sacklunch

I do greatly appreciate the insight! But, for those of us in the humanities, there really are not a whole lot of options. Either way, if we stop now, we are going to be working retail (if we are lucky to get a job at all over minimum wage) with our degree(s) in English, German, Religion, Philosophy, and so on. Again, for many of us, there is no pay cut. In fact, a PhD stipend is more money than I have ever made (I'm in my early 30's!). At the end of the day, if I end up spending the next 5-8 years of my life working my ass off at something I love and I can't even get a job teaching High School when it's all said and done, oh well. Again, given our options, and if we secure decent funding at a good program, why the hell not? If I'm going to be working at Taco Bell end game, I might as well get paid while I am earning a PhD before my career making burritos begins. Coming from someone who has spent time making burritos, working totally awful bottom of the barrel jobs, I can absolutely say IT IS WORTH IT. If you're paying for your PhD that is another story, of course. But for most of us, even that meager 15k stipend is pretty goddamn okay. cheers

1) This isn't 1852. Hell, even fifty years ago things were quite different. If you browse enough CV's you will find those 'old timers' who have BD's instead of AB/BA's -> MDiv. The result has been the growth of professional graduate degrees (e.g. an MDiv) that end up being more like second BA's. Nowadays folks do not grow up learning foreign languages unless you have native speaking parents. Further, no one is forced to take Greek and Latin in primary/secondary school. The language courses most of us do take are rubbish. Even 'advanced' High School language courses are usually around an intermediate college level. 2) Often because of no.1 undergraduate training in religious studies can only proceed at a basic level. Taking 'exegesis' courses without high proficiency in the primary source language is a much different kind of course than taking an only English course. The latter also encourages 'lay people' (i.e. those not interested in lofty academic goals) to take such courses, changing course goals dramatically. 3) Religious Studies/Theology is much more interdisciplinary than it was even thirty years ago. We are encouraged, expected even, to understand both intricate aspects of the ancient world, while also implementing methodologies from more or less alien fields, and so on, ad nauseam. It is no longer good enough to only study comparative Semitic morphology. Now you must also ground your work in the larger scholarly 'enterprise.' People don't want to read dissertations anymore about the function of passive Haphal verbs in fifth century Persia. Sadly. Because of the aforementioned points, competition has grown and grown. Accordingly, having two M* degrees becomes the norm. In short, we are paying the price for having so many luxuries available to us at almost every moment. We rarely get home from school or work and sit down to read. We get on GC, we check facebook, we text. Hell, some of us 'Tinder.' Then as a last resort, after we have exhausted that final Reddit/aww post and the other shameful recesses of the internet, we finally, with our last few waking moments, open that book we have been saying we should finish for weeks. /stream of consciousness

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/GUUUUUUUUURLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

Makes sense! Thanks ya'll.

Anyone hear any word from Penn RS? Nothing on the results section. Kinda strange. eh?

Again, it is very likely that the acceptance rate at CUB's MA is lower than most of the 'big name' MDiv programs, including Union, Vandy, and Yale. This is purely a guess, though, so correct me if you all have any hard data. As an example, it was harder to get into 'smelly ol' Georgia State's MA in philosophy (36% acceptance rate) than Yale's MDiv, which has hovered around 50-80% for the last ten years. Many state programs, like CUB, expect all their students to come in with very focused interests and goals (usually academic in nature), while many MDiv students come in without having much if any training in religion/philosophy/theology. That said, you may want to apply to some of the big name divinity schools. I bet you would fare well. They tend to accept/like personal statements rather the expected academic focus of a 'statement of purpose.'

