doobiebrothers

Because now that apps are in and we're in limbo, I have too much time on my hands and too much anxiety to do anything of value. These stats/graphs are rough estimates as I entered the data by hand and definitely lost my place a few times. (You'll also notice I left out a leap year.) This data is only for PhD programs in history, based on the results survey. Obviously, there is a lot of selection bias and problems with this data, but I wasn't a math major so what do I know. I just did the past five cycles because I thought the economic crash of 2009 and pre-crash data might be irrelevant. Also, the data is very dependent on schools, so hopefully in the coming weeks I'll produce acceptances/rejections/WL per date for a bunch of the schools. My goal is to help reassure people and so we can anticipate when results might arrive. Granted, as we all know, the past doesn't predict the future, but it can help us anticipate what might come.
 

 
Please note that the average acceptance rate over this period is roughly 35%. Sure, some schools are harder to get into than others, this is a heavily biased sample group, and the process isn't random, but I found that number quite reassuring.
 
More to come...

Hey everyone, I'm a history major in South Carolina and have sent out 7 applications (from December 5 to January 15) to a bunch of history phd programs throughout the east coast (primarily the North East). I have a good gpa (3.9), but my GRE scores (especially in math) left something to be desired (though my English score was pretty good). I think my recommendation letters were positive, and I have an article awaiting publication in a SC journal on medical history. With all that said, I'm freaking out--imagining the worst possibility that no schools will accept me (especially considering my interest is in a niche section of colonial history called Atlantic world). My schools I have applied to so far are: U Penn, William and Mary, UNH, UCT, NYU, U Pittsburgh, and Johns Hopkins. My question is what are the chances I could get rejected from all these schools? I'm prone to think of the worst possibility before I have received any news. I recently got a rejection from the Fulbright program to study in England, so now I'm worrying a train of other rejections will come.
 
Signed,
 
Someone Who Needs to Calm Down  

Never mind. Got an email. Got IN!      I cant believe it.

I have cancer and am currently going through chemo.  I have not taken any time off, but did take a couple incompletes that I am finalizing and that will not be posted until after I submit transcripts.  None of my applications have any 'additional info' spaces.  However, I have had long-term dialogue with all my POIs - even from before my diagnosis.  They have kind of seen me go through it.  I have been very upfront and honest with them all from the beginning because it has affected my ability to visit campuses, and even had me reconsider applications.  With that said, they all told me to put that in my SOP - 4 schools told me to!  Why? because it helps contextualize any struggle you have had to overcome during your schooling, and if you still walked away with good GPA etc, it shows dedication and resilience.  I left it out of one (my top choice school), and my POI had volunteered to edit my SOP - he sent it back to me and told me to include at least one sentence explaining my cancer situation - that it prevented me from applying last year, affected my GRE score since I had to take it during chemo, and why I am resolving incompletes on my record.  I have always had feedback that disclosing a hardship is nothing to hide. It shouldn't be the focus, but cancer is no joke.  Seriously, if you are going to be working with these people for several years as you develop research, they need to know who you are, and how hard you are willing to work regardless of the situation you are in.  Also remember that adcomms and faculty are people too...many have been through serious things in their own life...cancer, disability, divorce, etc etc.  They are not immune, and many can relate to you.  They can look at you and say...hey, this student is a trooper...
 
I also know, as a cancer inflicted person, that we all deal with our cancers differently.  Many people are very private about their experience, and that is what you might need to do for your own personal reasons.  It depends on what you are comfortable with, but I guess my point is to not be ashamed of it, and not hide your experience with it, for anyone else. You went through it and it made you stronger and you are still pushing through your academics, and that is an accomplishment that not only you should be proud of, but in my opinion bears more weight than any academic success.
 
PM me if you would ever like to chat! I welcome the dialogue

For Qur'anic Arabic, W. M. Thackston's "Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic" is an old standard.  Also, while I've never used it, "Arabic through the Qur'an" by Alan Jones seems to garner positive reviews.

I'm pretty sure that's academia in general. We've chosen a career that fundamentally depends on our ability to grovel, schmooze, and otherwise convince people of our worth.  This is particularly true in the Humanities. 
 
Now in my fourth (and hopefully penultimate) year in a PhD program, all I can say is this: if you love it, nothing will be more fulfilling; if you don't love it, choose something else now!
 
But, on a positive note...GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!

I would not worry about it. Your friend said it best -- no one would waste their time writing 4 pages about someone they don't like! 

While not impossible, I think it is highly unlikely that he wrote four negative pages. I'd take it as a good sign. (I have experience with seemingly cold old-school German advisors; maybe it's something in the water there. But I know they wrote me very good letters, based on feedback I got from the people who read them. I have no idea how long they were, though).

my advice was included in the thread: don't go to Harvard, Drew, Vanderbilt or Emory. Duke might be a good option and Yale have some people you might be interested in working with (others definitely not...). I don't know about Chicago or Notre Dame and how the "theological relationships" might work over there between catholics-evangelicals and other denominations. And that is pretty much the situation regarding the top programs (meaning fully funded programs). Seminaries are a whole different world in which you might feel much more comfortable but again they are hardly funded.

I


I fully agree with both statements, but i don't see how the author "then clarified in the post itself". To quote the heading post: "I want to study under professors who love Jesus as the Lord of their lives". I still think that my observation applies to such a qualification. In any case, to further a bit the conversation, Drew and Vanderbilt do not belong to that kind "of Jesus lovers", probably not Emory either. Duke might have some of them.

