I'm a current student at Harvard Divinity School, applying this cycle, and the professors are shockingly gossipy. Here's what's going on from my conversations with professors on the committee and other students:
1) There are 6 spots this year. This was confirmed by multiple sources.
2) Almost 200 people applied.
3) The 14 areas of study met individually and each put forward 1-2 applicants (ranked) for the full committee. There were 26 people on this shortlist.
4) They allegedly started reviewing shortlist people on Feb 13 and made final decisions on Feb 18.
5) A Jewish Studies professor yesterday told his class that someone from a previous HDS class had been admitted. It is not clear whether this means that acceptances were sent out and rejections have not yet been sent or whether nothing's been sent and this professor was just airing this student's business unofficially. As far as I know, no other current HDS students have heard anything positive or negative.
6) Two years ago, everyone admitted to the Religion PhD was an HDS student. Apparently, recommenders from other schools got mad and said they would stop recommending for Harvard if this didn't change. Since then, about half of the admits have been HDS. This doesn't mean much, since it was just one cycle, but we're expecting 2-3 of the admits to be current or former HDS students.
7) They don't interview, so nobody needs to freak out about not being interviewed.
Anyway, I know this isn't calming anyone's anxiety, but I thought I'd share what we know. I hope everyone gets in somewhere they like this cycle. It's been a brutal year.
