LateAntique

Good luck to everyone who interviewed. You should all be hearing soon. I think all the committees have met at this point.

As I've been told by various professors, admissions committees like to see a story like yours. The person who makes all As at Harvard is less exciting than the person who was a train wreck their first year(s) and then managed to turn it on and do some good work. You've proven you can do that. It's a good story. It works to your advantage. It shows a trajectory toward success.

Just to second (or third) what has been said: There will be one interview weekend for everyone. You will show up and have a little information meeting about the dept. You will go on interviews throughout the day (the number will vary between subfields and persons) and you will eat lunch. This is a true interview weekend in that the department invites more people than it will accept (so don't think of it as a wine-and-dine weekend as it is at some other institutions). You'll go to dinner that night, then over to the Jesuit house for a big party with the other interviewees and some professors. The next day is more information, tours around campus, and flying back out. I'm happy to answer specific questions about the weekend if people want to message me.

Faculty are still looking over applications. Expect contacts for the interview weekend to happen around the beginning of February. I think it's typically done right after the superbowl.

The question would be: why? I would apply to that MA program as a back-up in case you don't get into Duke/Yale/Harvard/Notre Dame/Chicago/BC/wherever you want to go. Even then, you sort of have to wonder what the M.A. would do for you educationally. Would it give you time to work on language ability? Your GPA is very good, so it's not as though you would need this program to smooth that over. If it were me - and take this with a grain of salt - I would not apply to the MA there at WKU. It seems like a waste of time. You will most likely get into one of the better programs so long as your GRE comes through and you have good letters of rec.

I went to a big, though not particularly prestigious state school for my undergraduate. I got into ND for the MA and then remained here for the Ph.D. I think what matters most is what sort of work you do in your M* program.

I know lots of people who did not have 4.0s who got admitted to ND's program. As was said, it's not purely a numbers game. It's a matter of how you fit. I've heard that the most important things here are your statement of purpose and your letters of recommendation. Is someone going to get admitted here with a 2.0? Unlikely. But programs tend to look at the whole package. That said, having a 3.8/3.9 is very, very good. On the GPA front, you have nothing to worry about.

It's always nice to be able to match a face/name with an application. As therewillbeluke (great name, by the way) mentioned, you want to email them with a question, either about the program, their work, "what sorts of qualities do students who do the best in your program have?", etc. It's nice to be able to start a conversation, but it's a little late in the game for an extended email back and forth. Making some sort of contact will probably be a benefit, even at this point.

Notre Dame's "History of Christianity" track is within the Theology department. HC requires that you have a major period (early/medieval/early modern/modern) and a minor period as well as an 'external' minor (meaning another track in Theology, like systematics). If you came to ND, you could do HC with a minor in systematics and do what you want.

Not to be self-promoting, but I've written a little post on my blog with some advice on applying to History of Christianity/Patristics programs. There's a definite ND slant since it's the only school I know, but I think it could be beneficial generally as well. You can find the post here.

This is bologna, to put it simply. The Theology department is an incredibly ecumenical place. I have numerous Protestant friends who feel quite happy at Notre Dame. The department itself has loads of non-Catholic professors (Protestants, Jews, etc). I don't know when your Bishop did his Ph.D there, but his experience is exactly the opposite of everyone I've ever heard of at Notre Dame in recent years.

The cheap part is the Ph.D. What you need to do is find some way to do the very best you can in your undergrad so that you can get into one of the top M* programs and go on to a Ph.D from there. The best programs are going to be fully funded. Secondly, I don't know of any program where you can just do general "religious studies" and study everything. That sort of training works well in an undergraduate model, not so well in a doctoral program. You will have to specialize within a tradition and then specialize within that. Any program you could do online would not get you hired anywhere. In an environment where people from top schools are flooding the market, one who has a Ph.D from an online program would obviously stand no chance of being hired.

I have friends who were called on Friday for the MTS at ND and accepted. So they have begun calling people.

I don't know. There are more people admitted to CJA and several have other offers that they are weighing, so I imagine the folks waiting on CJA decisions are in a different position.

If you weren't invited to the interview weekend, I wouldn't hold your breath. I know someone on the waitlist who was at the weekend and if they get in, they will take the offer. As there are only two slots in HC this year and I'm certainly taking one, there won't be any need for them to go to a waitlist beyond those whom they interviewed.