menge
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Posts posted by menge
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20 minutes ago, Kingoftherats said:
If I get one more phone call from a telemarketer or wrong number, i'm putting my phone in the oven. I think i've had about twenty in the last two weeks.
Which is that much more painful when the area code maps onto the location of a top-choice institution of yours...
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Congrats to you both @turktheman and @HBgrad2017!
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11 hours ago, Averroes MD said:
I applied to Yale in Religion (Islamic Studies) and did not read anything about interviews being a part of the process. (However, I did have an informal phone interview with the POI before submitting my application.) Is an interview a part of the process for the Religion PhD at Yale? What about Religion and NELC at Harvard? I thought they didn't do interviews.
Damn it, I've had radio silence from all five programs I've applied to. This probably means I'm toast.
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.
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1 hour ago, turktheman said:
Thanks for the update
Yale has already conducted NT interviews this week. 3 candidates were from Yale out of X amount of applicants interviewed. Also, my understanding is that interviews are a necessary part of the process if you are to be admitted.
Any idea if this is true of the Am. Rel. Hist. subfield too?
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3 hours ago, xypathos said:3 hours ago, xypathos said:
Multiple M* degress is becoming more and more common, certainly not an expectation but 2-3 Masters no longer seems to raise the eyebrows that it use to.
I was rejected from Villanova (PhD) but accepted into their MTS program. The Director noted in his email that given my background, I would certainly be given some, if not full, funding. He suggested I also apply for their Campus Ministry internship for M* students where they work part-time in campus ministry and in return: full tuition grant, room and board on campus, and a modest stipend. I subsidized most of my original M.A. by being a supply pastor for local Episcopal churches and working some on-call for the local hospice organization.
My point being, if there's a will - you can make it work.
Villanova may happen, I don't know but its been relatively complete radio silence for the other schools I applied to. I don't like the idea of doing another Masters but I want to be a theology professor so I'll jump through the hoops for it, as long as I'm not incurring debt to do it.
FWIW I'll be one of those with multiple master's. Both positives and negatives to this, IMO.
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19 minutes ago, NT PhD ... Hopefully said:
Hey, thank you "wantingtogetinsomewhere" and "menge." I appreciate your responses. It's good to vent right, lol, and this is mildly cathartic. I would add that I am not at a Southern seminary, rather a divinity school at a Baptist "associated" university, though most of my professors are "pre-fall" Southern Seminary.
As to SMU, one of our MA/MDiv students got in there last year and is focusing on the Gospel of Mark. As for Baylor, many of the professors there are Southern trained, and Baylor is a Baptist school, lol. But I know they draw from many traditions. My mentor in seminary recieved his PhD under Parsons not too long ago. We recently got another OT graduate from Baylor, both of these got their MDiv from Gordon-Conwell. I hate the stigma that just because one is a Baptist, one is a uber-conservative fundy. My view is that being a Baptist makes me free from any doctrinal fundamentalism. I know UNC was a stretch, I was hoping for the MA-PhD track. I also realize Emory was a stretch, but what the hay.
I thought about U.K., but I used up my GI Bill getting a second undergrad and MDiv. Good advice though. I don't think my wife would let me drag us to Scotland, lol.
Does no no one have any thoughts on Fuller, Asbury, or Trinity??? One thing I have going for me is a rather large pension from the VA (for very nearly getting my ass blown off in Baghdad). Plus my wife has a full time job anywhere in the continental US, as she is a computer programmer and can work remotely (she has already been assured of keeping her current position). Therefore, I am in a better financial position than many of you whipper snappers, lol.
Thanks again for your responses. Good luck to all!!!
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.
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12 hours ago, NT PhD ... Hopefully said:
I also have been a long time lurker. I have failed to post previously because most applicants on this sight seem so much more estimable than I.
MDiv 'er (3.88) at a medium sized, moderately conservative, Baptist University in the south. So - so GRE (162/146/4.5; I know ... the math is embarrassing). Decent languages though, 18 hours Greek, 9 hours Hebrew, 4.0. Applied to NT PhD programs this season, of which I am not confident of acceptance: Baylor; SMU; Emory; Chapel Hill; Fuller; Asbury; Trinity Evangelical.
Distinguished (moderately so) military record, including two years in Iraq. Don't know if that helps me or hurts me though. Lol.
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!
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3 hours ago, striped said:
Hey all! Haven't been around in a while, but I've been keeping up with this board specifically as I wait for responses. I'm also pretty bummed that I haven't received an interview request from MIT HASTS program. It is the absolute fit-of-fits for my project and I spent a lot of time reading most of the published works of the professor who would be such a wonderful POI. I even had some contact back from her when I emailed her- while it was short, she did encourage me to apply and that my project sounded "fascinating". It was something, right?
But after reading through the different discussions in the last few weeks on this thread, I feel so dumb for applying for a second round of PhD programs, especially to top programs. It seems like everyone here is currently enrolled in MA programs and many are getting rejections for PhD apps.
