mconsul

BU rejection today. i am shocked since i told them i was willing to do the unfunded MA part if not the PhD since i am trying to change academic directions (from religion/ancient history to history of science/religion). now what?

in case anyone is still interested in this discussion: i know Duke's average GRE scores are that high, but i was (virtually*) offered a spot with a 670 verbal, under the average. couldn't accept, but there are exceptions made with a good fit overall. *made it past the rejections and was invited down by prof. clark & co. for the all-expense paid visit and interview, which almost always leads to the formal offer.

DEAMONDEAC what program and focus??!

i took all of mine in my program. if you don't have that option, you could try to find someone who can attest to your ability, such as a prof or doctoral student or someone. they could write an informal letter saying they have evaluated your translation ability to some extent. perhaps easier would be implementing a source in that language into your writing sample, as proof of your ability to read and understand that language. it would coincide with your statement that you have worked on the language and are at such and such a level.

i don't know any of that, but i imagine you could find out from the admissions coordinator of the department (per smith). they have been quick to respond and helpful so far. they said they aren't allowed to inform apart from post (which i knew ahead of time), but they did say that the dean's office or grad school is allowed to tell us if they want, but there's no guarantee they will.

for the few people waiting for BU, i hear tell that they are processing letters, which should be 'out' by midweek. i assume that means in the mail, but maybe they still need to send them over to the grad school first? anyway, could be end of this week or (more likely) next week. ugh.

i know you were directing your questions more to 'cavedan', but i will try to help. during your MTS, even if a language is not required, you are well-advised to work on one, whether formally as one of your classes or perhaps auditing, if available. a lot of programs have courses geared towards passing reading/translating exams. as to which language you'd study (french, german, spanish), you should knock out whichever will be most important, and one of those most likely to be a phd requirement (probably french and german). unless you think another (e.g., spanish) will be more helpful for the kind of work you want to do in preparation for that phd program, in which case that could be a good idea. but having spanish won't really help unless it will be relevant for your field (whereas other languages, such as italian, would be helpful if you were studying, say, ancient history/classics). but remember that while the language prep is important, your overall application, including recommendations, writing sample, GRE scores, etc., is what really matters. i had 'high pass' translation exams for french and greek when i first applied for a phd program and got nothing (0/5), and then had french, latin, and greek (the phd-level exam), along with some self-study german, when i applied the following year and only got 1/4 (which i couldn't accept since my wife didn't get med school in the same area--thus the reason i'm still spending time on these boards...). so languages aren't the key to a strong application, but they certainly help--or better, not having them may detract from your otherwise strong application.

an important thing to keep in mind is the overall amount of work you'd have to be doing during those first years of a phd program. so, for instance, if you needed to knock out german and/or french during the first two years (passing translation exams), along with, say, an ancient or other specialty language or two by the time you take your generals, it's conceivable that profs reviewing your app could be concerned about how much work you'd have to do. even when you get to the point of passing the translation exam with a dictionary, your reading pace could be really, really slow, in which case that also prevents an obstacle to your exam and dissertation prep. not to make it all seem too stressful, but any preparation you can show (or at least claim) in your apps would be for the better (in fact, including some foreign language sources in a writing sample would help as well). program descriptions allow time for you to work on these in the first few years, but you will have a lot of other things to be doing during those first years.

does anyone besides me want to pester somebody at BU about whether notifications have gone out yet? someone in the grad school, maybe...? i think i reached my limit of tolerated queries mid-february.

can't give you any specs, but when i was at HDS, i'd say 20s was the norm, but that ranged from straight out of undergrad to mid-20s (like i was), to late 20s and early 30s, and there were some students who were older. several late 30s, and a few who-knows-how-much-older-than-that. but i'd guess it averaged out to mid-to-late 20s.

peppermint nightmare: i applied to columbia in years past (phd) and i found out the decision from the grad school before it was formally posted online. as soon as the gsas has it, they can find out the decision for you. i eventually received an official email sending me to the website, where i logged in and saw the formal letter. but of course i already knew. try your luck!

does anyone know anything about BU, other than the fact that applicants are supposed to find out sometime this month? any specs?

you should ask god for the application fee back.

whakare: if you look at past results, the acceptances went out a bit earlier by phone call. but not early than this point (and even still a little later). but close...

haha, i just saw the edited submission/correction. just in time! i was making calls...

if you get into harvard and don't know the name of the department/program, you should have your offer revoked. (it's the committee on the study of religion, not the centre for the study of religion).

where exactly are people finding out about harvard? i log in to my app and there's nothing. and i have no email.....

whakare: i applied to columbia in the past (religion) and they didn't give out answers until early march, and i think i found out early by emailing the grad school (apps are sent there by dept for official notification and i don't think they minded telling me).

my experience with MTS programs and the like was that they waited until the last minute. that isn't always the case, of course, but I found out decisions about when they said they'd tell me (so mid-march for HDS, sooner for Duke, as seems to be the case this year too). I think the priority for some programs is the doctoral decisions/notifications. but not always.

who heard from BU?! what department and what professor? did they want to know you're still interested or to clarify something in the application? DETAILZZZ!

deamondeac: You can use this to look up faculty contact info:https://www.directory.harvard.edu/phonebook/ I emailed Prof. Gyatso, who I think is the grad coordinator or something this year. Her email is jgyatso@hds.harvard.edu

deamondeac: don't torture yourself. just email someone at harvard. the decisions have been made, and if past years are any indication, there's a chance that if things don't go well, you may not find out until the end of the month or well into next month. get it over with. and admission offers are down this year, as someone else said. i was told 10 or so, which is low for harvard.

kookoo is probably right. i spoke with someone in the Committee (a prof) and she said that the results will probably be known in 2 weeks, but that she could find out if i'd made the short list for me if i wanted. she could have been saying she could find out before that time but not yet, but i think she meant that she could find out now.

cavedan: you'll find that to be a typical acceptance rate for most programs in that field. it can be (believe it or not) worse elsewhere. for instance, at Brown, the dept is fairly small with I think 6 fields. a few years ago, the grad school told the dept that they could admit 5 students for 6 programs. so one program didn't even get a student that year! (as it turns out, though, that may not be the case since they make more offers than they hope to get based on past offer/acceptance ratios.) but a lot of departments in ancient christianity or something related only take a student or two. but there's always a chance there'll be one more since they need to make more offers than spots (and won't retract an offer), and sometimes you can hope on the waitlist. last year I had a spot at Duke (ancient christianity) but had to turn it down, so somebody else got it!

shayna, congrats! i say go for it. (of course, i have no real ability to assess what it will mean/entail, but i take encouragement from the fact that a (realistic) option has opened up for you after a few discouraging rounds.) good luck!