aselfmadewinter

Out of curiosity, were you successful, philwomen2014? I ask because I was waitlisted with a score slightly lower than that.

Well, turns out Canada Post delivered my mail to a neighbour's house, but the neighbour was kind enough to bring the mail over in the evening. Turns out I've been waitlisted, though with a comparatively good score just below some of the successful applicants. I'm going to accept my OGS offer, though I'll have it start in September, just in case I am lucky enough to get off the waitlist.

Congrats to those who have been successful!

I'm in the GTA and still waiting on a letter. Has anyone from McMaster heard anything from the SGS yet? I'm a bit nervous because I heard about OGS on Friday, and the timing of that (admittedly very good) news is a bit suspicious. I've been wondering if my SGS decided to hand out OGS to higher ranked unsuccessful SSHRC candidates once they had heard from SSHRC. Ugh, the wait is killing me.

I have no idea about NSERC, since I'm in the Faculty of Social Sciences. I was notified this past Friday.

I go to McMaster, and I can confirm that (at least some) OGS recipients have been notified.

I just got a (hilariously?) misleading e-mail from my School of Graduate Studies. It had SSHRC in the title, so I opened it immediately without reading very carefully... only to discover that it was a letter informing me that I had won OGS. "SSHRC" was in brackets, presumably because the letter also contained information on what to do if I also receive SSHRC. Uuggggghhhhh... still waitin' on that letter. I guess I should be clear that I'm still pleased about getting OGS.

If you're alright with going outside of the US, the Toronto School of Theology (University of Toronto) has a very strong theology program, particularly at St. Michael's and Regis. If the combination of philosophy and theology is your thing, Regis might be worth consideration as it may well be the best place to study Lonergan anywhere in the world.

I think Wheaton offers funding... I'm not entirely sure about that, but I remember looking into it briefly at one point and I think I remember something about it having funding for PhDs. Wheaton, if memory serves me right, is pretty evangelical. I also know that Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto is very evangelical friendly. If you're willing to go outside of the U.S., the Toronto School of Theology at U of T is, in general, not a bad place to be an evangelical.

If I were in your position, I would probably apply to a few PhD programs, but I would also consider applying to some MA programs. You might be able to find some great references and put together an excellent writing sample, and maybe get into a PhD program, but it might be difficult because most schools have minimum GPA requirements for PhD programs. Now, I don't know what it's like south of the border, but in Canada, an MA degree is always preferred over an MDiv, and often, it's a must-have for admission. That could be different in the U.S., but if you want to be able to demonstrate that you can be a capable researcher at a doctoral level, doing an MA is an excellent way to do that. MAs usually require you to write a thesis along with your coursework, and writing a good thesis is a pretty good way to demonstrate your abilities as a researcher at a graduate level. So, my recommendation is that you consider an MA. MAs are also usually pretty short, so it might not even be too much of a detour. The only thing to consider is that MA programs are rarely funded, and scholarships and even TAships are hard to come by, so they can be financially difficult. Anyways, good luck to you in whatever you decide!

I'll PM you some advice as well, if that's okay. Hopefully I'll see you both at McMaster next year. I'm getting excited about September now.

Oddly enough, I hadn't checked this board in a while, but figured I'd do so on a whim today. I'll answer you via PM, if that's okay.

Thanks! Best of luck to you too!

I've heard very unofficially that I'm not going to get in to RelStud at Toronto, which is a little bit of a bummer because the funding for Theology at Toronto isn't really viable for me. Not that it matters because I accepted McMaster's offer. I'm definitely excited to do some coursework there on the DSS. Have you heard from Mac yet? It's past their deadline for their first round as of today, so you might hear from them. I know international applicants sometimes have trouble getting in to Toronto and Mac though.

Yep! Let's hope it was the right choice, anyhow. UBC might be beautiful, but Mac has the better recognized program. Hamilton might not sound as cool, but I've been there, and it's got its perks. What field are you going into?