so much. Your posts are so interesting, well written and immaculately researched. Your efforts bring me a great deal of enjoyment.

  13. Best of luck with your applications! Your work in disseminating Mediterranean and Near Eastern scholarship and making it accessible to the public is some of the best I’ve read online, and any sensible PhD program will be happy to have you.

    1. Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words. That being said, most programs I’ve applied to probably will not regard my work on this blog as a significant achievement. I suspect that many will actually view it negatively as a distraction from “real” academic work.

    1. Thanks! I appreciate your kind words. Honestly, though, I don’t really believe in the concept of “deservingness” based on merit. I think merit is just a fiction that powerful people made up to justify hierarchies that grant them greater access to power and resources.

  17. Good luck with the PhD applications. My daughter has just finished her PhD, though in a very different field so I know what you are letting yourself in for.
    As an aside, I’ve read your articles about Christmas and Saturnalia with interest as I’ve been doing some amateur research of my own. Were you aware of the French mystery play “Le Jeu d’Adam”? It provides, I think, some useful insight into the origins of Christmas trees and greenery and takes them back to the 12th century.

  18. Good luck with your applications, and I will keep my fingers crossed for you. Your blogs are excellent and very enjoyable and should help you get into a really good program.

  20. Wow, incredible! Good luck!
    PS Since comments are closed on your thanksgiving article here: https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2016/11/24/debunking-popular-myths-about-the-first-thanksgiving/#more-157 I’d like to point out the Youtuber Uncivil History made a fascinating video about the First “Thanksgiving” and the later Anglo-Pequot War while Atun-Shei Films has made several more exciting videos about King Phillip’s War. My descriptions can’t do them justice.

    1. Thanks for sharing this! I was already familiar with Atun-Shei Films’ video on the subject, although I was not aware of it at the time I wrote my post about the first Thanksgiving, since I wrote that one years ago.

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