sorenerasmus

I was waitlisted for the GDR & received my rejection last Friday. I hope that helps. Good luck on your academic adventures! I wish you all the best!

Thank you for your swift reply! If you don’t mind sharing, are you on the waitlist for Religion PhD?

Thanks so much! If my project is unfunded I will be placed on an ERC funded project, that is the only reason why I accepted the position. I actually had to talk with my PI the day I had to make my decision for another university which was fully funded (project, stipend, etc). I think it helps to have a PI that wants to help you and wants you to come to their program, so if you haven't, I would contact the PI and just have a frank conversation with them about funding. Money is something I really hate talking about, but money is a deciding factor for many people including myself.
Hopefully we each here back soon about college placement. ?

Anyone hear anything concerning Vanderbilt? 

Definitely!!

I also haven’t heard anything ~ I’ve been waiting with bated breath today since the Graduate School site lists March 31 as the day admissions decisions are/we’re supposed to be released. I’m debating emailing the department tomorrow (?) to see if they can provide any update on the timeline. 

The one reason keeping me from returning to the US for a doctoral program (assuming I get into the last waitlisted one) is probably the degree to which anti-AAPI hate crimes have increased over the last year, especially since the pandemic began. I was in the US at the beginning of the pandemic and did not personally experience anything, but I was in Berkeley, which is mostly tolerant. However, I did get to hear an unfortunate racist slur from a homeless man shortly before I left. All this is to say that the risk of being attacked for being Asian and Pacific Islander is there, but with what one sees on social media and the news, one cannot see exactly how big the risk is. Nevertheless, people living there have expressed their concerns to me.
I agree with @Joey_Jawad that if you do have Asian friends or colleagues, please check in on them. Please educate yourselves too on the history of America's involvement in Asia and with Asians. I come from a former American colony, and what I became aware of about this colonial history gave me a mixed picture of a country and culture I otherwise admire. For me, that history explains a lot.

Still no word from Vanderbilt GDR! Anyone have insight?

I have not heard anything. I have also not received a college placement.

I just wanted to chime in and extend a secondary word of caution. While having the opportunity to complete a graduate/doctoral degree at an Ivy League school or comparable institution is wonderful and exciting, it can also be incredibly isolating and disillusioning. I did not have a very supportive advisor and often felt like I had to navigate the twists and turns of academia with no help from anyone. My advice to everyone in this thread would be to pinpoint a professor or advisor who is really interested in YOU and YOUR INTERESTS. You're going to have a hard go of it otherwise. Wishing you all the best of luck!

