angel_kaye13

I agree that the subject test is stupid, pointless, and [insert synonym here]. However, at the risk of sounding like a defender of ETS (I assure you I'm not!), the problem is more with programs that still require the subject test. There are no doubt some good reasons for this. I suspect that most of the places that require the subject test are routinely inundated with applications, and the subject test just adds one more layer of "weeding" to the process. In other words, if 400 people wanted to apply to a certain tippy-top-tier institution, having a subject test requirement might dissuade 100 or so of those people (i.e., those who might apply on a whim...like "hey, maybe I can get into Harvard, hyuk hyuk"). There has been a steady decline in recent years of programs requiring the test, but as it stands, if some of your best "fit" programs have the lit test as a requirement, you can't really boycott ETS without effectively boycotting yourself, unfortunately.

In the US the full time "academics" i.e. people who do teaching and research are generally all referred to as professor, which is a job title. In terms of seniority it goes "Assistant", "Associate" and "Professor". Generally assistant profs are on the tenure track, but not yet tenured. This means they are essentially being tested for 4-6 years. Assuming they make suitable progress then they are given tenure (giving them all the academic freedom they need without the worry of being fired, say ). Along with tenure usually comes the promotion to Associate Professor.

There are various merits and demerits of going with an assistant (untenured) vs a tenured prof. My experience has been that the good assistant profs, fresh out of graduate school or postdoc, are full of interesting and relevant research ideas and are willing to help you succeed in your research, they can be quite pushy, which is good. Some tenured profs are like this too, but less so. Joining an assistant prof who is 3.5 years in to their research is a slight gamble, because in 2 more years they may not gain tenure. Although usually they would know this themselves and so would probably not take on any new students.

Hope that helps?!

PS For your Stanford professor, I'm sure she gets a lot of email asking about the application process. Some profs have time to respond, but many do not. I wouldn't take it personally.

If it is important that you study the New Testament from an Evangelical perspective, I recommend you apply to schools where this is the stated nature of the program. If you're comfortable with writing papers that do not appeal to inerrancy or some other Evangelical belief, you could attend some of the places you listed. Places like Duke, Vanderbilt, etc, are going to have professors who are Christians of some stripe, but this will not necessarily be the underlying basis of their methodology. You ought to look into programs at places like Fuller, Dallas Theological, Wheaton, New Orleans Baptist, etc. Those places are quite comfortable with people doing NT scholarship within the bounds of Evangelicalism. Those schools will also have more currency in the circles in which you would likely teach.

Just an update. This year Emory said
they got over 200 apps, will interview 50 for 18 spots.

As an example, (but maybe not the rule) a neuroscience website, "Historically, we receive ~140 applications of which we invite 25-30 applicants for interviews, we accept 60-70% of those we interview, and we are accepted by 50-60% of those we accept."
 
For whatever that is worth.
 

Hey,

I know someone on an admissions committee for an excellent neuroscience program. They say the chances of acceptance once you have an interview are around 75-80%.

GL

Yours isn't so uncommon a scenario, Navymom. Which might not be entirely consoling, though at least maybe it'll be comforting to you to know that you're not alone. :-) It's a common cry, especially (I think) among us females, who have the best-friends of grade school, high school, etc.

I don't have any magical answer for it. I'm a social butterfly, of sorts, but I don't really care for the Meetups I've went to, though they're fine enough for what they are. I think it's just a season-of-life thing that we all have to come to terms with: some people will come into our lives forever, some will be for just a moment. I'm still pretty young, so I don't have the "whole picture" view yet. But I have had the bad-breakup with a friend that was like what you described, and only recently came to terms with letting it go. I still have my 2 best girl friends from uni. years, so that gets me through the hard times. But I live in a city that I've yet to make quality friends like I've always been able to before, albeit on a lesser level than my ladies from college. I've heard married life is like that, having less and less personal friends, especially once you have kids (I don't yet), but both my husband and I are rather young and social, so we at least can keep married acquaintances. Though my mother has one or two close friends that's she's made, post-marriage and raising 6 young wild things! ;-)
 
All this rambling to say: if you're looking for a soul-mate girl friend, it's probably going to take some time, and there's the chance that relationships will come and go; things change all the time, unfortunately. But I doubt you'll be friendless forever. I've had friends who graduated and found it difficult to find a peer community like in college, and I've had others who have fit right into their post-graduate years. I myself went overseas and became best friends with a young lady in her 40s, and we're still friends, even though I'm "home" and she's in China. It's probably just one of those "seasons." It sucks, it's not comfortable, and no one likes it. But it happens to us all. You don't strike me as the kind of person that won't be unreceptive to possible new friendships, so I would just try to enjoy the other aspects of your life; relationships will happen. Focusing on the "other" may not be as special or desirous as finding a heart-mate friend. But, then, that kind of friendship wouldn't be so special for the having, if it came too readily or often. I suspect that kind of friend will come around where you least expect it. I certainly never expected to find another best friend overseas! Do try not to be too sad. You're definitely not alone in your longing. I hope you do find that special friend, sooner rather than later. Goodness knows many of us girls just need that good, social outlet! *^^*

Generic emails for all!
 
