idanceliketaffy

Congrats Philmajor! That's fantastic! Hope you find many fun ways to celebrate - you deserve it!

My update... I met with HDS admissions Thursday, concerning my application. What I was told was that there was a 10% increase in applications this year, and that most of the applicants are "self-selecting", which apparently means that they have the credentials to go pretty much anywhere, but all choose to apply to Harvard, therefore, even though they have a 50% admissions rate, it is still a competitive applicant pool. In regards to my specific application, I was told that my grades were "excellent" and it is "clear that you would thrive at Harvard", but that to make my application stronger, I should submit GRE scores and a writing sample ("to illustrate the work you could produce at HDS"). Honestly, GRE scores and the writing sample were listed as "optional"...so it kind of sucks that my application was "solid" except for the optional parts of the application. The reason I didn't submit what was "optional" the first time was that I was simply too busy taking graduate classes and teaching two undergraduate classes to revise a writing sample or study for the GRE. But, now that I'm rejected from everywhere and have nothing but time, I won't have that excuse the second time around. I cannot tell you how heartbreaking it is to hear: "yes, you're qualified, but we just didn't choose you."

I did exactly this in my personal statement. I basically provided the context of why I chose to pursue Jewish Studies, and what led me to philology, what languages I've taken, et cetera. I was not afraid that my interest would seem random, as it is a logical progression of narrowing interest from Religion --> Jewish Studies --> Hebrew Bible --> Semitic Philology. Semitic Philology is typically an emphasis in the broader field of Hebrew Bible, so they are connected in many ways. It makes sense to me, and it was a decent personal statement to me (maybe not to the ad coms), but I showed it to loads of people for constructive criticism, including my friend who is getting her PhD in linguistics. Regardless, I'm discussing my application with HDS this week, so I don't make the same mistakes that I did before (whatever they happen to be) when I reapply to programs this fall. I also am thinking of other alternatives to academia, like archaeology digs, et cetera. We'll see what happens.

I didn't apply to a PhD because I consulted with different professors in my field (Levenson, Brettler, and two others) and they all agreed that my application would be stronger with a second M.A., specifically to focus on more language acquisition. I want to specialize in Semitic philology, and my M.A. in Jewish Studies was extremely interdisciplinary, so I don't have as strong of a background in linguistics that is expected at the PhD level in philology. And also that during my second M.A., I should try to publish / present, since I would have a stronger writing sample after developing my M.A. thesis.

I applied to the Oxford MSt....a one year program. I explained in my Personal Statement the reason for undertaking a second M.A. would be, in addition to taking more courses about the history of Ancient Israel (my M.A. in Jewish Studies was very interdisciplinary--I had to take course in Rabbinics/Jewish Thought/Jewish History), I could use the NELC dept. to make my knowledge of language a bit broader by taking Akkadian, et cetera PLUS using the SLP program to take Greek (my statement was stronger than my incoherent ramblings right now). I talked to Jon Levenson (over the summer) who suggested that I apply for the M.A. instead of the Ph.D because I didn't have Greek.

In Jewish Studies, with a concentration on Hebrew Bible. And yes, I will be contacting the programs once I can talk about the application without crying.

I also will not be attending HDS MTS (Hebrew Bible). Or Oxford. Or Hebrew University. I'm not entirely sure what to do with my life now. I'm 100K in debt from undergrad / financing my masters (specifically to get into the MTS at Harvard). I have a 3.8 Masters GPA I have three years of Biblical Hebrew, two years of Modern Hebrew, 1 year of German, and 1 semester of Biblical Aramaic. I have been an adjunct for a semester in English 101 and an upper-division Religion course (Pentateuch) at a small, liberal arts college. I've taken courses with "famous" people in my field. I literally sold most of my possessions to finance a move from Illinois to Boston, to use the libraries here to finish my thesis (which I am preparing for publication submission) and "make connections", and am too broke to move back and eventually have to start paying loans off because I won't be in school in the fall. I have done everything "right" that I'm supposed to do. I have worked full-time supporting myself in undergrad and in my grad program. I'm really tired of balancing everything, only to get rejected for everything that I apply for (first a Fulbright last year, now grad programs this year). And, how am I supposed to get into top PhD programs, if I can't even get into another M.A. program? Any suggestions?