NerdyGooner

I just submitted my last of six PhD applications to programs in Religious Studies. As I play the waiting game, I'm planning to do some traveling over the course of the next two months, both domestically and abroad. I planned these trips with an eye to previous admissions decisions as posted on this site, aiming to be back in the US to visit schools (the ones that admitted me, if any, that is) in early March, with a full month before I would have to make decisions about matriculation by mid-April. However, it looks like a lot of folks on here have been invited to interviews prior to their admissions decisions. Uh oh. Can anyone tell me (1) how common it is to be asked for an interview in a Humanities PhD program generally, and/or in Religious Studies PhD programs in particular, and (2) if declining an interview would essentially doom one to be rejected?