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2020 Religion Application Thread


NyarkoSan

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@NTGal It's scary stuff!

I just wish there was some more transparency around the process: When can we expect an answer? How will that answer be communicated? and so on.

I am sure you posted this already but where have you applied?

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@Eshearer yeah, for real! without gradcafe i'd be seriously in the dark. But I obsessively looked over the results thread for all the programs I applied to and have a general sense of when they send interview invitations. I applied to Duke, Notre Dame, PTS, and Wheaton. 

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@NTGal That is very cool.  Those are all really great programs.  

I can't tell if my obsessing on this website is making me more relaxed or not.  I think I have a good sense of when I may hear from places now too. 

The main thing I am afraid of  is my poor undergrad performance.  I make up for it in grad school...but still.  The folks I spoke with at UVA told me that they weren't as interested in a high GRE score...which is also nice because it isn't as great as it could have been.  

This is really something I want and I am not used to wanting things this badly!

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haha, it's definitely a double-edged sword, @Eshearer! i'm thankful for the information I've gotten from this forum that I wouldn't have gotten any other way, but the way that I'm using the forum is definitely bad for my mental health ?

Is your undergrad related to theology? My undergrad and first grad degree GPAs were poor too, but they were in completely unrelated disciplines (science and business), so I'm also hoping that my two M* degrees after that in religious studies/NT will compensate. I definitely think that regardless of the circumstances, programs will put more weight on the most recent degree(s) if there is marked improvement. I'm glad that UVA isn't as concerned about a high GRE score! My GRE verbal score almost certainly takes me out of the running at Duke, but that app was a moonshot. 

I resonate with you so much on that last statement. I've never wanted something this badly that I had such a high chance of not being able to get, lololol. 

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@NTGal Sorta? I double majored in Sociology and Religious Studies.  I just was drunk all the time.  Then I kinda met Jesus and I did very well in Grad School.  When I met with the profs at UVA (which was awesome) the sense I got from them and their website was that they were looking for a strong fit, strong grad school GPA, and strong letters.  I think I have those things...but who knows?  My GRE scores could have easily just caused them to toss my application out.  

I am quite sure that your two master's degrees will compensate.  I have to say that because I'm hoping mine do!

I thought about applying to Duke as well but honestly there wasn't anyone there I really wanted to study with.  Boston University is really cool so I hope that works out... but I really love UVA a lot..

AHHH!

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@Eshearer i was also drunk all the time in undergrad and then met Jesus ?? I hope you get into UVA! all of my hopes are on ND...I have a decent shot there, (and I love the Christianity & Judaism in Antiquity program), but decent shot at a first tier program with 5% acceptance rate is still not a great chance, lol

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Turns out I still have an account. Found this when I'm supposed to be prepping for tomorrow morning. I have applications in for 2 liturgy programs (ND and GETS). Haven't heard anything yet from ND, and GETS' deadline is Monday so i don't expect to have any communication for a bit. 

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1 minute ago, bigsh said:

Turns out I still have an account. Found this when I'm supposed to be prepping for tomorrow morning. I have applications in for 2 liturgy programs (ND and GETS). Haven't heard anything yet from ND, and GETS' deadline is Monday so i don't expect to have any communication for a bit. 

Sorry for my ignorance here, but what's GETS?

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On 1/18/2020 at 6:08 PM, bigsh said:

Turns out I still have an account. Found this when I'm supposed to be prepping for tomorrow morning. I have applications in for 2 liturgy programs (ND and GETS). Haven't heard anything yet from ND, and GETS' deadline is Monday so i don't expect to have any communication for a bit. 

I'm also a ND liturgy applicant.  What is your area of interest in liturgy?  What faculty members did you want to work with?  Do you have much in the way of language training?  Latin/Greek?  I'm happy to have found you.  There seem to be fewer liturgy applicants on this board than NT/Patristics students.  

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5 hours ago, rejectedndejected said:

I'm also a ND liturgy applicant.  What is your area of interest in liturgy?  What faculty members did you want to work with?  Do you have much in the way of language training?  Latin/Greek?  I'm happy to have found you.  There seem to be fewer liturgy applicants on this board than NT/Patristics students.  

My interest is in understanding the homily as a liturgical event (part of why i applied to Garrett). besides seminary greek and hebrew, i took the masters german reading course at ND a few summers ago. so that's all i listed on the app. my latin is very out of practice though i would jump at the opportunity for a refresher. I talked to a friend in the program a few weeks ago who mentioned a few different people i could work with depending on how my question were to take shape--but that's fantastically hypothetical at this point (and I can't say I have a good feeling about the process at this point).