Nobody sees a problem with the way the heading question is formulated? WHat does it mean to love Jesus? I know many people that "love Jesus" and stand on oppossites sites of the political/religious spectrum. If you mean "I want to study with mysoginists, homophobes and left-wing scholars, that's fine. Just say so...

Hi all,
 
I'm a sociology professor who's served on 8-10 admissions committees over the years, and have had several undergrads and masters students go on to fully funded PhD programs. I made this offer in the reddit gradadmissions subreddit last week and got a good response. So I'll do the same here: I'll answer any reasonable question related to graduate school applications and admissions. 
 
If you want to check my academic credentials, I'm here: http://unt.academia.edu/gabeignatow
 
Best of luck!
 
Gabe

GRE's don't make or break you, and your scores are fine. Good luck!

I agree with theophany that you want to put the best possible "you" forward that you can, so if you really don't feel ready, don't apply. I also agree that reapplication very much depends on the school.
 
I just want to add, though, that sometimes, you just need to apply even if you don't feel 100% ready--because maybe you really are ready. In other words, despite actually needing to be ready when you step foot on campus, as theophany says, for some it's really really hard to feel like you are even if by all accounts you really are. Academics, especially applicants and new PhD students, suffer from this sort of self doubt all the time. This situation may not be everyone's, but it was mine as I was trying to figure out when I should apply to PhD programs. When I was finishing my first MA (in English), I remember my thesis chair asked to meet with me when she found out I was going to apply to more M* programs instead of PhD programs. I had lots of reasons (i.e. wanting to change disciplines, become more interdisciplinary) but something she said really stood out to me. She asked me if I was scared to go on to a PhD. I thought that was ridiculous. She warned me though that she had seen other students of hers go down the road of earning M* after M* degree and never go on to a PhD. I just ignored her and went on to my second MA (which was definitely necessary for the PhD program I'm currently in).
 
I was finishing my seminary degree (my second MA) during my PhD app season, and a prof who was helping me hammer out the SOP suggested to me that I think about applying to a couple local (to Los Angeles) MA in philosophy programs just as a back up. I had also thought about the possibility of staying at the seminary for a ThM. That I felt some sense of comfort at her suggestion made me realize I was nervous that my prep wasn't strong enough. My MA in theology was the only formal training I'd had in religion at all. The thought of going on to yet another M* program seemed really comforting, and I felt pretty confident I could get into either the ThM at my seminary or one of the local philosophy departments whom I knew had taken students from my seminary before. It was at that point that I also realized I maybe was a little scared to apply because I didn't want to get rejected. I also realized that even though I had thought getting a third MA would give me more time to narrow in on a topic for my PhD apps, I just wasn't going to advance in my intellectual development if I didn't go on to a PhD program. The third MA would not have helped me write a better application to RS and theology programs I don't think. I resigned myself to apply only to PhD programs despite my self doubt, and like you, planned on giving myself two or three rounds to make it happen. I feel very lucky that I received offers on my first attempt. 
 
Your situation is obviously a little different, Marcian, but I say all this just as a reminder that it's a good idea to think very seriously about whether the potential holes in your application are actually holes or if they're self doubt. You've mentioned some concrete issues which may be unavoidable, but I would caution against running headlong into a second or third M* degree when you actually might have a legitimate shot at a PhD program (where they may force you to earn another MA anyway if it's RS.)

Just remember, some of those 3.9's will not be able to write to save their lives and will come off as people they don't want to work with either.
 
The advice I've gotten and given over the years is that the adcomm is made up of the people in your profession and academia in general. Think of how varied this group is. Now force them together to make a decision.
 
You'll be surprised at who is in your corner going to bat for you. For every prestige whore there's typically at least one "emotional buyer" who wont let the sob story with terrible scores be ignored. Play to your strengths when applying and hope you come off as interesting to a wide swath of people.
 
And for god's sake, don't write "ever since I was a child.."

go bruins!

move to morocco and get my PhD at the university of rabat with fatimah mernissi; I'll be living there all year (will be in Tangier when I get the admissions results, inshallah) and I'll be her research assistant on a book she's writing about Jinn. Maybe marry my Moroccan boo and just live in my paradise country for the rest of my life.
 
Although probably what I'll do if I don't get in (at least at first) is cry and blame God alot.

As an HDS MTSer, my opinion is GO WHERE THE MONEY IS. You will not regret it.

yay!  congrats! good to know people DO get off waitlists!

yay!  congrats! good to know people DO get off waitlists!

awells27, I would KILL to have been able to stay in Southern California! IU is doing you a favor. I did grow up around Pasadena, so I'm biased, but the Chicago winter this year was...horrifying. It snowed AGAIN today. I understand why my friends at Fuller who were from the Midwest ended up just staying in Pasadena. Go to UCLA. Stay warm forever. 

Accepted off wait list at Princeton Theological Seminary. Yay!!!! I got an informal email from DGS informing me to expect a formal offer! So happy. 

go bruins!

religion. No, I'm not hopeful for an admit this season (a little birdy tells me anyone lucky enough to get a harvard admit will go there), and I'm pretty settled in my life abroad; but it does feel much better than a rejection, and my POI was very nice--she basically said, do xyz and re-apply and it will all be good. inshallah.

waitlisted at harvard; they say it's a "shortlist;" is there anything to do at this point???