Some schools have different rules on who can enroll for a second BA, but I think most would easily take you on for a second (it's money, of course they will take you!). Two factors, I think, kept you out: 1) as the others have stated, your undergraduate degree is questionable from the standpoint of an admissions committee, but perhaps just as important 2) is CUB's program is much smaller than many of the 'flagship' schools (where most of us have earned an MA* degree at). I have no worldly clue what CUB's acceptance rate is for their MA program, but I would venture to say it's lower than most of the flagship divinity schools (e.g. MDiv at Harvard, Yale, Duke, PTS, and so on). Don't let those 'big names' make you think that just because you were rejected from a 'state school' you could not possibly compete in the 'big leagues.' Simply put, most of the big names are not terribly competitive at the MA level (full rides and what not are exceptions, to be sure). If you qualify for the same type of funding perks in pursuing a second BA, then going to CUB for a second BA is a great plan (or perhaps in state tuition wouldn't be a huge deal to loan?). It's worth mentioning, as marXian and many of us on this board have testified (me included), getting a second MA is not terribly uncommon. This is, in part, because many students do not know what they want to do in undergrad, but also because our field is becoming increasingly competitive. I can absolutely say without hesitation: where you get your BA matters. Yes, many many doctoral students in our field have BA's from random liberal arts schools. But many also come from top programs, private or state. And as the applicant pool becomes more competitive, having a degree from a reputable school may make or break your application. I mention this because even if you somehow get into a decent MA program, you may end up having to get yet another MA to further 'justify' your questionable past. On that note, CUB has a really good reputation in both Religious Studies and related fields (Classics, especially).

Rejected from Harvard NELC. Emailed dept. for those of you waiting.

I wouldn't loose hope. I know several people who have turned them down for other offers. If they are in there they likely have other top offers.

Harvard Religion, Div, or? When did you hear?

PM'd you.

Have fun in South Bend... *shivers*

Notre Dame's PhD in Literature comes to mind (not English). I don't remember where I saw it, but some statistic pointed out that interdisciplinary PhD's tend to have a harder time finding jobs. I'll have to look around for the article.

I do greatly appreciate the insight! But, for those of us in the humanities, there really are not a whole lot of options. Either way, if we stop now, we are going to be working retail (if we are lucky to get a job at all over minimum wage) with our degree(s) in English, German, Religion, Philosophy, and so on. Again, for many of us, there is no pay cut. In fact, a PhD stipend is more money than I have ever made (I'm in my early 30's!). At the end of the day, if I end up spending the next 5-8 years of my life working my ass off at something I love and I can't even get a job teaching High School when it's all said and done, oh well. Again, given our options, and if we secure decent funding at a good program, why the hell not? If I'm going to be working at Taco Bell end game, I might as well get paid while I am earning a PhD before my career making burritos begins. Coming from someone who has spent time making burritos, working totally awful bottom of the barrel jobs, I can absolutely say IT IS WORTH IT. If you're paying for your PhD that is another story, of course. But for most of us, even that meager 15k stipend is pretty goddamn okay. cheers

You might try posting in the Religion section, or in the Interdisciplinary NELC thread.

Those of you that emailed Harvard, did you actually ask your status, or did you simply ask when decisions would be released?

PM'd ya.

I removed myself from the waitlist several week ago, if that helps. Also, I know one of the admitted, but he/she will be turning down the offer (no idea if he/she has done so yet).

Hard copies come before online notification?

Haha! I have several great options, and still waiting on a couple others. I'd prefer to not say until all is said and done, though!

Hmm...Harvard Religion? Penn RS?

I wonder if he has sold books because of all of this...? I may have to purchase that damn book...WHAT IF IT HOLDS THE SECRET TO THE UNIVERSEZ?!

Those of you waiting on Chicago, you may have been rejected already (as I now am) if you log into your account.

Letters of Rec, SOP, and (especially) languages. Perhaps I am saying 'the whole package'...and honestly, that is pretty much what you need to be competitive at top schools. GRE scores, meh. I'm still convinced if the rest of your app isn't competitive they don't make a huge difference.

ND had interviews a couple weeks ago. Twice (or more) folks were invited than they could accept. So if you didn't hear then, you're rejected.