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You might perhaps consider this a grace - Columbia University's MA program is a cash cow ($$$$$ ~$68,000/year - not to mention current living prices in New York) and from my experience I have not seen many MA students from Columbia in top-tier PhD programs. You would do equally well at Harvard/Duke/Yale/Princeton with much better financial support.

Duke ThD acceptances went out.

I say this with all kindness: You are severely overestimating (and overthinking) how hard it is to get into these programs. You will probably get into all three. If you go to Harvard, take a class with D. Andrew Teeter—he is brilliant.

The information you cite about Baylor comports with what I know about their admissions process. Although it is hard to say with any certainty, if you have an interview at Baylor, I would put your final odds of admission at about 75%. They will offer admission to 50% of those they interview, but almost assuredly one of those applicants will be tapped by Yale, Duke, Princeton, Chicago, etc. That said, I am uncertain if they still take two students per subfield each year, so it may be best to talk with current students to see what their current admissions practices may be (current graduate students can speak to their own experience but they are not always privy to how the process will be handled in the current admissions cycle).

Duke GPR interviews are conducted by each individual track and are not uniformly sent out (some tracks may not do competitive interviews, but there has been a trend in the direction of holding interviews over the past few years). One track in the GPR may have already sent out interviews while another may do so later, but all tracks should be interviewing soon if they plan to do so at all. I can confirm that the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament track at Duke (PhD/GPR) held a series of competitive interviews yesterday. ThD interviews have not happened yet as the Divinity School is a little behind schedule, but all shortlisted candidates for the ThD are interviewed per standard practice.

All short-listed candidates have an interview of some sort, if I am not mistaken. Typically, the top four or so candidates from each subfield are invited to Emory's campus for in-person interviews (all expenses paid). These interviews are competitive and usually 50% of the in-person candidates are offered admission. I knew somebody once with a Zoom interview to Emory, but they were not offered admission as there were four in-person candidates in addition to this individual. This person seemed lower on the short list than the other candidates that were at Emory for the in-person interview weekend (i.e., they did not seem to be as strong of a candidate as the rest). Other schools, like Duke (GPR), PTS, and UChicago, invite you to campus only after you have been admitted into the PhD program (though some subfields at these schools may or may not offer video interviews). It is still quite early. I did see an Emory interview posted already, but if I remember correctly, I think the convener of each subfield is responsible for sending out these offers. That means that interview requests may not come out at the same time for all subfields at Emory. Hope that helps!

As noted above, if you applied to the GPR, all decisions were released last week - including acceptances, waitlists, and rejections. If you have not heard yet you should check your spam folder or log into to the portal to check. If no decision is there, that is an anomaly and you should contact the graduate director or your POI to see what happened.

You clearly have the credentials to go far regardless of the decision you make. Even just on the merit of being a University of Chicago undergraduate you will do well (where one does their undergraduate degree matters more than one might think - i.e. while most Top Tier Divinity Schools have high admissions rates, the same is not true of those same schools at the undergraduate level, so it will speak to your ability). For you, I think the question will be where you want to do your PhD. If you want to go to Notre Dame, they have a strong propensity to prefer their own internal candidates, though outstanding external candidates also do well. As long as you perform strongly in your MTS/MAR by earning high marks, acquiring strong letters of recommendation, and working early to produce a stellar writing sample, the difference may honestly be negligible since you already have a very strong profile. Also, I would advise you to pick your top three schools where you want to do your PhD and start networking now. I cannot overemphasize the utility of knowing the professors you want to work with before you apply. By this, I mean more than just meeting at conferences (though I do not mean less than that). Visit the schools in person if you can a year ahead of time and find ways to remain in touch (just not in an annoying way lol). I am an outsider to the field of ethics, so I will pose some questions and statements for consideration that I cannot answer: (1) Who has the more renowned professors in your field? These are the letters of recommendation that will have the power to open doors. If both institutions are about equal, then it may come down to which faculty align with your current project or interests. (2) Notre Dame expects their MTS students to teach. This could add a nice touch to your CV come PhD application time. On the other hand, Yale is an Ivy League School and it will pop off the page too. (3) Notre Dame is close to the University of Chicago - while it may be a bit tricky due to the time zone change and commute, you can likely take classes at U of C if you go to Notre Dame. This can be a foot in the door if U of C is in your purview for the PhD. Richard Miller is a fine fellow, truly one of the kindest and most erudite people I know (I had to take an ethics class during my AM at Chicago), and you would be very fortunate to work with him. (4) Where do you want to live? I know this may not be the most important consideration, but it is important nonetheless, and it is worth noting that South Bend is considerably different than New Haven. You should enjoy your MA program (and your PhD, for that matter). As a fellow UChicago alum who also appreciated their commitment to free speech, I wish you the best, and please feel free to message me if you have any further questions or comments.

