2020 Religion Application Thread

[Absurd'sTheWord]

Rejected from Brown University. Not cool, man, not cool. 

[Deep Fried Angst]

A couple people have asked for interview tips: 

• Be able to answer both why you want a graduate degree in the field and why you want a graduate degree in the field from that institution. The more specifics the better. Show the committee how you achieve the mysterious "fit" that every one talks about. Not why you want a Ph.D. but their Ph.D. 
• Part of fit is showing how your educational trajectory fits in with the research agendas of professor, but also be open about areas of weakness and what the program offers to equip you to be a more well rounded scholar. 
• Be able to describe the key influences on you scholarship. 
• If graduate program policies and procedures can be found online, read them and use them to boost your arguments: e.g., how many semesters do you teach, availability for cross-listed courses in other departments, placement ratings, institutional help for teaching (Preparing Future Faculty programs, etc.), that you can use to help boost your profile. If you can say A and B are my goals and the unique aspects of the department/university including X, Y, and Z will help my achieve them, you're doing it right. 
• Ask good questions: if the answer can be found on the department's website, it's a bad question. You can ask about how the professor's envision TA/prof relationships, their view of the atmosphere of the department/program, why they have chosen to commit to spend their academic lives at that institution (at least my interview committee loved that question), etc. 
• Be specific. Be specific. Be specific. This is not your time to wax eloquent about your love of academia and your subject matter. It is a direct argument in the guise of a conversation about why you will flourish at that school. 
• For Skype interviews, hardwired connection preferred; don't let your WiFi bug out and cause technical difficulties. Quite space. Blank/non-busy background. Look at the camera when answering questions/addressing faculty members. Feel free to use a split screen, half the Skype video/half your notes/questions. You may want to put your computer on some books to make it eye-level so you aren't looking down into the camera. 

[NothingtoProve]

How likely is it that I'd still get into a Ph.D. program if I was not invited to an interview or sent an acceptance email and all the schools I've applied to have already sent out these notices? For example, I applied to BUSTH, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Syracuse, and it looks like based on search results and posts in here that they've all sent out invitations to interviews or acceptance emails. Pretty slim that I got in, right?

[Deep Fried Angst]

@NothingtoProve, you'll want to make sure those interviews or acceptances are from the same sub-field that you have applied to since there's a chance different sub-fields send out info a different times. 

I will say for me, Emory didn't reject me till March 22nd, so it kinda felt like there was an unofficial wait list I was on just in-case all of the interviewed applicants turned acceptances rejected their offer of admission. 

That being said, it is most likely that you did not get in if these interviews and acceptances were from the same sub-field to which you applied. There may be a chance that you have been placed on a wait list, but you will be behind (most likely) all of the applicants they interviewed (if they interview) but did not accept after the interview. 

Since most notification of interviews and many acceptances are sent out by at the latest the end of February, you may want to wait a couple weeks and email the departments about the status of your application. 

There's absolutely no shame in a full round of rejections. I know many people, on this site and in real life, who took a couple rounds before they were accepted to programs. Since you don't have interviews to prep for, it may be a good idea to sit down with a trusted professor, look over your application for weak spots (we all have them), find a feasible plan to improve them by fall, and get ready to do this all over again. (oh, and begin the job hunt so you have money to eat come summer...). 

I do not want to deny the magnitude of the suckage these rejections can make you feel. But you're not out of the ballgame. Regroup. Plan. And dominate next year's application cycle. 

[duckie0817]

Does anyone have any idea how long it (typically) takes to hear back after an interview? 

Edited February 6, 2020 by duckie0817

[LFRT]

1 hour ago, duckie0817 said:

Does anyone have any idea how long it (typically) takes to hear back after an interview? 

 @duckie0817, I would recommend asking your interviewers this question--especially if it's in the interview thank you email. I did this for two of my interviews because I totally forgot to do so during the interview itself. Both provided fairly precise dates of when they expected final decisions to be made (one said a 1.5 week wait, the other 3 weeks). It definitely helped my nerves to have a sense of when I would find out! However, if it has been more than a couple of days since the interview, I don't think I would reach out about it.

