pcato1

Social Thought student here – we usually get back to people in early/mid-February. Good luck everyone, I hope to meet some of you soon.

That nervousness is common (I still feel it and I'm on my way towards finishing my second year haha). I urge you not to feel uncomfortable with your professors, and asking them to engage with you towards the end of this year in the form of book/material recommendations is a good way to practice overcoming that discomfort. While I don't know about asking for material for specific classes (that can send the message that you're just trying to make it through their course), asking about preparatory materials or reading suggestions for a topic or subject sends the message that you hope to master various areas in your discipline and shows diligence. If a prof. is impatient, unresponsive, brusk, etc. to a question posed sincerely and in a forthright manner, then now you have a better picture of who they are before you even step into the department. Figuring out personalities is one of the biggest challenges I faced in my first year – again, because I was so afraid and uncomfortable that I kept from engaging and instead relied on accounts from others or remote observations. This sounds like a good way to get a firsthand perspective early on. That being said, remember that email doesn't always convey a person's personality perfectly (especially older people's haha); so if you receive a rude or unpleasant response, remember not to take it personally, while still keeping in mind this early preview of figures who will one day be your colleagues.

Hi Thorongil. I applied to/got into Northwestern recently and I can tell you I only have knowledge of one language (Latin) and it isn't relevant to the project/topic of study I proposed in my SOP. The one caveat is that Northwestern's subsection on religious thought is theological, so you must keep this in mind when applying/considering the school. Christine Helmer is an amazing/renown scholar (they're doing a panel solely on her latest book at this American Academy of Religion conference) but she's primarily an expert in theology and Schleiermacher. While they certainly welcomed my interest in pursuing non-Christian topics/figures I certasinly took note of this. All in all I'd give them a shot yet keep this in mind. The school also seems to embrace work between departments so if there is someone in the philosophy department with whom you would also like to study, NU would be a good place for you.

Hey Tsgriffey, Here's one of them: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/31/study-finds-phds-who-write-interdisciplinary-dissertations-earn-less I also just saw stuff posted around GradCafe and such.

My (Lucky/Good?) Problem/Difficult Choice: I migrated to Religious Studies as a discipline as far back as undergrad because philosophy didn't engage the study of ideas in the holistic, interdisciplinary manner that I thought it should, and RS seemed to allow that. After deciding to take a year off from undergrad I applied this past application season with hopes of finding a program somewhere that would appreciate my project and allow me to tackle the topic using multiple methodologies. I ended up being 6/13, and though all look to be good offers I'm stuck between two: Program #1 - Interdisciplinary Program Pros Long time dream school Would give me access to a network of schools/scholars/libraries/resources in the area that all pertain to my interests Highly Prestigious/Known Worldwide Large school with great diversity Cons Long Time to Completion (one guy I know there was there for a decade!) COLD Stipend is much less than Program #2 (yet still enough to cover cost of living Program #2 - Phil. of Religion Program Pros Closer to home (I'm still young and will miss my mom haha) Offering me their "most prestigious" internal fellowship with much larger stipend than Program #1 At the moment is a PERFECT Fit for the project I proposed in my SOP (although I know my interests will shift over time) Cons Might not allow for the same level of interdisciplinarity as Program #1 (this is a BIG concern for me) School is known for it's excellence in Undergrad preparation and its within the past decade and a half or so that it's really begun investing in graduate education (Note: that the Rel. Studies program is top of NRC regardless) Lack of Diversity Questions I've read in some articles that students from Interdisciplinary programs have trouble getting placed because they can't market themselves as being suitable from a specific discipline/department. Is this true? Do Internal Fellowships carry weight outside of the institution or are they just used lure applicants away from rival programs? I'll be visiting both of these programs within the next few weeks – are there any questions I should ask that might help me sort out the choices better? I have been really humbled by the whole experience – I know this is a "good" problem to have, and I really don't mean to sound unappreciative – this is all just very overwhelming to me: I'm only 24, no one in my family or family's friends have pursued a career in Academia, and the messages I'm hearing have left me all the more confused. I've also received good offers from other programs and would like to make my decision ASAP so that my offers may be passed on to other deserving applicants. Thanks a lot!

