EndlessAshley

Thank you. I realized soon after I typed it that you had already effectively answered that question. My apologies! And many congratulations!

I had the same double major problem. My sanity is seriously hanging on my a thread right now. I'm really surprised that my advisor didn't call me. He usually calls his MAs right away to tell them the news - good or bad. I realize it's the Sabbath, but the committee met last night. I applied to JCA, though, and was told that given my personal statement my application may be shuffled to the SIP pile. Both of those programs have admitted at least one person, so I'm sure a rejection would be redundant at this point. Still, it would great to know. To whomever found out on the website did you find out on SIS or when you logged into your application? I logged into the application and didn't find anything, but I know that Emory has a separate student website (OPUS, same interface as UVa's SIS) where you can see the status of your admission decision. I couldn't find anything like that on SIS. Any deets?

Does anyone know anything about Drew at all, for that matter? How many people they accept, if they give stipends? The website is a little cagey about that.

Thank you. And congrats!

Word from Drew is rolling out? Anyone wanna claim the glory for that acceptance and tell us what program you applied to? I'm running out of fingernails to bite.

I hear you, 11Q13. As an insider at UVa, I'm all but certain that I didn't make the cut. I realize that the fit was a little off (well, maybe more than a little off. I got my MA from one program but applied to another. The awkwardness is palpable). But it still really stings, having been here for three years.

I think it's necessary if your transcript doesn't include course titles or was an independent study. My transcript lists almost all of the courses I've taken as "New Course in Religion," so I had to elucidate.

Not sure where the first 3 invites came from, but I'd say it's a great sign that your POI contacted you!

Haven't heard anything from JCA yet. Will let you know!

Yeah, I'm not really expecting to hear anything before then, but I'm afraid it won't even be as merciful as that! In the words of our secretary, "There's going to be a loooong wait list this year."

Just FYI - the UVa admissions committee met for the first time on Friday, and 3 offers were sent. They are admitting 11 PhDs this year, and their next meeting will be Valentine's Day.

The professors themselves usually do like to see writing samples, but the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences would rather streamline the admissions process as much as possible. For them, it really is a numbers game. I was advised to sneak in a writing sample in the same file I used to upload my CV, but the applicant file (the actual, paper file) only includes transcripts, SOP, and test scores. Department secretaries are advised to discard everything else. The professors are able to see the writing sample if they access your online application, but it's probably best to ask your POI before you apply if he/she would like to see one and e-mail it to them directly. From what I understand, faculty from each program reviews the applications independently and has a small meeting in which they compile their top choices. Then, the department at large meets to make the final decisions and barter for spots/applicants/money/etc. I haven't heard anything from JCA, but I'll be sure to report if there are any rumblings. It does seem a bit early, but the SIP program is much smaller and conducts its business a bit differently.

I'm not sure what to make of that UVa admittance. I'm here now, and was told that the admissions committee doesn't officially meet until early-mid February. Perhaps it's unofficial correspondence from a POI?

Congratulations to whomever received the phone call from Penn! Would you mind sharing your area of specialization?

Agreed! In part because I can't bear to imagine a world in which a 3.9 is considered a handicap, and in part because I know that grading scales differ not only from school to school and program to program, but from professor to professor and class to class. One of my professors explains that he gives true grades according to which a C is average and A's have "flashes of brilliance," a choice he makes because he believes that, even in graduate level courses, he is still a teacher and that it is less valuable for the student's education to assume that an A is the baseline expectation for all grads. It can be frustrating when the department as a whole adheres to the standard B-is-the-end-of-the-line scale, but I hope that other departments acknowledge these disparities.

Thank you!

coffeekid, I notice that your doing your MTS at Vanderbilt. Do you know if they're planning on accepting applications in HACTOR next year? I wanted to apply this year, but they said they were doing some restructuring.

While I am very excited for the people who were invited to interview with Emory, I also kind of want to sit in a dark room and drink whisky forever. Does anyone know if interview invites correspond to rejections for everyone else? And if so, will this be reflected on the application website? I just need to see it in black and white.

Hi all, This is my first post, and it is apparently under close moderator scrutiny, so my apologies if it there's a more appropriate thread for this! I'm currently finishing my M.A. at UVa's Scripture, Interpretation, and Practice program. Here's my application list: UVa - Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity UPenn - Ancient Judaism and Christianity Drew - New Testament Emory - New Testament Boston University - Texts and Traditions My M.A. graduating GPA is 3.9, and my GRE scores are 164 verbal, 154 quant, and 5.0 writing. These aren't exactly stellar scores, but I wouldn't say they're deficient, either. I understand that the admissions process is ultimately subjective, and I'm fairly confident in my SoP and writing sample, but the thing I'm really worried about is how my research interests may or may not be classified. I'm interested in theories of language - post-modern and ancient - as they apply to the category of Scripture as sacred text, and what these theories can tell us about the reception and canonization of Jewish and Christian texts during mid to late antiquity. My main focus is NT, but this also entails a lot of work with the Hebrew Bible. Finding appropriate programs has been hard going. The bulk of it is the kind of stuff biblical studies folks do, and since I'm not at all interested in theology, I gravitate toward historical studies programs. That list represents the historical programs that I think would be most flexible yet still relevant, but what I've found is that a few professors think it's really fruitful and interesting while at least one objects on principle. Has anyone else encountered this sort of thing? Any intel on these programs? I do know that if you've applied to UVa, you should expect to hear back around mid to late February!