therealhogwarts

Second that. Well done.

Although I will try and address some of your queries to the best of my abilities, I think I will start by saying personal discouragement has no place in this field. Very few, perhaps a select 2-3%, have failed to experience rejection at some level in the admissions process. To be honest, even if you have the best statistics (i.e. GPA, GRE scores, publications, recommendation letters) you could still be rejected on a rather whimsical note (i.e. faculty members could say they didn't feel a connection with you). Personally, I applied to five PhD programs last year and was rejected from all of them. I then had to pay out-of-pocket to undertake a second MA out of country at the University of Oxford (still currently there). This application cycle I was rejected to 80% of the schools I applied to! But the rewards are there! I got accepted for the DPhil at Oxford and have a very high chance of being admitted off of the wait list at Emory. I am not going to be the one to tell you that the admissions process is easy. It gets much more difficult from the MA to the PhD. Nonetheless, if you really see this as a potential career choice, you should work at it. Perhaps get in contact with faculty members early on at prospective schools and work on improving GRE scores. Perhaps do some independent research and write an article to be published. These things can considerably help your candidacy for graduate schools. In the end, it is a tough process, as anyone can attest. But if this is what you are passionate about, it is definitely worth striving for. Best of luck!

Quite an accomplishment in itself. At the same time, one of my friends was waitlisted there last year and just couldn't get a spot. Hopefully someone chooses to go elsewhere.

Hanserific, I think you posted on the wrong thread. This is last year's thread for PhD applications in Religion.

Barbara Boles

I asked for my status. Got a reply in five minutes.

No worries bud. So were 149 others!

Are any other offers being made by DRTS at BU? While I admit I don't have a great chance of being admitted there, it is the final potential program I have yet to hear from. Still holding out hope for Emory! I feel that Harvard and Columbia are being very snobbish in refusing to release results that have long been made. Release them! Then maybe people on waitlists can start being admitted. Sorry for the rant...

Emory just accepted someone off the waitlist...really hope some more offers trickle out. Anyone here want to claim the acceptance?

If anyone is still waiting for Emory, PM me. I received some updates from my POI.

Not sure how the programs match up, but having lived in California my whole life, I can tell you that the weather at UCLA will be unmatched elsewhere. Far better than living in the cold of Michigan!

Being patient while on the waiting list is tough! Feel like emailing my POI at Emory constantly to remind her of my continuing interest in the program.

Ah! Makes sense. Knew I should have taken German instead of French. I initially thought he was alluding to a refined German sense of grammatical correctness. Actually, this came to mind:

I.E. Poor grammar?

I was the one that posted wait list news coming around mid-March or April from Emory. I was told that by my subfield chair. For the record, it seems 16-18 offers are made. If you are on the wait list, do not give up hope as I have heard that some will not be taking up offers from Emory. I sure hope I get in soon.

derew, Have you had success this cycle? I only really have two choices and one is a wait list. How has everyone else done?

I am sure anyone can email Harvard at this point and find out the result. Otherwise results should be out online on the 13th.

A lot of rejections are rolling out from Emory. Anyone still awaiting a decision from there?

Somebody did mention earlier on that they had already been accepted into Brown. As this was a while ago, I assume acceptances have already been sent out. As for everyone that applied to UT Austin, I was just rejected. Lot of rejections the last few days....

I couldn't agree with this more. I also feel that I have very good overall stats, but the schools at which I was either wait listed or accepted were entirely because of fit. I made it a point to reach out to faculty members at these programs and emphasize that our research interests overlapped. In turn, these faculty members said they would put in a good word for me to the adcom.

Did anyone apply to UT Austin for Religious Studies or Asian Studies? I applied to Asian Studies and haven't heard anything at all. My online application status also just says "under review".

You should keep some hope then. I would definitely email. Maybe I am the only one, but I would rather know for sure rather than just wait even though decisions have been made.

Just for reference, I was invited to do an interview over Skype on February 1st. About a week later I was told I wasn't on the list of first-round admits and had been placed on the wait list. If you didn't interview, chances are quite low of acceptance.

Indeed. I was told by the chair of my course of study (WSAR) that I was pretty high on the overall waitlist. If you haven't heard, I would definitely email in.

Following along these lines, if anyone has been accepted at Emory and wants to go elsewhere, please let the adcom know ASAP so I can get off the wait list. Emory GDR is my dream program!