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Especially difficult when you haven't heard about interviews/visits, and you know they have gone out by now. I'm figuring presumed rejections from N'western, Princeton, Columbia, and Yale. Only a few more weeks and this will *hopefully* be over.

Which is that much more painful when the area code maps onto the location of a top-choice institution of yours...

Congrats to you both @turktheman and @HBgrad2017!

I also applied to Yale U. Religion (Am. Rel. Hist.), and also didn't read about interviews. FWIW, I've yet to hear from any of the 8 RS programs I applied to either. It's still early (or so I'm telling myself). Edit: FWIW, I found this article which indicates interviews are required for all Yale Grad College departments: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/01/11/grad-school-divided-over-interviews/ Its from 2012 though, so who knows if the policy is still in effect.

Any idea if this is true of the Am. Rel. Hist. subfield too?

FWIW I'll be one of those with multiple master's. Both positives and negatives to this, IMO.

I don't know anything about Asbury, and little about Fuller, though I know Fuller MA/MDiv grads who have done well in PhD admissions. I know someone at TEDS who did receive a good funding package, but there are very few of those. I know absolutely nothing about the placement rate of these schools... hopefully some others can chyme in with more helpful info. If those schools are successfully placing candidates at places you would like to teach, and the finances work out, seems like they could be a good fit for you. Again, I think it is all about what (and where) you hope to get out of your PhD.

Based on the range of programs, it seems like you will probably land an acceptance somewhere, though funding will probably be the biggest hurdle as @Wantingtogetinsomewhere mentioned. I'm not in Bib. Studies, but where you go very much does determine where you can end up — which can either be a positive or negative, which I think @Wantingtogetinsomewhere also nicely explained. So, depending on your particular goals, any of these institutions may serve you fine. If you end up wanting to re-apply and aim for a Baylor or UNC, you might think about a ThM, an MA in Classics, or another 2nd masters from a school with some more name recognition. Good luck!

Others can (and have) probably more helpfully answered your questions about getting a funded MA in Anthro. I'll echo, that can be a good option: I'm finishing up a funded MA in Religion at a state university, and it has been a great way to get back in the game even though I had a 6 year break between undergrad and grad. Also, depending on your interests, you might consider an MA in a better funded cognate discipline. Of course, it really depends on your interests. As for publications and conferences: look at journals and calls for papers, find something you want to submit to, and then go for it. I've presented at multiple conferences in the US as well as one in Europe—and received funding from my graduate college and department for most of these expenses. A lot of smaller conferences especially are easier to get accepted to, and they can be great lower pressure venues to begin presenting at.

Good to see several americanists on here this season. Usually it seems like most are Theo or Bib Studies. Where all did you end up applying @mattieb, @FlyPiper, & @OneLastHope?

Yes, this is what I was referring too! I can't imagine experiencing this. Rejection is hard enough on its own. I ended up submitting to the sociocultural track, but mostly because I missed the Dec. 1 deadline for the Hist/Anthro combined program.

I applied to UM actually, not MSU. I was interested in MSU geographically, but didn't feel I would be a good fit for their department, so I decided to save myself the time and money and not apply.

Hi all- I mostly lurk on this board as the only Anthro program I applied to was Michigan. I'm wondering when decisions are usually expected from them? Based on the results page it looks like last year was an admissions disaster. Good luck everyone, keep your heads up!

According to my own obsessive research on the results page, a good number of US programs could start posting decisions in Feb. Northwestern for example seems to begin notifications pretty early. Harvard looks like it usually posts the first round in mid to late Feb. No idea about UK schools, as I haven't applied to any.

The discussions in History and Philosophy are worth reading, and do provide some possible explanations. Anecdotally, my department chair indicated that graduate applications for last season were down, and that this was a trend that he confirmed was also the case at several other departments. It is possible that there simply aren't as many applicants. Also relevant is that with about 10 yrs of data archived, there is less need for the forum function here on GC. As for why results aren't being posted, I'm not sure.

I agree with @xypathos definitely send the follow-up e-mails. I don't think thanking someone is ever "over the top" and shows that you are a considerate individual. And I can commiserate on feeling antsy. At least you've had some interviews/responses. I'm attempting to throw myself into reading for comps at the end of the semester, but it's not really working.

You and I both. Or at least that interviews for different subfields are conducted later!

Congrats!

Check out the threads under this sub-forum: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/84-interviews-and-visits/

Congrats to those receiving the Indiana and Baylor interviews! Nice to see some activity pick up around here.

That moment you receive an e-mail from a department to which you applied... and it turns out to be a survey about the application process. What cruel, cruel timing.

Congrats on the first news of the season! Don't mind all of us paranoid and crotchety souls.

I'll defer to your knowledge of their process. I'm not applying there and really know nothing about the way they do things!

With that faculty input, it definitely is more suspicious. Then I remember how random and arbitrary much of this process is...

Near as I can tell, past Marquette interviews have occurred the first week in Feb., so it does seem a little early. But, depending on if there is a new admissions coordinator, or any other host of possible changes, it could be legit. 2-3 weeks early seems in the real of reasonable possibility, especially if its a particularly strong candidate that they want to try and land.