rejectedndejected
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Posts posted by rejectedndejected
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No one has heard back from ND yet?
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To which programs are y'all applying? Let's get this thread cracking, as its like 10 days to zero hour for many programs, no?
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58 minutes ago, balaamsdonkey said:
I hope it's a down year. The "market" for PhD in religion apps is long overdue for course correction - far too much supply for too little demand.
Since the economy is bouncing back, it actually makes sense that it would be down year. Historically, when the economy is doing well and high-earnings jobs are available, fewer people opt to go the route of advanced graduate studies.
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Anyone else freaking out? Anyone hear from Rice?
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On 9/19/2018 at 9:28 PM, Michael G said:
Hi Everyone,
I am a second-year MTS "Master of Theological Studies". I gonna graduate in May 2019, and I am going to apply for a PhD in Theology. I have actually a list of different school; Princeton, Chicago, Union in NY, Emory, Fuller.
I am also going to take the GRE Test in the first week of Oct. So, what are some tips for the application, the GRE test, the GPA, etc you high light to me?
Thanks in advance!!
My main tip is to use much, much better grammar.
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Anyone applying to Rice? Any thoughts on its religious studies program?
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11 minutes ago, notpartofyoursystem said:
I guess it’s worth repeating again: people with near perfect stats—including language prep—get rejected all. the. time. It is a crap shoot. No one is guaranteed admission. No one is entitled to admission.
While the above scenario does happen, generally, people with great stats do not get totally shut out from an entire round of applications, at least not "all--the--time." Telling people this does them a disservice, since there may be a part of their application that needs to be remediated. True, FIT IS EVERYTHING. But going 0-6 with not even a W.L. MAY point to a deficiency or a suspect LOR. It's not helpful to be so mechanical in regurgitating the sanctimonious, canned answer that even "great candidates get shut out completely sometimes." Yes, this is true--but if your numbers are great and you're getting shut out totally, chronically, it's time to "rethink your inks."
However, a sample size of 6 apps is not great, and so N.P.O.Y.S.'s post might carry more weight in this instance. Notwithstanding the digression, how is your language prep?
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2 hours ago, EarlyXianity said:
I think it's more a matter of self selection than anything. Both because there are many zealous folks, and because those of us who haven't been admitted are less inclined to post.
I submitted six applications last year. I have 168V/164Q/4.5AW, 3.7GPA BA from regional liberal arts school and 3.7 M.Div. from TT seminary and strong recommendations. I did not receive any offers or interviews.
I am applying again this year, and I hope for different results. I retook the GRE in hopes of bumping up my writing score and I have been honing my personal statement and my writing sample.
I've been out of school and serving in parish ministry for 6 years, so that's a bit different too.
It really is a crap shoot. Best of luck to you!
How is your language prep? Do you have German/French/Latin/Greek? If not, that could have been the issue (especially with GRE and GPA like yours).
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BTW, I've noticed that GradCafe folks have a disproportionately high acceptance rate to the most prestigious and coveted programs. Is this simply because Grad Café is mostly frequented by "gunners" and overly-zealous students, or because it's not nearly as hard as the numbers suggest to get in to top shelf programs (if you have decent "stats")? I have always harbored an optimist's hope that at least 3/4 of applications received by TT programs are from people with 3.4 GPAs and 157V/145Q/3.5AW who are really really hoping that this is "their year," and that by comparison my plausible but non-redonkulous numbers will have a relative glimmer...
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Does anyone know anything about Rice's religion department? It seems that no GradCafe peeps have any interest in it. How about UPenn? Very few UPenners as well.
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Also, you should note that they are very big on liturgiology at ND with the current folks
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49 minutes ago, Geistsubjekt said:
@rejectedndejected I, too, am applying to liturgical studies at Notre Dame. I had a phone meeting with one of the top professor in liturgical studies there a couple of months ago, and he told me that all LS students must know Greek, Latin, French, & German by the end of it. The LS track, he said, is heavily historical even if you want to end up focusing on liturgical theology or ritual studies at the end of the day. However, he made it sound like it's not unheard of for successful applicants only to have one of the aforementioned languages (or just partial competency in two or three of them...which is my case). Students who are lacking faculty in languages can arrive on campus early to do summer language course(s).
Beyond languages, he told me that LS gets about 24 applicants each year. They select four for campus visits and then offer two applicants admission.
Awesome. Thanks for the info. I actually visited there recently and sat down with a few of my POIs, and they said the same sorts of things. Although, I did not know that they get 24 applicants each year for LS--I would've suspected fewer.
Where are you doing your M* degree? And how are your other "stats"? (if you don't mind divulging--I am curious what sorts of folks are applying).
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First of all, I would not ask a professor for a letter of recommendation if I got an 82 percent in their class. Just sayin'... (How could he honestly say you're a brilliant student when you got a B- in his class?)
The professors will get your letters in by the deadline, if they said they will. However, the curt answer of your professor to your inquiry as to his submission timing should worry you. It is apparent that he thought your question was rude and gauche--therefore, I would worry that you will get a poor quality recommendation based on your professionalism. Is it too late to call an audible?
