Another "Stats Needed for PhD Admissions" Query

[rejectedndejected]

Marth, your reply is intriguing...  What sort of abilities/experience are you supposing qualifies as "research skills" necessary for doctoral programs?  You mean languages, experience writing intensive papers, actual library know-how, etc.?  Please, elaborate, if you have a chance. 

[msdb]

You may have already said this in part of the above conversation (I was skimming to catch up), but in case it hasn’t been said — have you asked your questions of the DGS or POI at the places you’re applying? It sounds like some people here are knowledgeable your program, but I still think it’s worth asking what you need to have a competitive application. Maybe a DGS will just point you to a list of minimum requirements to apply (not super helpful), but I was able to figure out what my GRE scores and language proficiencies actually needed to be to have a realistic shot in talking to a DGS. 

[MarthUser]

12 hours ago, rejectedndejected said:

Marth, your reply is intriguing...  What sort of abilities/experience are you supposing qualifies as "research skills" necessary for doctoral programs?  You mean languages, experience writing intensive papers, actual library know-how, etc.?  Please, elaborate, if you have a chance. 

So because I do history of religion, it requires familiarity with working in archives, familiarity with historiography (how previous scholars wrote about the subject), and knowing how to use primary sources to build a historical argument. Despite being in a religion department and not having a strong-scholarly argument regarding the category of "religion," my admission into the department revolved around having the tools to do the research required by my sub-field, not necessarily just having a good thesis/proposal.

My seminary professors emphasized the importance of languages for Biblical Studies, but I've spoken to PhD students in early Christianity/Temple Judaism who mention that languages actually don't matter too much. With that in mind, it might be helpful to see what other people in other sub-fields/disciplines sense might be their equivalent.

[rejectedndejected]

Does anyone know if Notre Dame offers rejected (but viably close) PhD applicants acceptance into its funded MTS program ever/often/never (assuming the applicant has another MA in theology)?

[Geistsubjekt]

@rejectedndejected I, too, am applying to liturgical studies at Notre Dame. I had a phone meeting with one of the top professor in liturgical studies there a couple of months ago, and he told me that all LS students must know Greek, Latin, French, & German by the end of it. The LS track, he said, is heavily historical even if you want to end up focusing on liturgical theology or ritual studies at the end of the day. However, he made it sound like it's not unheard of for successful applicants only to have one of the aforementioned languages (or just partial competency in two or three of them...which is my case). Students who are lacking faculty in languages can arrive on campus early to do summer language course(s).

Beyond languages, he told me that LS gets about 24 applicants each year. They select four for campus visits and then offer two applicants admission. 

[rejectedndejected]

49 minutes ago, Geistsubjekt said:

@rejectedndejected I, too, am applying to liturgical studies at Notre Dame. I had a phone meeting with one of the top professor in liturgical studies there a couple of months ago, and he told me that all LS students must know Greek, Latin, French, & German by the end of it. The LS track, he said, is heavily historical even if you want to end up focusing on liturgical theology or ritual studies at the end of the day. However, he made it sound like it's not unheard of for successful applicants only to have one of the aforementioned languages (or just partial competency in two or three of them...which is my case). Students who are lacking faculty in languages can arrive on campus early to do summer language course(s).

Beyond languages, he told me that LS gets about 24 applicants each year. They select four for campus visits and then offer two applicants admission. 

Awesome.  Thanks for the info.  I actually visited there recently and sat down with a few of my POIs, and they said the same sorts of things.  Although, I did not know that they get 24 applicants each year for LS--I would've suspected fewer.  

Where are you doing your M* degree? And how are your other "stats"? (if you don't mind divulging--I am curious what sorts of folks are applying). 

 

[rejectedndejected]

Also, you should note that they are very big on liturgiology at ND with the current folks