I don't have an MA and I feel like I've had a lot of advice from people on this forum and one of my LORs that you don't need an MA or publications to be admitted to PhD programs. A lot of schools don't even have MA programs themselves- so I'm really confused about the expectation these schools have. If most of their more qualified applicants already have MAs, but they themselves don't even offer an MA program, do they expect students to achieve MAs from lesser-ranked or state schools? I feel like that is my only option at this point- to spend upwards of 60-80k getting an MA from my regional state school (SDSU) and then reapply to PhD programs after. But people have advised against that, too.
I know that many of these programs offer admission to the PhD program and allow you to attain your MA along the way, which is what I was counting on, but now I just feel really ignorant about what they actually expect in terms of students who they are seriously considering admitting.
I did apply to one MA program, but I am not keeping my hopes up. I feel so underqualified. How does one get published? How do you get invited to conferences? How does one get in the academic community when all they have is a bachelor's degree like myself, held one or more full time jobs while in school, and has no conferences/publications to show?
I don't mean to bring anyone down. I'm just really lost and disappointed. I wish I had a better idea of the expectations.
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.
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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?
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37 minutes ago, museum_geek said:
Didn't Michigan accidentally send out acceptances to a bunch of people last year? I seem to remember everyone freaking out because they got accepted and then got a "sorry you're not actually accepted, our bad" email a couple hours later.
Yes, this is what I was referring too! I can't imagine experiencing this. Rejection is hard enough on its own.
35 minutes ago, Quickmick said:They have a really neat History/Anthro combo program (which I didn't apply to),
29 minutes ago, museum_geek said:Yeah that program looks pretty cool. I also considered applying for it since I'm in an interdisciplinary master's program and two of my committee members are in my school's History department, but I changed my mind at the last minute.
I ended up submitting to the sociocultural track, but mostly because I missed the Dec. 1 deadline for the Hist/Anthro combined program.
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33 minutes ago, EvelynD said:
MSU? I applied at this uni too, and haven't gotten any news. You are not the only one!
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.
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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!
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7 minutes ago, Averroes MD said:
When are we expected to hear back? Anyone know? What about for Oxford and Cambridge? And how about U.S. schools like Harvard? Is it really March or April?
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.
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1 hour ago, xypathos said:
It's a mutual concern for most of us and its has been noted in the History and Philosophy sections as well, participation in the forums has dropped off significantly.
On the flip though, the subreddit for Graduate School is very active, there's a subreddit for theology, and a separate one for Religious Studies but the activeness of the last fluctuates significantly. I'm not particularly active or aware in any others so I can't say much more.
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.
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1 hour ago, OneLastHope said:
I have done a couple of informal conversation with faculty at a school - I don't know if they were official interviews but they felt interview-like. I think for all intensive purposes they were interviews but who knows for sure. Either way I wasn't sure I should post them in the results. Basically, since I'm local they had me come in and chat with the chair and a potential POI because they thought my app should go through a different area rather than what's originally on my application, and they wanted to see if I was amenable to it. All this seems kind of unusual.
Anyways, my question is - would it be over the top or too much to send emails to them to thank them for their time, for the conversations, etc? Or is that over kill and I should just wait it out like everyone else?
I just feel a little antsy and crazy waiting...
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.
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12 hours ago, KnightGeorge said:
Congratulations! I'm just hoping they have a few more interviews to send out! Best of luck to you.
You and I both. Or at least that interviews for different subfields are conducted later!
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43 minutes ago, axiomness said:
RE Questions about Marquette: Can confirm they are real, I have a Skype interview scheduled next Monday. Granting a short e-mail exchange with the guy who set it up, it doesn't seem to be a 'preliminary' interview. I also had one with Northwestern yesterday.
Congrats!
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8 minutes ago, KnightGeorge said:
Speaking of interviews, anyone have some advice for some of the large-scale interview weekends? Is there a thread for such discussions?
Check out the threads under this sub-forum: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/84-interviews-and-visits/
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Congrats to those receiving the Indiana and Baylor interviews! Nice to see some activity pick up around here.
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3 minutes ago, xypathos said:
It's certainly possible as you note @menge, that it could just be an outlier and a really strong candidate. They've had the same Director for the last four years so I don't expect much change in process but as we all know, this process is arbitrary.
I'll defer to your knowledge of their process. I'm not applying there and really know nothing about the way they do things!
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4 minutes ago, xypathos said:
Faculty I spoke to when applying said interviews wouldn't happen before the first week of February at the earliest, and the results page shows that's the usual time frame so yea, I'm suspicious of the request.
With that faculty input, it definitely is more suspicious. Then I remember how random and arbitrary much of this process is...
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1 hour ago, KnightGeorge said:
Anyone have word on the "interview with Marquette" result posted in the last day or two? Seems suspect...
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.
PhD Applications Fall '17 Season
in Religion
Posted
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.