I cannot say for sure, though the Admissions Committee Chair reached out to me personally last night via email to let me know about my status. I guess my rationale for assuming that acceptances have also gone out is that most schools do not let waitlisted applicants know before their admitted applicants, or at the very least, they let both groups know at the same time. That could be a flawed line of thinking though! It's hard to say this year because CSR probably only took ~4 people, so there is a good chance that the accepted students did not post their results.

Many congratulations to those who were accepted to Harvard yesterday! Out of courtesy for those on the waitlist, if you know for sure already where you will attend—whether it be Harvard or a comprobable institution (The University of Chicago, Stanford, Northwestern, Yale, Duke, etc.)—if you could make that decision as soon as you know and have peace about your decision it would greatly help those of us in limbo ? No pressure of course, and congratulations again!!

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well during this intermediate period. I know how difficult this process can be, and the worst part is when there is nothing left that you can do—except wait (are we not conditioned to do everything we possibly can to increase our chances of admittance?). Indeed, what is even worse is when schools keep you in the dark until the last minute, especially when they have already made decisions behind the scenes. It is also not helpful that Grad Cafe has incomplete data, meaning that not everybody who gets an interview or offer of acceptance posts it. Ergo, I have gone back and forth about whether I would comment on this thread, because I have an aversion to coming off the wrong way (you can imagine how people may incorrectly interpret one's post as bragging, especially with such a sensitive topic as this). Notwithstanding, since I myself hate the guessing game and speculating what may or may not be happening behind the scenes, I thought I would share some information that I happen to be privy to. (1) Notre Dame Theology interview invites went out today. My friend, who applied, received an interview request with the faculty this afternoon (done virtually this year instead of in-person). Typically, at least from my understanding, ND sends out their invites in one batch, which may trickle out throughout the day and perhaps into the next day. I did not apply to ND, but it is a great program, and I hope some of you got invites. (2) The University of Virginia is taking students this year. Last year, the JCA subfield had two offers fall through, so I expect that they will get one of the reduced spots this year. I could be wrong about this, but this seems to make good, logical sense. I cannot speak to any of the other subfields. I personally did not apply, but I figured some of you might like to know this. (3) I am the Hebrew Bible admit to Duke University's PhD in Religious Studies (GPR). I was also interviewed for the Th.D., and the phrasing of the email that was sent seems to suggest that the short-list for the Th.D. has already been established. The day after I interviewed for the Th.D. I received the news about the GPR, meaning I am holding out hope that they will take a OT/HB Th.D. student. If I do matriculate at Duke, it would fantastic to have a colleague to take classes with. Truly, I am pulling for an additional admit. The exact phrasing of the Th.D. interview offer was as follows: "Dear X, The Th.D. Admissions committee has established its short list of applicants for 2021. As the next stage in the process, we invite you to meet for 30-40 minutes via Zoom video conference with two members of the Admissions Committee. This will give you an opportunity to talk in greater depth about the fit of your research interests with Duke's Th.D. Program as well as to ask any questions you may have." I counted sixteen interviewees who filled out the form, including myself. On another note, Duke's GPR only took 6 students total this year (usually 10-12), and applications were at an all time high, meaning that the admittance rate was <2.5%. I anticipate that this is the case at most institutions, and that these numbers are reflected broadly. This means several things: (1) A rejection is not a comment on your ability as a student. The odds were never in one's favor, and this is even more so the case this year. (2) If you do receive an offer, you should be extremely thankful. My sources tell me that PTS is only taking three (yes, three) Ph.D. students this year. That means most subfields will not get a slot. If it helps, my MA is from the University of Chicago and my BA from a top-tier undergraduate institution and I still felt that I would ultimately be rejected given the financial impact of Covid. There are never any guarantees in this process, especially this year. If it does not work out for you this year, I highly encourage you to give it another go around next year. That seems like enough for now. Truly, I wish you all the best of luck. Maybe I will meet some of you next year.