Dumbyguppy

I too got rejected, haha, after the interview for HDS' MTS! I will finish my master's in one of my other top-choice and try HDS' MDiv path after that if learning ministry work will help my religious community. Currently, I just want to learn the methods of studying religion academically first.

Thank you all very much for your suggestions!! Now after a while, I feel I was shocked by the way they deal with applications (they didn't do the service they promised...), rather than the rejection itself. It is a grace. The program is way too expensive for a master's, I applied to them because they have a faculty in another department that touches my subject deeply and I submitted early merely because I was too lazy to urge my mentor. I decided to let it go, and pay attention never turn in my application too early next time 😭 For anyone who may see this in the future, I hope it can save some pocket money.

It's Columbia. The deadline is March 21, but they said we could submit the application earlier without all the recommendation letters, and they receive letters no later than two weeks after the deadline. The program needs three letters and at least two of them have to be academic. The two letters had been uploaded, one of them probably could not be academic because I asked it from my film major art faculty. It seems like now they are on a rolling basis. I submitted early because I checked their website and my advisor prefers to submit letters late at night. I was worried I would miss that. The school has a tiny note of some free-stranding masters that may be on a rolling basis but does not mention which ones, nor their religion program does. Geese. But if I knew that's how it works, I would not pay my $120 for this😂

My third recommender, my undergraduate advisor, has not sent her letter yet......

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Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad that I could help you in some ways 😆

I feel 3.0-3.5 is still a decent gpa for divinity schools, plus you seem have clear motives and good SOP. It should be fine if your writing sample did not have much citations, they prefer the analysis part made by you because they just want to know your ability of thinking.

Hi, Andyroo. How are your other materials? If they are not important, the schools won’t ask for them.

Hi, I applied to MTS

I know I know, this process is SO stressful, yesterday I told my friend it's kinda like a reprieve...I saw your other posts, Boabdil, and I think you are doing great ;D

Sure. There was an email titled "HDS Application Completed" on 1/16.

Thank you, Boabdil!!!

Hi dear people! I got the invitation minutes ago. Today is the first day of Chinese New Year. IDK if they did this on purpose to someone who studies East Asian religions, but to be honest, after staying up all night for the festival and woke up seeing the invitation lying in the email box, I felt so blessed and almost wanted to cry… I know that it’s a hard time to hang on there for waiting, so, wish you all the best and please feel free to ask me if you need more information!

Yes, it feels better to get an email like that. Now every day I am thinking probably I did not state my purpose clearly in the SOP or made some other mistakes...

Congratulations, memoriah_7!!! Wishing you the best!

Thank you for your kind words, SWEtoMDiv! It has been kinda hard for me to deal with the family issue, but I guess that's why I'm so enthusiastic about my research subject🤗 Oh wow, same! Checking email eight hundred times a day even if I knew it would not come at this time LOL

Hi, SWEtoMDiv. Hope this reply finds you well. Thank you so much for sharing your precious experience with us, I'm glad that someone responded to the thread and we got a place to share our thoughts. Just according to those old posts, I think you made a good choice--you efficiently managed your time to focus on one program(and it is a good choice) and prepared well! I applied to eight schools, from top tiers to backups, not each one of them aligns with my research direction well, but I don't know where else to go either. Unfortunately, in my thesis(which is also my writing sample...) I criticized some top scholars in the field of East Asian Studies for their research methodologies, and more disastrously, my research interest is Confucianism...where authority is extremely important, particularly among the community members. Besides, those who study Confucianism just simply retired. So my choices are limited. I got my BA in Religious Studies and BFA in Animation last year with a 3.58 GPA and a Latin Honor from a private university, but I did not have enough energy to take the GRE after finishing two theses and continuing to search for a job and at the same time deal with my psychiatric sister who lives with me.🥲 Despite having strong materials (SOP, Letters, the writing sample, and excellent classical language fluency), I'm worried about being unable to get into a suitable program and get more loans before I start a formal job. My family is not that supportive of my passion for researching, probably they are right because it is a field with a throat-cutting job market. Being an animator or a lawyer will definitely live an easier life, but I don't think my autism allows me to have that before the job gives me burnout. Currently, to distract myself from this nervous process, I decided to take some social work classes. Hope they work and bring me some new views. So, yes, fingers crossed. I really, really want to pursue higher education under the guidance of knowledgeable people in the field. Wishing you all the best!

Ok, I cannot bear the waiting alone anymore. It was fine before I saw the post in the forum, but after seeing it just made me nervous. How is everyone doing? Where have you applied? Which subfield are you interested in? What are your concerns? What's your background? What's your plan? etc. I'm interested in East Asian Religion and Gender Studies and I'm applying to several MAs in RS plus HDS' MTS. However, now I'm kinda worried that the topic probably seemed cliche for those programs, especially in this track...I'm also worried about not taking the GRE and having a not competitive GPA. I prefer to pursue a teaching and researching career, but due to cultural considerations, I probably would end up in a law school if did not get into a suitable M* program.🤪

I have not heard from them. Now I'm getting increasingly nervous and starting to recall any mistake or wrong choice I made in the application. I also have not heard from other schools either.

Hey, that's fine. I saw in the result someone got the interview on Jan 27th. They are doing their work!

I think your experiences look great and your study field is fascinating🤗

Emmm. Sorry, I check their FAQ part, and an interview is still requested. "Invitations and more information about the interview process will be provided to applicants starting in late January/early February. " Maybe they want to send the information separately this year? IDK...

Thank you, memoriah_7. I think you brought up a good point. My "your application is completed" did not mention that either. I went to one open-house event but I really cannot remember. I just checked their webpage of admission information, interestingly, they did not mention the interview at this point.

You, too! 🥰 Found no thread this year, but just looking at the ones from past years made me kind of overwhelmed.

Same here, curious and nervous.