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Is it frowned upon to bump one's own thread?
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Does anyone know if Notre Dame, of its own initiative, will accept an applicant into its MTS program while at the same time denying him admission to its theology PhD program (in cases where the person has only applied to the theology PhD, but not the MTS)? If one desires such treatment, do we have to indicate as such on our applications? Do schools only do this for people applying straight from undergrad?
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Does anyone know if Notre Dame offers rejected (but viably close) PhD applicants acceptance into its funded MTS program ever/often/never (assuming the applicant has another MA in theology)?
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Marth, your reply is intriguing... What sort of abilities/experience are you supposing qualifies as "research skills" necessary for doctoral programs? You mean languages, experience writing intensive papers, actual library know-how, etc.? Please, elaborate, if you have a chance.
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Thanks for the great and thoughtful response. That actually goes a long way in demystifying the process somewhat. One thing you said intrigued me (and it could be a whole thread in and of itself) and elaborating on this could actually enlighten quite a few lurkers:
What applicants would you consider as falling into the class of "People who have absolutely no business applying to top PhD programs"?
I would like to think that such applicants make up a significant portion of the applicant pool, since the idea of competing against 200+ applicants whose credentials > or = to my credentials is truly horrifying.
I also would like to make sure that I could not fairly be numbered among said class of peeps...
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Does being a good "fit" mean wanting to dissertate on a matter that is exactly the same as or closely related to what a POI is currently researching? Professors have broad ranges of expertise. They can have a multifaceted research outlook, right. Perhaps someone could kindly explain better what is meant by "fit." Does it mean they just really think I have a swell face and a winning personality?
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I'd like to do mystagogy from liturgy/sacramentology (particularly of Eucharist)/and perhaps study of the rite of exorcism.
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49 minutes ago, sacklunch said:
In short, no, one year of Latin is far from enough. Re a couple points made above. No MA in Classics will accept you, since basically all of them in the US require advanced proficiency in Greek or Latin and intermediate in the other (though you might look at 'ancient history' programs). A post-bacc in Classics is your only real option outside of religious studies/theology programs. And yes, if you expect to get into a decent doctoral program in that field, you are going to spend most of said MA in intro/intermediate language classes. There is no practical option here because academia is anything but practical. Catholic University has a great program, but many of its doctoral students are paying (through loans) for it, so that's something to consider (i.e. they might accept you, but expect you to take on 100k+ to get a degree that, in this job market, may not get you any job you want, unless you enjoy adjucting and making poverty wages). As someone else mentioned, many people in this field have two M* degrees; and I'll add that some of us even have two M* despite the fact that we had decent language exposure in undergrad. I'm not saying this is the norm, but it is not uncommon, which means at places like Notre Dame you are going to be applying against applicants who have been studying Latin and/or Greek since undergrad or even high school, through two M*, putting them a solid number of years beyond you.
Yikes. Thanks for the candor. So what amount of language training (and in which languages) IS sufficient for top tier theology admissions?
For those of us who haven't known that we wanted to be theologians since the time we were mere gleams in our fathers' eyes, how on earth is it feasible to take the necessary steps to groom ourselves for doctoral work?!
Sacklunch, would you mind PMing where you are dissertating/were accepted? If not, I understand. Maybe you are at a place that is more rigorous in language expectations... It seems that secular and Protestant Universities are more stringent on language standards, although perhaps I'm wrong.
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31 minutes ago, turktheman said:
A year of Latin might be enough for Marquette's program, but CUA and ND are heavy on languages. For liturgical studies, you'll be stacked up against candidates who went to Catholic school and did Latin for most of their primary and secondary schooling. They knew they wanted to do something in Religious Studies, so they took Latin in college and grad school. In the least, they have several years of Latin on their transcript. It isn't unheard of for liturgical studies applicants to have a year or two of Greek or Syriac as well.
Ultimately, the process is far more subjective than anyone ever let's on. It happens all the time that an applicant with minimal language training gets into top programs. It also happens that students with just a BA get into top doctoral programs. After all, the US program is built with 2 years of coursework before exams in part to beef up your languages before the dissertation phase. As for the GRE, yours is probably good enough for any program to admit you if they want you. The TA position isn't likely going to help or hurt your application. In short, I'd apply if you have the money and are fully aware of the incredibly slim chances of getting in.
Then how do I go about getting in to a PhD program? Do I really need to sit around for 2 years post M* degree doing language 101? Aren't there some programs that provide integrated language remediation? Is there a practical path forward at all?
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9 hours ago, Averroes MD said:
No.
So then, am I precluded from the aforementioned programs? Is it even worth applying?
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4 minutes ago, sacklunch said:
We need more information about your interests. "Religion/theology" covers basically everything; having 1 year of Latin would be overkill for some programs and utterly insufficient for others.
I would like to do liturgical studies at Catholic University/Notre Dame/Marquette (although Marquette doesn't have a fixed LS program). Is one year of ancient and one year of a modern considered decent for programs in general?
PhD Applications Fall 2019 Season
in Religion
Posted
And congrats on Standford and Princeton...Not easy programs to crack.