So I know Grad Cafe already has a section devoted entirely to decisions, but if one goes and looks s/he'll find a long list of threads/topics filled with people asking whether they should choose Mechanical Engineering Program X or. Engineering Program Y, or wondering how to get U. of X's English Department to increase their stipend, and so on. I thought it might be helpful (now that most decisions are out). For us to start a forum dedicated to decisions within our own field so that the help/advice given is more pertinent/relevant. I know I could certainly use help/advice (see below) now that I've heard back from all 13 of my programs and am down to choosing amongst the few I got into....

Has anyone heard back from Princeton or Columbia yet?

Are you referring to Emory? Do you mean subdepartments? Because like doobiebrothers said, people on this forum were told that the decisions were being announced today

Did anyone else hear from/get into Brown? or is anyone on this forum currently attending?

I got in. I'll send you a personal message if you'd like.

My job leaves me with far too much time on my hands, and in between meetings I find myself switching between these forums and the results database. I saw that some people had heard back from UVA but mostly because they received emails from their POIs. I'm just trying to figure when (or even if) I should expect to hear from them. I applied to the Theology, Ethics, and Culture subdiscipline. Thanks!

As I've already applied to most of my programs and am now simply waiting to hear back I guss my central concern is prestige – though information on "faculty support and investment in grad student formation," "methodology," "philosophical commitments," and "departmental collegiality" would be very helpful as well. I'm sorry for asking such a broad question, but right after I got my first acceptance I turned back into a cynic and began to worry about the program's prestige and such, even though I knew it to be a great fit (I also still need to hear back from the other 12 schools I applied to haha). Thanks a lot!

Oh of course1 I don't know why I left that out: 19th-20th continental philosophy of religion/religious thought/theology

Hi Everyone, As people start to hear back (or begin preparing for Fall 2016 applications), I was wondering if anyone knew of resources regarding or had general knowledge of rankings for religious studies programs - whether overall, by discipline, degree, etc. I know religious studies is a very diverse/complex field of study, but I know that if/when I narrow down my list of choices rankings will have to play some role, but I haven't found a place to turn. I found the following websites from NRC but they are old (one is from 1995! - it just now hit me that that was 20 years ago!), and I'd love any help with this aspect going forward. Thanks a lot!

Northwestern's results are out - check your ApplyWeb account to see them

No! I was getting worried, especially after seeing the numerous results from HB and NT....the problem is it looks as though I have a big commitment on the 7th. But I don't even know if I'll get an invite, especially if everyone seems to have heard back

Here's some data the dean of the school provided for me when I met with her last summer: UChicago Admissions Info (Based on Interview with Dean Owens) Average GPA: 3.5-3.6 Funding for MA 2 Fellowships with stipend 30% of Tuition 4-5 full awards Test Scores: Verbal: 160 verbal minimum Analytic Writing: 5.5-6 minimum 200 Applicants for PhD - 20 or 21 accepted Looking for unique project Want to have questions in mind, not just a body of knowledge to comprehend School has good disability support Flexible Creative with resources Has opportunities to take language FLAS awards Possible summer funding Statement of Purpose MUST ARTICULATE QUESTIONS Point out faculty with whom you would like to work Note the methodological approaches of these scholars and why it is a good fit Harvard and Yale give more money

What degree? PhD, MA What area? Philosophy of Religion, Religious Thought, Interdisciplinary Programs Do you know where? UChicago (MA), Brown, Stanford (Modern Thought & Literature - Potentially Religion), Princeton, Emory, UVA, Yale, Columbia, BU, Northwestern, Berkeley (Rhetoric), UC Santa Cruz (History of Consciousness), UCSB What have you already done to prepare? CV, Identified Recommenders, survived undergrad What are you working on now? Preparing for the GRE; Reducing my Senior Thesis into a readable writing sample; stressing over my statement of purpose And what else do you need to do between now and September when the application cycles actually open up? Identify programs truly amenable to interdisciplinary work (I could really use help on this one!!) -- Ideally I'd like to find a program that would support an interdisciplinary study of concepts of human interrelatedness (especially those involving notions of care, love, and regard). Dostoevsky came up with a highly original philosophy of ethical love/regard and aspects of that theory have been picked up by a wide variety of thinkers since his death (Baldwin, Sartre, Levinas, Camus, Wright, etc.) and I'd like to study this tradition and some of its implications (Judith Butler did something similar with Hegel on her dissertation and first book, Subjects of Desire). Obviously I know my interests will change/adapt but religion on the undergraduate level allowed me to approach such an interdisciplinary topic and I appreciate its methodologies, I just worry about finding a similar program as a graduate student.