[SAH08]

6 hours ago, NothingtoProve said:

How likely is it that I'd still get into a Ph.D. program if I was not invited to an interview or sent an acceptance email and all the schools I've applied to have already sent out these notices? For example, I applied to BUSTH, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Syracuse, and it looks like based on search results and posts in here that they've all sent out invitations to interviews or acceptance emails. Pretty slim that I got in, right?

Don't be crestfallen just yet. The process is quite mysterious.  As Deep Fried Angst said, you might reach out towards the end of February. Breathe. You've got this. Even if you were not admitted, it's not because you don't deserve it. The process is corrupt. Hang in there. 

[SAH08]

Anyone heard anything from Harvard? It looks like they sent a rejection? 

[duckie0817]

2 hours ago, LFRT said:

 @duckie0817, I would recommend asking your interviewers this question--especially if it's in the interview thank you email. I did this for two of my interviews because I totally forgot to do so during the interview itself. Both provided fairly precise dates of when they expected final decisions to be made (one said a 1.5 week wait, the other 3 weeks). It definitely helped my nerves to have a sense of when I would find out! However, if it has been more than a couple of days since the interview, I don't think I would reach out about it.

Thanks, that’s super helpful. I didn’t think to ask, but I will if I get another interview ... *fingers crossed*

[NothingtoProve]

17 hours ago, Deep Fried Angst said:

@NothingtoProve, you'll want to make sure those interviews or acceptances are from the same sub-field that you have applied to since there's a chance different sub-fields send out info a different times. 

I will say for me, Emory didn't reject me till March 22nd, so it kinda felt like there was an unofficial wait list I was on just in-case all of the interviewed applicants turned acceptances rejected their offer of admission. 

That being said, it is most likely that you did not get in if these interviews and acceptances were from the same sub-field to which you applied. There may be a chance that you have been placed on a wait list, but you will be behind (most likely) all of the applicants they interviewed (if they interview) but did not accept after the interview. 

Since most notification of interviews and many acceptances are sent out by at the latest the end of February, you may want to wait a couple weeks and email the departments about the status of your application. 

There's absolutely no shame in a full round of rejections. I know many people, on this site and in real life, who took a couple rounds before they were accepted to programs. Since you don't have interviews to prep for, it may be a good idea to sit down with a trusted professor, look over your application for weak spots (we all have them), find a feasible plan to improve them by fall, and get ready to do this all over again. (oh, and begin the job hunt so you have money to eat come summer...). 

I do not want to deny the magnitude of the suckage these rejections can make you feel. But you're not out of the ballgame. Regroup. Plan. And dominate next year's application cycle. 

Thank you for your kind and informative response. What you said was helpful, and if it does turn out that I was rejected this time around, I will follow your advice. I'm not sure if they sent out interviews for my department at Emory. I do know that I have a friend in my program at Candler who interviewed last week for Emory's Hebrew Bible department. He was one of four they interviewed. I think they're interviewing others this weekend, but I don't have any info on what department that is. Again, thank you! 

[NothingtoProve]

12 hours ago, SAH08 said:

Don't be crestfallen just yet. The process is quite mysterious.  As Deep Fried Angst said, you might reach out towards the end of February. Breathe. You've got this. Even if you were not admitted, it's not because you don't deserve it. The process is corrupt. Hang in there. 

Thank you! It's such a good reminder. 

[blitner]

12 hours ago, SAH08 said:

Anyone heard anything from Harvard? It looks like they sent a rejection? 

If its the theology one, I doubt that's real. Harvard doesn't have a "theology" program. And the earliest the committee would have met would have been this week. 

[duckie0817]

4 minutes ago, blitner said:

If its the theology one, I doubt that's real. Harvard doesn't have a "theology" program. And the earliest the committee would have met would have been this week. 

I don’t know anything about the committee meeting, but it is possible that they considered this to be a theology program. https://studyofreligion.fas.harvard.edu/pages/religious-thought

[blitner]

20 minutes ago, duckie0817 said:

I don’t know anything about the committee meeting, but it is possible that they considered this to be a theology program. https://studyofreligion.fas.harvard.edu/pages/religious-thought

yes, but you choose an area of study and an approach, and the approach is usually considered secondary. regardless, I wouldn't take anything too seriously. they don't typically have scattered decisions. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by blitner

[Eshearer]

Wanted to let you guys know that I just got officially waitlisted for the UVA PhD program.  Wish me luck!

