franz

No worries about the scope, and thanks for your opinions! These responses have definitely helped in lifting my spirits a bit about the chances of the religion route. I'm beginning to think more seriously about whether a PhD in religious studies might ultimately prove a better course, but that's something that will require more time and pondering as well.

Rejects came from DePaul (mail) and Villanova (online) yesterday and Friday, respectively. These two sting significantly more than the other reject so far (Memphis). They were my top choices, and the faculty I contacted at each wrote very nice replies and strongly encouraged me to apply. Plus, I felt like my writing sample and SOP were far stronger than last year. Well, with only two philosophy PhD programs left to hear from (both of which I'm not feeling very sure about), I suppose I should start working on a non-grad school backup plan for another year, though I'm still hoping for the best from the religion MA programs.

Ah, I didn't consider that, but, if your impression is correct, it makes sense. If it is of significane, a classmate of mine got into YDS for an MDiv with a major in political theory and without a background in religion or philosophy, so that makes me hopeful. On the other hand, the MDiv might differ in admissions from the MAR.

Thanks for the detailed help and recommendations on programs! Actually, I've been considering this for quite a while, and, perhaps foolishly, I'm only now really looking into it as a better option than philosophy. Especially for the prospect of going the religion route, this realm of options has lingered in the back of my mind for a while, and, since making this thread, I am now looking at it much more seriously. Recently, I heard from my two top choices in philosophy, and I didn't get in. That leaves two programs that aren't as great fits, and I'm doubtful of my chances for admission at them. Just considering the "guild" nature of philosophy more has made me think much more seriously about religious studies too. (Not to imply that religion is an ideal place either, but I perceive that the issues with the "guild-like" nature of academic philosophy now aren't as present so much in religion, though I could be wrong.) Overall, my interests in philosophy are philosophical pessimism, phenomenology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of literature, and intersections of Eastern thought and continental philosophy. I've found some programs that would be good places for these interests, but, owing to the scope of continental in the Anglosphere and the popularity levels of some of these areas/thinkers of interest, it's a bit tougher to find, say, faculty who are interested in Heidegger without the political focuses or Schopenhauer. It's odd how an MTS or MDiv would receive that sort of reception in philosophy, though I'm not surprised either. I have heard that, compared to other humanities departments, philosophy tends more often to take issue with research that involves other fields. Purely from my own perceptions as an "outsider" somewhat to religious studies, it seems that religion has a greater openness to work of a more interdisciplinary nature.

I applied to a total of five terminal MA/MTS/MAR programs this year. Today, I received the first news from them. It was a rejection from the school I considered the most safe in terms of my likelihood for admission. (Granted, it isn't a top tier program, but, I believe, it's still a respected and quality program, with good funding.) I felt fairly confident about my applications earlier, but now I'm starting to question my chances at the other programs, as I know they're more selective (Yale Divinity, Notre Dame, U Chicago Divinity, Duke). I'm a bit nervous partially because my interests and reasons for applying likely differ from most applicants. My goal isn't to get a PhD in religion, though I'm by no means opposed to it. I'm interested in grad studies in religion as an opportunity to focus on research in the philosophy of religion, along with other applicable philosophical research interests. That being said, I'm still very interested in religious studies. Ultimately, if things work out, I'd like to enter an MA/PhD program in (continental) philosophy after finishing an MA/MTS/MAR in religion. I don't mean to suggest at all that I'm aiming to "use" studying religion solely to benefit my philosophical studies, as the former does genuinely interest me and provide unique chances for studying these interests. On the other hand, a professor from my undergrad's religion department, who wrote one of my letters of recommendation and is an alumnus of one of the programs I applied to (if that matters), was quite encouraging when I proposed this idea to him. Other professors in the department expressed similar opinions. I double majored in philosophy and German, along with minoring in English. My letters of recommendation come from all of those departments, though I tended to favor those from religion and philosophy if I need to choose two or three. My undergrad is a small, well-ranked liberal arts college and has a strong religion department, with a fairly good record of students (including those who didn't major in religion) going to top grad programs in the field. (If it's relevant, our religion faculty almost entirely comes from these top programs as well.) I only took one religion class. Sorry in advance if the next part is a bit vague, but I'm not sure into how much detail I should go, for the sake of identifying information. My GPA was 3.60, and my GRE verbal and analytic scores are definitely both in the top tenth percentile, though my quantitative score is very low. My writing sample was a philosophy paper on applying hermeneutical frameworks in the philosphy of literature in order to clarify and aid philosophical inquiries, with my example concerning how one might do this to a question on Kierkegaard. For foreign languages, I know German, French, Norwegian, Danish, and Serbo-Croatian. I've worked for the last couple of years on translating two philosophers who come from languages with very small numbers of non-native speakers, haven't appeared in translation yet, and whose work could prove interesting for certain areas of continental philosophy. In religion, my research interests mostly center on the two areas of the nature and implications of faith and the role of literature in the philosophy of religion. These lean heavily toward the German and phenomenological traditions, in addition to interests in Eastern thought (mostly Buddhism, especially Zen, with some philosophical Daoism) as well. Thinkers of interest include Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Gadamer, Ricœur, Kafka, and Nietzsche. Am I getting too anxious as a result of one program's decision, or should I be concerned about getting in at any of the other schools? By the way, I re-applied to PhD programs in philosophy this year as well, and, while I hope to get into some of them, it would be nice to have both routes open. In other words, I hopefully won't have to place all hopes in grad school this fall on these programs, in case my chances are slim.