Religion PhD - Results Page

[mconsul]

This is a message I got from someone in UVA's Religion dept about two weeks ago.

Our admissions has been meeting on a regular basis to review and discuss applications for over a month now. Decisions will be made this month, and we should be sending out notifications on acceptance/denials around late February or early March via US mail.

[Stud. Theol.]

Thanks mconsul,

Did you have to bug them for that information or did they send it to you unprompted?

[Stud. Theol.]

Does anyone have a sense for Claremont's "rank" among the top schools of religion/theology in the US?

Of course, by top I'm thinking of the standard bearers like Duke, Chicago, Vanderbilt and Emory. I'm looking at the philosophy or religion and theology program there so I'm concentrating on Christian systematics/dogmatics and relevant philosophical issues.

Would any of you consider Claremont in the same tier or close by?

[rafnow]

I expect everyone has a different opinion on this. I think Claremont is a solid second-tier school, but not in the first tier with the ones you mentioned  I've also heard funding can be an issue, but I could be wrong.

[Stud. Theol.]

Yes, I've heard the same about funding at Claremont, which makes me nervous.

Thanks

[GSStudent]

Yes, I've heard the same about funding at Claremont, which makes me nervous.

Thanks

I have two friends who were admitted in separate years, but received no funding. I am not sure who does get funding since they were well qualified applicants.

[Stud. Theol.]

Sorry to be utterly naive here but is it possible to do a full-time Ph.D. without funding? If not, then why would schools even admit anyone they couldn't support?

This is a very serious worry for me since I have a wife and 4 kids!

[religionstudent]

Hi,

I've already been to Emory's visitation weekend last week, still waiting for final decision, my potential adviser told me to expect good news soon.

Also heard from Duke that I was accepted, only person in my specialization in the Religion Dept.

Accepted to UNC-CH but still waiting to hear details of funding package

Accepted to Dept. Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan but still waiting for further funding details

[GSStudent]

Impressive. What is your "specialization" religionstudent?

[Stud. Theol.]

I guess I'm full of questions: So if I don't get an invitation to interview can I assume I'm not getting in?

[Morgenstern]

You can assume this at Emory, but not at most other places. 

[Morgenstern]

Also, a word on the funding issue: there are people who are accepted into PhD programs in the Humanities as full time students without funding. In my opinion it is madness to do this given job prospects on the other side (especially in Philosophy of Religion/Theology). If you're rich, have a trust fund, or a partner that's willing to support you then maybe it's another story. Most of the programs that people on this thread are curious about offer full funding with admission. I've heard that Chicago admits a few PhD students every year without full funding, although I think this has changed (maybe someone more familiar with Chicago can speak to this).

[Wgrad]

I was admitted to Claremont two years ago, in the Philosophy of Religion track. They offered me a half-tuition scholarship. I think tuition was about 30K/year, and they would give me 15K of that. This meant I had to come up with 15K/year plus living expenses. Needless to say, I turned it down.

From my understanding, there were two people offered full-tuition scholarships that year, two people offered half-tuition, and the other people admitted didn't get anything. So, no one received any living stipend.

The problem is that Claremont is not tied to any undergrad institution, and therefore has no teaching to give you in exchange for funding. Nor does it have much of an endowment. The school is graduate only, and relatively broke.

[Wgrad]

Can anyone offer their impression of U. of Iowa's reputation in religious studies?

Someone said they viewed Clarmeont as a solid second-tier school. Would you put Iowa on par with Claremont? Or do you view Iowa as lesser than this?

[rafnow]

The NRC ranking of doctoral programs in religion had Claremont at ~20 and Iowa ~26. That's more than 10 years old now, so things may have changed. I think Iowa does have a pretty good reputation in certain areas. All depends on what you're trying to do.

[Stud. Theol.]

I recently came across two (very informal) discussions about religion rankings. They actually both focus on Christian theology (witha slightly conservative bent), so if anyone finds themselves more-or-less in the Nicene tradition then these may be valuable as far as rough opinions go:

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=447

http://prosblogion.ektopos.com/archives ... e-tgr.html

Also, regarding the NRC rankings, I did read a footnote somewhere that new rankings for religion were supposed to come out this month. I'm not sure if that's true, however.

[rafnow]

I think the new NRC rankings have been pushed back several times and now are due out "early Spring", but I could be wrong.

[sarah4153]

I see someone posted an acceptance letter from UCSB in the results page. I'm waiting to hear and I think a couple of you might be as well. I haven't heard anything. :|

[GSStudent]

I saw that too. I haven't heard anything yet. The end of January...that's early!

[sarah4153]

The end of January...that's early!

Well, they have had our apps since December 1st! :-D

[Stud. Theol.]

Anyone hear from Virginia?

[sarah4153]

Anyone hear from Virginia?

No, but your post made me check the website again! :-)

[cmmimg]

This is in response to the people talking about University of Chicago-Divinity on the results page (I thought I'd move it here to not complicate the results board).

I was told in an email from Chicago a bit over a week ago that they would notify in mid-March. Furthermore, I was told today by a fellow applicant who was in recent communication with Chicago that they said they notify only via post, both for rejections and acceptance. They will send letters on March 6 or 7, which means they should reach us all a bit later.

[Philmajor]

Thank Cmmimg - do you have any information on how they make decisions. Do they accept/reject internal applicants and then move to external? Perhaps everyone is in the same pile :?

[Stud. Theol.]

Sarah,

Did you, by chance, land an interview with the UVA faculty? I got to meet Jones, Hart, and sit in on a class with Mathews. They are a very cordial bunch.