[batyah]

19 minutes ago, Eshearer said:

Wanted to let you guys know that I just got officially waitlisted for the UVA PhD program.  Wish me luck!

Me too. I wouldn't have known to check if (again, for the 1000th time) if you hadn't posted, so thanks for the heads up!

[duckie0817]

Congrats to you both.

I’m anxiously waiting still... hoping for a phone call on Monday (I imagine there won’t be anything before that).

[pax et caritas]

Was notified yesterday that I got into Boston College's MTS program with a 100% tuition scholarship! Hoping I can get an assistantship as well. Living Boston would be lovely, but a bit expensive.

[gls2814]

On 2/7/2020 at 6:26 PM, duckie0817 said:

Congrats to you both.

I’m anxiously waiting still... hoping for a phone call on Monday (I imagine there won’t be anything before that).

 

On 2/7/2020 at 6:19 PM, batyah said:

Me too. I wouldn't have known to check if (again, for the 1000th time) if you hadn't posted, so thanks for the heads up!

 

On 2/7/2020 at 5:59 PM, Eshearer said:

Wanted to let you guys know that I just got officially waitlisted for the UVA PhD program.  Wish me luck!

Is it safe to say if I haven't heard anything back from UVA by now that it's probably a rejection? 

[batyah]

2 hours ago, gls2814 said:

Is it safe to say if I haven't heard anything back from UVA by now that it's probably a rejection? 

I guess I wouldn't say that's certain. Maybe looking more likely, but until they actually send you a rejection notice, you never know what sequence of events might lead to an offer. I feel like I remember from looking at results online for UVA historically that people were posting acceptances pretty late in the season, like even in late March. So until I got a letter, I wouldn't totally count it out.  

Edited February 10, 2020 by batyah

[lwr]

I saw that someone posted a while back about a skype interview with duke GPR in mid-january, saying that it was probably the divinity school instead or fake. I applied for duke GPR phd did actually have a skype interview in mid-late january with professors, but haven't heard anything since (the original post abt the skype interview wasn't me, but it was around the same time). I'm generally confused because I've only ever heard of the on-campus interviews at duke, and I'm guessing that those invites already went out or the interviews already happened. I figured that I would just wait and see what happens (I'm not expecting to get in) but it's been a couple weeks (POI said in the interview that I should hear something in a couple weeks) and I just can't stop wondering about what's going on. If anybody knows anything I would really appreciate hearing it!

[kenshiro]

2 hours ago, lwr said:

I saw that someone posted a while back about a skype interview with duke GPR in mid-january, saying that it was probably the divinity school instead or fake. I applied for duke GPR phd did actually have a skype interview in mid-late january with professors, but haven't heard anything since (the original post abt the skype interview wasn't me, but it was around the same time). I'm generally confused because I've only ever heard of the on-campus interviews at duke, and I'm guessing that those invites already went out or the interviews already happened. I figured that I would just wait and see what happens (I'm not expecting to get in) but it's been a couple weeks (POI said in the interview that I should hear something in a couple weeks) and I just can't stop wondering about what's going on. If anybody knows anything I would really appreciate hearing it!

I have to say I'm pretty surprised that there was a Skype interview process for the GPR; that's a significant change of protocol. Was your interview with people you listed as your potential POIs, or faculty chosen at random? Invites for on-campus interviews have gone out already, and in years past that has been a soft acceptance; it remains to be seen whether that's still the case.

I and others weren't invited for remote interviews with GPR, which I assume means we didn't make the initial cut; if you weren't invited for on-campus, that may mean the best you can hope for is waitlist. I had been hoping to make the waitlist, but it's now sounding as though I didn't make it past the desk reject. Alas.

[SAH08]

Okay friends, will this be the big week? 

[rejectedndejected]

6 minutes ago, SAH08 said:

Okay friends, will this be the big week? 

Yes--I hope to have my rejections by Friday. 

[Eshearer]

Still looking for that BU rejection.  Bound to happen soon!