Macrina

While you certainly have some relevant background and interest, the reality is that the US system will not consider your honors year as anything equivalent to a first masters, and many successful applicants to doctoral programs have several relevant masters degrees. Given your GPA issues, as well as your Australian (therefore, relatively unknown here) institutions, you will almost certainly need to do a second masters to become competitive for phd applications. This isn't a bad thing as it will allow you to get your languages up and to become familiar with the American system and institutions. Good luck.

That is fantastic! Nice work, Paraclete! Can I suggest posting this as a separate thread and then we can ask for it to be pinned?

This question brought to you by yesterday's interest in learning coptic The info in there is pretty helpful and I would hate to see it disappear. Time for a pinned post? Or not?

so I actually came here to look for this information - it's very handy to have it all in one thread I'm afraid it's all going to disappear into the back pages of gradcafe; is there any way to get this pinned so we don't lose the info? would that even be helpful?

I have a few ideas and interests for a potential doctorate, and I think I know something about the direction I'm going in. But I need to narrow my focus and make it appealing to specific POIs. Any tips on how to do this most effectively? Are there specific questions I should be asking myself (or POIs) that will help? I'm in the humanities, specifically religious history.

Was this for religion/theology? Because the data collection that you describe is not a standard part of an academic degree in religion or theology, where masters thesis work is indeed done from start to finish over the course of a year, either your last year in a basic degree program or as a part of a yearlong advanced masters.

It really does! Thank you

Thanks. I've tried that, but i know of current publications that aren't showing up.

How do you figure out research interests of academics you've never met? I find that most of the websites and publications lists don't always seem to reflect current research so much as previous interests. Are there other places to look that will give more current info? And how did you pick out your POIs? I'm trying to broaden my field for applications next fall and it seems very overwhelming

That's standard practice in an advanced masters program. In my program, it's done as one of the courses in the spring semester, 50-75 pages of thesis, while taking 3 other classes.

Thanks, everyone. This particular course is taught by my POI who happens to already by my strongest recommendation. I think I'm going to do it, in part to further strengthen aspects of my rec/application, and in part to 'test out' teaching and academic work. They don't usually hire non-PhD students for these positions, so I think the fact that it's been offered is a positive thing.

Thanks for posting. Unfortunately, that's an engineering website and of very limited use for religion/theology applicants. We don't tend to use graphs in our SOPs

For biblical (Koine) Greek, Mounce is the text I'm familiar with. He has a website with plenty of free resources: https://www.teknia.com

I'm enrolled part-time in a program that is not funded (for anyone - it's not just that I didn't get funding) and I'm working part-time so that I don't incur any debt for school. The reason I'm doing this part time is primarily financial and I am look for ways to pay for courses. I just got offered a TAship for one course that is very relevant to my studies, taught by the person I hope to do doctoral work with in a couple of years, etc. I plan on doing it. ...and I just found out about another TA opportunity that, while less relevant academically, would still pay something toward my tuition So, how may hours per week does it take to TA a humanities course? And is it worth taking on two of them? I'll check in with POI/course #1 prof, but I rather suspect he'll tell me to concentrate on just one course and my own coursework. This would help to pay some of my ($$$$) tuition, and I could use the cash. WWYD?

Rejection is difficult - no matter how impersonal it may be, it always feels deeply personal and it's ok to be sad about it for a little while. I think you may be right that your educational background is what's holding you back. If I read your post correctly, you have several years at a community college and then some online credits from a regionally accredited institution. That's not a strong background for an academic masters program. I think it is less your actual grades than the places where you got them from. To succeed you will need to show that you can handle university level courses. I think you can do either of the following and dramatically increase your chances of admission: 1) take a few courses at a an actual known university in the area, or 2) apply for admission as a special student and take a graduate course or two at the university of colorado's religion department for non-degree purposes. 2 would be better but with only community college/online experience, there is a good chance you will not get in even as a special student. Honestly, you're competing against applicants with undergraduate degrees from prestigious and academically reputable institutions. Your background just isn't competitive. You can make it more competitive by taking a few courses from similar institutions but community college and regionally accredited online schools are not adequate preparation for grad school.

Thanks! Very helpful. I actually already have some solid teaching experience, but the prof who offered the TA position is my main reference, so I guess it can't hurt...

It looks like I might be working as a TA for one of the introductory MDiv theology courses next year. Has anyone else done this? Is it a good or helpful thing if I'm planning to apply to doctoral programs next fall? And if you've done it, how much does it pay? I think it does pay, but I'm not sure how much, or if it is a good idea/worth my time. At my institution, these spots mostly go to doctoral students, and I don't know any other masters students doing this, so I don't have anyone else to ask. Thanks for any answers.

I just read an article on apps designed to help with reading speed. Maybe try one of these? http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/03/03/spritz_spreeder_rsvp_technology_speed_reading_apps_are_amazing.html

...what you think worked and didn't work in your applications this year? I'm applying next year and would love to know what aspects of your applications/background/choices you think helped or hindered your chances this year. If it's not too soon, would you mind sharing? Thank you! And good luck to all those still waiting

http://eerdblurbs.tumblr.com/post/76341117861/we-couldnt-resist

I'm applying for PhD programs next fall and I'm already thinking about my SOP. When you wrote yours, were there specific things you did to prepare? Ways you worked on narrowing your focus and demonstrating fit? I know this isn't very clear, but I'm really trying to ask how you got started on your application, especially the writing sections. It all seems a bit overwhelming at this point, and I want to make sure that I think about and include the essentials.

This is a very incomplete answer (no time to respond fully now) but there is a difference between the academic study of religion and a confessional or faith-based study. Almost every university that offers humanities programs will have a department of religion. Divinity schools and seminaries will have more faith-based approaches. And some universities have both a center for the study of religion (academic) and a divinity school (confessional). A good public university program would be somewhere like UNC-CH. And a place like Duke has both a religion department and a divinity school. As for publications, they're the same as in the rest of the humanities (periodicals, books, conference proceedings etc) and funding varies widely by program.

What degree? PhD or ThD What area? Historical/early church, late antique Christianity, etc Do you know where? Not sure yet. For various reasons, Duke is my #1 choice, but I need to come up with a few more options What have you already done to prepare? Working on writing sample (draft#1 is done), looked at the app and started thinking about what I need to do. What are you working on now? gre prep, doing well in current courses And what else do you need to do between now and September when the application cycles actually open up? Ugh. Lots. Research more places, improve languages, write gre, work on statement.

Who's planning for applications NEXT year? What degree? What area? Do you know where? What have you already done to prepare? What are you working on now? And what else do you need to do between now and September when the application cycles actually open up?

The MDiv is not a difficult program to get admitted to. I'm sure you'll be fine. That being said, your anxiety and "obsessing" seems to be a bit more than is typical. Is there someone you can talk to about that? Or coping mechanisms that might help? Exercise, more sleep, etc? Good luck with your application and with the wait.