1) Your concerns are valid. VERY valid. 
2) Echoing KungFuKenny and jellyfish7, both schools are top schools within the religious studies world so adding either on your CV will only benefit you. 
3) Is HDS worth the $20,000 in my savings or loans? I think that's your decision to make. I took out a small amount when I got there. Full tuition + $8,000 annual stipend was not enough for me to live in Boston. I also had to work off campus during the summer (I did my best to get away from the Harvard bubble as much as I could). 
4) As much as I want to praise HDS I can't and I must be honest about the conversations that happen on campus. We're considered the "hippie school" ? but lots of folks across campus find that space rewarding. I think the Chicago Div School slogan is "where the fun dies". 
5) Despite the lack of diversity in faculty (I'm a Latinx scholar) it is ABSOLUTELY possible to find/create opportunities to succeed. I found my mentor when I told him his class was intimidating during office hours haha. We also just lost Dr. Cornel West, again, so it's a huge hit for the Div School. I met with him on a couple occasions and can safely say he was a source for my own development as a Latina scholar on campus. I'll also say I met with some world-known faculty who encouraged me to dream big during our office hour conversations. 
6) This I think leads into the potential downside of being at HDS: that it's still attached to the Harvard name. I didn't realize how conditioned I became to be mistrusting of my peers because the culture of secrecy is so real! For example, I always felt like I couldn't share my ideas with my cohort because someone might snatch it and beat me to publication. Bizarre, but the feeling was still there. This of course might just be academia in general, but I never felt this at the other schools I went to. 
7) Also, performativity is taken to a completely different level. I felt it was no longer about collaborating or co-learning but rather establishing the most nuanced take of the assigned reading on Foucault. This, in turn, made me feel like I wasn't reading just to read but rather reading to find something interesting to say in class. The competitive nature of these seminars just made it difficult to drop my guard or forgive myself for simple mistakes.    
8) And don't get me started on being a Latina at Harvard hahahahahahaha... So, I will say that "my people" became the janitors and the cooks and the security personnel on campus (and a few faculty members). They're the ones who greeted me every day. They're the ones who asked me how midterms were going. They're the ones who looked like my family back home. They're the only ones I thanked at the Div School diploma ceremony because my own working-class family could not make it to my Harvard graduation. They're the ones I'll say hi to when I go back to visit one day. Them and the Spanish-speaking co-workers at the restaurant job I had. They were my community. They're the ones who saw past my Harvard exterior and zeroed-in on my humanity. It's a lot I know but I think I needed to say this. 
 9) I'm sure you know this already but make sure you have a great sense of self before you go to either campus. I know how easily the Harvard name can blow up my ego haha so it was helpful to stay true to the person I was before Harvard. I was always that indigenous-looking brown girl in class who wore huaraches and hoops and red lipstick. So, I made sure to continue that identity at Harvard. (No amount of elbow-patch jackets will ever change me hahaha.) I made sure to eat the same beans and rice I ate back home and listen to the same banda music from my childhood when I walked through Widener Library. LOTS of folks discouraged me from pursing grad school but when I was able to ground myself in my own journey I was able to make it through all the bummer moments at Harvard. It's what's gotten me through this application cycle and what will get me through the rest of my journey. : )
 

Thank you!  
I'm happy even though I had to reject two other schools, so it was bittersweet. 
I have a BA in Religious Studies, minor in history, and a Master of Theological Studies. Taking the Religious Studies route for the PhD would have been the ideal trajectory but after talking to faculty and grad students I realized that adding the PhD in Chicanx Studies from UCLA would only open up job opportunities within the humanities.  
 
 

Hey @sorenerasmus, I'm sorry you're struggling with this, it sounds stressful! I was holding off on responding because I am definitely not an expert, but my advice would be to sit tight for now. It may come off as unprofessional, or at least impulsive, to reach out to admissions committees with new information right before decisions/funding are released. When you eventually do have all the details on your other two offers (which I'm sure you will have early this week!), then I think it is safe, in fact common practice, to reach back out to your top choice(s). You can explain the situation, expressing to 'Program X' that they are absolutely your top choice and it would be your dream to attend, but that you have received other more financially viable options* which you will not be able to turn down unless Program X ups your funding. *I know you are worried that the schools you are waiting on may not offer sizable funding packages either, but I think there are other ways to argue economical superiority (e.g. Program Y is closer to home and would not require you to relocate; Program Z is based in a city with much lower costs of living, etc.). In a way, if you are going to be requesting more funding, it may actually be ideal to do so this late in the timeline; the longer you wait, the likelier that other students will have turned down their funded offers, meaning their scholarship money is now available for people like you! This whole process is brutal, but hang in there. Everything works out in the end.

@sorenerasmus hang in there. I don't have any advice, but I believe in you to figure out a proper course of action. Seems like the advice given sounds pretty accurate from what little I know on the topic!
I'm currently working through something similar as BC is throwing down a full scholarship at me with a 10K GA for the year. I was feeling good about that until Villanova dangled the possibility of working with a specific scholar in their program for a full stipend, which would adjust my offer from a full scholarship with 8K GA for two years, to possible 17K GA per year... not really sure how/what to do with all of this as BC is my top choice, but the Villanova offer is pretty sweet if I could get it.
Anyway, all of this to say that I'm in a slightly similar situation, and I'll have you in mind!

