theofan

The interview weekend is in three weeks! 

@theofanthank you for the insight!
I think my only hope is that I took advantage from an offer from the former administrative director to setup a visit back in December. I met with three professors and felt like the meetings went well – even received a very encouraging email from one of them in the MT area that gave me a lot of hope. At this point, I'm hanging on to the hope that since they already "interviewed" me, that they don't see reason to have to bring me back. 
Maybe that's wishful thinking. Maybe it's a shot hahaha.
I'll also second the inquiry into when that interview weekend is – do you happen to know?
In any event, I appreciate the info!

Hey, the MT interview invitations went out last week. The interviews are in person and there is an interview weekend. But it could be possible you are on a waiting list. I'm not exactly sure how they manage that, but no news could still be good news. 

Yes, I hope that out of pure charity all those with offers will make decisions as early as possible!  

Yes, I hope that out of pure charity all those with offers will make decisions as early as possible!  

@theofan
If your friend hasn't heard back they probably will verrrry soon. I was rejected at ND this afternoon, so I imagine it's about that time. So it goes. I'll finish the application season going 3/4!

Praying that Chicago hurries up and posts results EARLY march as they said, as soon as possible, because the wait is killing me. Congrats to all those who got into a program! I'm so desperate to have ONE acceptance at hand, envious of yall. 

I've just been searching Notre Dame in order to see what if any news is coming out of the Dome.

Someone recommended an instapot or crockpot. You set the timer so that there is a hot stewed meal waiting for you when you get back at the end of the day. Very passive cooking. 

Theofan, If you are truly keen to rent a car for a year you can do that. car rental places like enterprise or budget can do month-to-month rentals and a credit card should cover the insurance for rental. The price will vary widely and will also depend on what kind of car you get. But you can figure all that out on their websites. Buying a used car can be a good idea if you don’t mind spending some time, and have a good sense of what you want.  I don’t know much about the local vendors but Jordan Ford in Mishawaka has a reputation as an honest dealer. YMMV, as they say.
It’s worth considering whether or not you need one. Uber and Lyft are all over the campus area and south bend, and the cost is low. There are zipcars available to rent on campus. And the local car rental places will bring a car to you if you want to rent one for a few days.  I know a lot of graduate students who get along just fine without a vehicle. In fact, many professors do. There is plenty of shopping within walking distance of campus, and a vast amount of good housing.

I did what many people do: Re-taking the GRE (multiple times), refining my Statement of Purpose, improving my CV with publications, etc. But what I believe helped the most was going back for a second Master's. I did my MDiv at a small seminary in my denomination. After my first two failed cycles, I did a ThM at a larger seminary in a different denomination. The ThM was more research oriented, but perhaps more important was the fact that my Letters of Recommendation were now coming from better-known scholars.
Furthermore, I made a real effort to build a relationship with the department chair and the professors who were working in my field. I made two self-funded trips and sent plenty of emails. As one of my former professors told me, don't underestimate the value of face-to-face contact. I think that my desire for a PhD was obvious to the admissions committee, and they knew that if I was going to put that much work into just getting in that I was going to complete what I started.
Best of luck to all!

Grinding it out in parish ministry and denominational responsibilities, and trying to watch a little NCAA basketball.  

Translating the hell out of my native language into English so I can get some ca$h. It really helps me to get the anxiety out because I enjoy translating.

Buy books, think about all the books I could have bought with application money.

I used to be a touring musician before I embarked on my graduate education, so I typically play, write, and record music in my downtime to take my mind off things. It’s very therapeutic.

Way too many movies and video games. 

parakletos, that was really kind of you to post your experience. I completely agree with the SOP and fit factors. I have lower stats and less impressive grades than you and many other top applicants but I am currently interviewing with a top PhD program because they said they were impressed with my SOP and that my goals were a perfect fit with theirs. And it wasn't pure chance: I spent two months researching the university's mission, goals, faculty, and even grad students (I read all the doctoral student CVs on the website) before deciding to apply. I also have languages, work experience, and international experience, which this particular university values much more than pure numbers, and I knew that before applying. Stats are important, but not everything. If you have the calling to be a theologian or religion professor, there is a program out there for you!  Take a good, long, holistic look at yourself and give it your best. 

