CafeConGabi

Hey Isaac! I'll send you a message.

This is such a cool thread. Gosh. I've picked up Nahuatl classes; wanna pick up French and German too Just signed up for my first Danza Azteca class (I start today) I perfected my sugar cookie recipe Weight lifting Improv/stand-up Watching baseball (Thank you baby Jesus for baseball season!)

Congratulations! How exciting! I wish you well on your journey.

I figured the first part (book review) but wasn't too sure what else I'd be able to ask for. Obviously(?), within the law.

So, I made my decision. This means that I wrote to professors/departments to tell them I won't be moving forward with them. Many of them ended their email with "and if there is anything you ever need just let me know". ... What does this entail? Like, anything? I guess just a recommendation letter for the future?

I went from California to Boston with a suitcase and a backpack. I only took one book and the rest I picked up along the way. Anything snow-related helps.

You're welcome! I think the best way I make a decision is by getting all the information I can. I'll also say that if I had to do it all over again I would. I do not regret going to HDS. I think it allowed me to reach beyond my own ideas of what I was capable of. I came out a bit bruised, my soul was somewhat crushed hahaha, but I came out a better scholar. If not better, then definitely more aware of my own goals and confident about reaching them.

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! It's been about 3 years since i applied for phd programs (first round included rejection letter after rejection letter) so I'm beyond ready to start this new process. ❤️

daaaang. that's a good chunk of money. If I remember correctly I think I made a deposit for HDS. I wanna say $500 also...? Can't remember. yeah. she went with the Div School in Chicago.

I second the Columbia comment. Recently talked to a friend who said they asked for a 3k deposit to save a seat in the cohort! Maybe I read the numbers wrong but she emphasized that part.

I heard from them March 10. Rejection. Did you hear back?

Oh! Whoops! I was accepted to Univ of Denver for Religious Studies and UCLA for Chicanx Studies. I committed to UCLA ?

I feel you. It's been a tough year. I took myself off the wait-list at UIC.

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.