Don’t have an answer for KungFuKenny, but how’s everyone else planning on handling finances?
I have 8300 saved right now, and I expect to have at least 13000 by the end of the summer. I’m really hoping I can live on campus for the first year, which would be about 7600 for the year. I’m thinking I might get the cheapest meal plan so I could occasionally eat on campus, which would be about 1500. I’m also hoping I can get a part time job, which would be about 120 a week (and if it’s work study, I can get SNAP), and doing some freelance writing for 45/50 an article. And then I hope I can get a job for next summer to help save up money for rent (likely 800/month) for the following year. I have 3k set aside to pay for undergrad loans, but since you can defer those while in grad school, I might do that and use that money to help cover rent. Does this seem doable? I’d really like to avoid more student loans. My one expense is a private student loan that’s 50 a month. I have 600 set aside for that for July 2021 - July 2022 already, so I’ll have to make sure I put money aside for 2022 - 2023. 

Generous should mean free, at a minimum. Seriously, do not pay for grad school. I have a 3.4 undergrad GPA and a totally unrelated major and I didn’t take a single religion class and *I’m* not paying tuition. 
And yes, NYC is expensive. If you’ll need loans for this don’t do it. I love to go on forums like r/StudentLoans and there are SO many people with so much regret over having 70k+ in debt from grad school. The Columbia name is not worth it.

That's good advice thank you guys!  I think I will end up following the money.  Thankfully, I won't need to take out loans for Yale, and it sounds like that is rarely the story for Columbia.  I just haven't received the official offer from them so I didn't know.  I didn't anticipate having options, and I think I just got excited at the prospects! To be fair, the curriculums are so different I felt as though I should put some thought into it ?  Thanks again!

*we just had a baby (or alternatively, we have a newborn) lol

Just received an admissions offer from Candler school of Theology (Emory) with 75% tuition funding! This was the only MTS program I applied to along with 4 PhD apps. I didn’t get into any of the PhD programs so this is a welcome sight!

More than two master's degrees seems crazy to me. You have to ask yourself at which point the academia is just not worth it...there is life outside the ivory tower.

According to the relevant webpage, the majority of offers for Clarendon are sent out at the beginning of April. I'm sure this is subject to change, however. You can find a more detailed timeline here:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/clarendon/information-for-applicants/timeline
Congrats on your offer! I received one for the MSt in Theology, and I'm also in the same boat as regards decision-making prior to funding allocation wrapping up.

Just got an email informing me I got full tuition for Yale. I'm immensely grateful but without a stipend I'm not sure I can be persuaded to live in New Haven over Boston (which I know is an insanely superficial reason but there it is.) Could someone please kindly educate me on why Yale is often ranked higher(at least on this website)/considered better suited for a phD preparation than HDS?

Just accepted my offer from HDS and will decline the offer from Chicago tomorrow. I feel a little sick to my stomach about declining a really great school that gave me a fantastic offer. I also have a paranoid fear that Harvard suddenly will inform me that a mistake was made and that I was not really admitted, as part of some really strange moral lesson from the universe. Anyway, I hope that this can help someone get admitted to Chicago or get increased funding!

Hi all ~ I just stumbled across this thread. Congrats @mimo2021on receiving a scholarship! I was accepted to the MPhil in Theology and had an Ertegun interview during the last week of February (also before I had my acceptance haha) so I have been hoping for some kind of funding news this month also. Does anyone know if full fellowship decisions (esp. Clarendon, if the Ertegun offers already went out) are generally sent in March or early April? My biggest concern is the potential of having to make a decision before knowing about funding. Thanks everyone  

Haha I was shocked when I heard I was nominated but hadn’t received acceptance to the Mst yet... I assume an acceptance is incoming  fingers crossed for a normal October