Seriously though, I know you guys want to know as soon as possible so I send generic emails as soon as the committee makes a decision. Top candidates usually get a personal email from someone in the Department. If they're funded they'll get an offer letter emailed to them as well.

I'm with Cloud--enrolling in a program that starts here in about three weeks. I applied to three of the places you're looking at (and was ultimately unsuccessful), but I know there's a Saint Louis person around here somewhere who's starting this year. 
 
I would recommend taking a look at UNM--we have a whole separate degree for Medievalists. 

You might also want to check out UT-Austin's program if you haven't already (http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/english/graduate-program/fields/medieval.php); they have 5 tenured medievalists on faculty in the English department and also have several outstanding early modern scholars, too. In my cohort, there are 3 of us who applied as/declared medieval literary studies as our primary area of focus. 

Felibus, it is great to have another medievalist applying at the same time, and I'm sure there'll be more! And: pshaw. It sounds like your preparations are just fine!
 
I know your question was addressed to Cloud and Arthurian (as it should be, given their past success in admissions!), but I know a lot about the program at Toronto--I've had four profs (two Anglo-Saxonists, a Classicist who works on medieval reception history, and a Middle English guy, two of whom are letter writers for my app) who are products of their Medieval Studies program and have spoken about it w/ me in detail, I've researched it a ton, and it's kind of my dream program, even though I probably won't be applying there for financial reasons (cue tiny, tiny violins). I can't give you advice as to whether or not they take applicants w/ less Latin coursework or whether or not you should apply (I will give it to you anyway, though, and spoiler alert: I think you should), but I can tell you what I know about the program and its language reqs.
 
Which Ph.D. are you looking at--Medieval Studies or English?
 
The Medieval Studies program does place a huge emphasis on Latinity. As I'm sure you're aware, Toronto's Medieval Latin test is kind of the 'industry standard' that a lot of other schools use, and the Ph.D. program requires the passage of their Level One Latin exam for registration (seriously--you show up and are given a test, two hours translation w/ no dictionary, in September, and if you don't pass it, that's it) and requires you to complete the Level Two exam as quickly as possible. The Classicist told me that he'd had MA students (in Latin!) who were comfortable w/ their linguistic skills (this is at a big R1 state university with a pretty strong Classics program) struggle to make it. For shits and giggles and edification, here are past tests. 
 
Because of this languages are, I hear, really a factor in admissions (much as in Notre Dame's MS program). But even your advisor's "rarely" is not "never," and pace her you do have some Latin (and time to acquire more), and it's an amazing program, so why the hell not apply? I know you're done w/ your MA program, but any chance you could take more Latin courses this year (or even do more self tuition--there are some great Medieval Latin resources out there) and work a paragraph into your SOP about taking steps to increase your linguistic preparation? Do you have any other relevant languages that you could point up in your SOP, as well? Do you do any work in your writing sample w/ Latin sources in translation that you could shift back into Latin (or your own translations) to show your facility working with the language? A few footnotes you could add that quibble with a translation on some minor philological point? 
 
If you're considering the English Ph.D., though, then obviously the Centre for Medieval Studies' reqs above aren't an issue! If you aren't considering the English program, I'd encourage you to; one of my profs encouraged I apply to both programs simultaneously, since the English Ph.D. can act as sort of a 'back door' into the resources of Toronto's CMS--you can still take the Centre's classes, be a part of a vibrant community of medieval scholars, etc etc etc. The English program places less of an emphasis on languages--no scary tests to sit before you sign up for classes!
 
Another thing to consider is period. I can't speak to this directly in relationship to Toronto, but I know generally that there is a strong difference in language background required depending on whether you work with OE or ME literatures. All the Anglo-Saxonists profs I've had say they don't accept anyone w/o at least two years of Latin; my university (no Toronto, admittedly, but which has a very strong group of medievalists--six tenured faculty, about 3-4 medievalists in the incoming grad school cohorts the past few years) regularly accepts people to work on Middle English texts whose Latin is either in its infancy or even still just a glint in their philological eyes, and it sounds like your interests fall later rather than earlier.
 
I hope this helps!

Schools that belong to research consortiums with the Newberry, Folger, and Huntington also benefit from research resources (both textual and monetary) that most applicants don't think about.  Go to the webpages for those libraries and you can see the lists of schools.  I'm a grad conference organizer for Newberry's annual grad student conference, and getting the opportunity to help plan and organize a large conference, preside over sessions, and edit the resulting conference publication is a great experience I wouldn't have gotten to do if my university weren't a part of that consortium.  Consortium relationships provide additional funding opportunities to go do research at the libraries as well, so schools that don't appear on the USNWR top 50 list may offer better research opportunities because of their consortium relationship.  Here's a link to the Newberry's current members: http://www.newberry.org/center-renaissance-studies-consortium-members