I feel for you as well. When I was in my first application cycle last year, I felt a lot of the same frustrations. However stressful this time might be for you (and the rest of us applicants), I think you would be better off focusing on your current coursework (if you’re a student) or pouring your nervous energy into other outlets that help bring you some joy. What I have learned is simple: Just let the process happen; you will be notified when you get notified, ya know? No sense losing sleep over something that is out of your control. You did the best you could, and the rest is up to the divine round table... I mean selection committee.
This is also worth mentioning: Even applicants with perfect GPA’s/GRE’s and pristine statements of purpose receive rejections. When a program looks at a file “holistically,” I don’t think they are looking for a spotless record but, instead, for a progressive trajectory in academic performance, which is corroborated by the statement of purpose and recommendation letters. Think about it: What is inspiring about a perfect GPA? Ok, cool, this person can get good grades consistently. But can they learn and improve? This is what I think a majority of programs are looking for: Does this applicant demonstrate the skills and preparation necessary to learn and develop as a scholar? Additionally, I take seriously (more than last year) when a program stresses their interest in candidates that are a “good fit” in their department. Do you ask the same questions they do? Will the methods of research and resources in the department enhance your work? Can you bring something new to a department that will likewise enhance the work being done there? With these questions considered, a department might be more interested in the good-but-imperfect GPA of a candidate who is a great fit over an applicant whose GPA is stellar but whose profile is uninspiring.
Hope this helps!
 
 

To those who haven’t heard back, here’s a word of (hopefully) comforting advice. To start with an annoyingly cliché but true suggestion: try your best not to take rejection too personally or as an insult to your intelligence or capacity. Let me explain. People have repeatedly mentioned on this forum that applicants with “very good or near perfect stats” get rejected to Phd programs all the time. This is entirely true; I’m an example. When I applied to Phd programs a couple years ago, I had a 3.95 undergrad GPA, 3.9 grad GPA, and a GRE of 170V/164Q/5.0. I had a very good writing sample, a publication under my belt, and great recommendations. Naturally, I applied to 7-8 top schools. But I was rejected to ALL of them—every single one; I didn’t even receive an interview! As the weeks of waiting went by, I fell into despair. Why had I worked so hard and spent thousands of dollars? I thought about giving up on academics altogether. 
Here’s the silver lining. I was determined to find out what had gone wrong and try again. As it turns out, there were two things I had messed up. First was the statement of purpose. Without going into too much detail, the description of my academic background and interests was rambling, imprecise, and stale. There’s an art to writing statements of purpose, and I didn’t pay any attention to it. I kind of just figured “Hey, I’m a good writer, let me write about myself.” Don’t do that. Get profs to look at your statement. Second, my declared research interests were too narrow and didn’t fit very well in any of my desired programs. It’s worth repeating: FIT is everything. I had friends with much, MUCH lower stats get into amazing schools because their research interests fit hand-in-glove with the departments.
So, I’ve applied again this year, but I really did my homework this time with my SOP; I adjusted how I framed my interests; I had professors look over it. I took some more classes; I changed a bunch of other things (I also found a more relevant recommender). This time I’ve received a handful of interviews, and I reasonably expect several acceptances (fingers crossed). The moral of this story is that, yes, it’s incredibly discouraging to hear nothing and get rejected. And perhaps for some this will suggest moving on to another field. But for those who are determined to pursue doctoral studies, don’t give up. Revise your whole approach to your application and try again. This sort of story is not unique to me; I know many others who applied three times before they finally got into top-tier programs. Now they are thriving in their fields. 
Apologies for the long post; I hope this encourages some of the disheartened out there. Find out where you can improve your application. Your points of weakness may be different from mine. Work on those areas throughout a year (or two), and jump back in the ring!
 

At Notre Dame, the odds of getting in without an initial interview invitation are really slim. I didn't ask to learn if the process was changing this year, but last year, in Early Christianity, for instance, they invited 5 people for interviews for 2 available spots.  

At other schools, things work quite differently. Some fields will do interviews, and others will make decisions based off of applications.  

At Duke (GPR/Ph.D), decisions are not made by field. However many spots they have open, they invite that # of people to "interview" but it's really more of a preview day. If any of them, for some reason, don't matriculate, they move down their ranked list in order with offers. So, even if someone in New Testament doesn't matriculate, they might get replaced with someone in Theology and Ethics.  

I don't know anything about the BC process, so I'm as in the dark as you. There are some professors there with whom I would very much like to work, so I"d like to think that there are still possibilities there, but since they sent out some waitlist notifications, too, I'm not holding my breath.