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?

Is anyone else headed to McMaster this year? I know there's a bunch of admits and rejections on the results page, so... who's heading to the Hammer next year?

I think I'm ready to say that I'll be going to McMaster next year. I'm pretty excited for coursework with Dr. Schuller on the Dead Sea Scrolls! I know there were others here on the board that said that they haven't heard from Mac or haven't been accepted, but are there any others who did and are planning on attending?

Mac's generally science oriented, with the very notable exception of Religious Studies. When I was at UofT for my undergrad, we were often assigned a lot of the work of current faculty at Mac for readings and such. Mac's been strong in Religious Studies since its founding, since it started as a Divinty college.

LIke Rock Lobster, I'm a bit stuck too, and I'm trying to choose between two funded PhDs, one at an established program (McMaster) and one at a new program at a highly ranked schools (UBC). Does anyone know anything at all about UBC's Religious Studies program? I know no one who has gone there, so it's very difficult to tell.

I'm down to a week to decide between fully funded offers for a Religious Studies PhD at McMaster and UBC! I applied only within Canada, and I've managed to whittle my choices down to these two. Does anyone have any particular opinions about these schools? UBC's Religious Studies PhD is very new, and has an unproven reputation. It's difficult to tell whether or not it will be easy to get a job with UBC's PhD because of its newness. McMaster, however, has a firmly established program with a great hiring rate. Any advice here would be appreciated. My current faculty members have given me very mixed opinions, and it's been very difficult to make a decision.

Has anyone on the waitlist for Toronto Religion heard anything yet? I was told they'd make final decisions on the 18th, but I've heard nothing from them yet.

I'm thinking about going to McMaster for my PhD, even though I've been accepted at UofT, UBC and McGill. McMaster is definitely one of Canada's top schools, but it seems like it gets discussed more in some fields than others. My own field, Religious Studies, is one in which it has some clout, whereas UBC, for example, might be a bit greener. Mac's a great school. I've had a lot of people acting surprised when I told them I was considering Mac even though I had acceptances to the big three, but most people outisde of your field don't know much at all about the specifics of your discipline, whereas you should (by the time you get to a PhD at least!) know a lot about it. According to the THE rankings, it's fourth in Canada, although rankings really don't matter too much in the long run anyhow.

I don't know the policy, sorry. I would probably let them know the situation, though. I was talking to the adcom chair there last week and he said that if I needed more time, they'd extend my deadline by a week or so because he knew I had other admits. I suppose I'm not surprised that funding is limited for international students, I think that's generally just what happens at Canadian schools. Admissions and funding tend to be competitive in general for internationals. Is McMaster one of your top choices? If it is, I'd let them that you're seriously considering them, and they'll probably be willing to extend your deadline. Chances are, they'll try to fund you if possible. It seems like they really consider funding their PhDs a priority, but who knows. Do you mind me asking what field you're in? I'm almost certainly going there next year, barring McGill changing their minds about funding, and I'm kind of interested to see who else is interested in going.

There's nothing in the admissions letter about deferral, but that doesn't mean you can't defer. As for funding, I'm pretty sure McMaster guarantees PhD students funding, sort of like a Canadian Notre Dame or something. I read that somewhere on their graduate studies website. EDIT: here's what I found: http://graduate.mcma...te-scholarships Not bad at all.

Nothing from the Religion department at Toronto. I thought they were going to send the rejections for the waitlisters today, but I guess they're still waiting on some people? No idea. I think I've settled on McMaster. Great faculty plus high hiring statistics for PhD graduates and excellent funding make it seem like a winner to me. I know Mac's decision deadline for the first round of acceptees is March 31, so you might hear from them after that.