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Hi all - we are in the thick of it! This is my first time through the PhD application cycle. I've got a few Skype interviews coming up, and am looking to see if anyone who has been down this road before might have some advice. Moreover, I'm pretty unsure of what interviews really mean (hesitant to get my hopes up) — just a weed-out round type of situation, or something more promising? Really have no idea, so any comments would be appreciated. Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

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5 hours ago, bigsh said:

My interest is in understanding the homily as a liturgical event (part of why i applied to Garrett). besides seminary greek and hebrew, i took the masters german reading course at ND a few summers ago. so that's all i listed on the app. my latin is very out of practice though i would jump at the opportunity for a refresher. I talked to a friend in the program a few weeks ago who mentioned a few different people i could work with depending on how my question were to take shape--but that's fantastically hypothetical at this point (and I can't say I have a good feeling about the process at this point).

Cool.  That's actually a really interesting question--especially in light of the Church's longtime teaching that the liturgy is the "privileged place of evangelization."   How many liturgy applicants are there for ND's theology phd?  I wonder if it's over/underrepresented in terms of theology applications.  Have you heard any other interesting tidbits about their selection process/program in general?

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1 hour ago, weakbutscrappy said:

Hi all - we are in the thick of it! This is my first time through the PhD application cycle. I've got a few Skype interviews coming up, and am looking to see if anyone who has been down this road before might have some advice. Moreover, I'm pretty unsure of what interviews really mean (hesitant to get my hopes up) — just a weed-out round type of situation, or something more promising? Really have no idea, so any comments would be appreciated. Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

@weakbutscrappy- who did you receive interview invitations from? Congratulations and wishing you the best on them!

 

 

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1 hour ago, weakbutscrappy said:

Hi all - we are in the thick of it! This is my first time through the PhD application cycle. I've got a few Skype interviews coming up, and am looking to see if anyone who has been down this road before might have some advice. Moreover, I'm pretty unsure of what interviews really mean (hesitant to get my hopes up) — just a weed-out round type of situation, or something more promising? Really have no idea, so any comments would be appreciated. Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

@weakbutscrappy, interviews almost always mean that the school is interested enough to at least wait list you. Faculty are way too busy to entertain interviews, even Skype ones, for applicants who they wouldn't think about admitting. 

Most of the time there are about four groups of applicants:

1) The immediate rejects

2) The non-interviewees that are at the bottom of the waitlist (sometimes granted a future interview if enough people turn down their offers of admission). 

3) The interviewees that get waitlisted

4) The interviewees that get accepted in the first round. 

Exceptions exist (e.g., don't curse out the profs who interview you unless you would to become an interviewee who gets immediately rejected), and some interviews may be given on the basis of glowing letters of recommendation from highly regard colleagues over say a stellar writing sample, SOP, or just an overall good application. 

But hopes should also be realistic. You still may be one of 10-15 people interviewing for 1-2 slots (more or less people and/or slots depending on the year/school). 

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59 minutes ago, rejectedndejected said:

Cool.  That's actually a really interesting question--especially in light of the Church's longtime teaching that the liturgy is the "privileged place of evangelization."   How many liturgy applicants are there for ND's theology phd?  I wonder if it's over/underrepresented in terms of theology applications.  Have you heard any other interesting tidbits about their selection process/program in general?

We'll see if its an interesting question for anyone on the faculty. My friend did not know how many applications they receive annually, and I didn't want to pry or put them in an awkward spot asking too much about the process. 

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anyone willing to claim the PTS interview from the results page?

anyone familiar with PTS biblical studies PhD admissions? I knew I didn't have much of a chance without an M* from PTS (since it seems like most of their PhD students have an M* from PTS), but I'm holding out a tiny bit of hope that once in a while they accept an outsider. 

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15 minutes ago, NTGal said:

anyone willing to claim the PTS interview from the results page?

anyone familiar with PTS biblical studies PhD admissions? I knew I didn't have much of a chance without an M* from PTS (since it seems like most of their PhD students have an M* from PTS), but I'm holding out a tiny bit of hope that once in a while they accept an outsider. 

Am I missing something? I don't see a PTS result...

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Looks like some more results are up, including a Skype interview @ Duke (I don't think I've ever heard of this?) and Vandy and ND results.

I'm not sure what to make of Duke. My understanding is that Duke interviews are on-campus late in the candidate review cycle. I went in and had an hourlong chat with a potential PoI; does that count?

[Edit] Well that is a stomach-churner. Email at 10:32PM:

"The Th.D. Admissions Committee has established its short list of applicants for 2020. As the next stage in the process, we invite you to meet for 30-40 minutes via Zoom video conference with two members of the Admissions Committee. This will give you an opportunity to talk in greater depth about the fit of your research interests with Duke’s Th.D. Program as well as to ask any questions you may have."

Maybe the process has changed this year. I suppose this doesn't bode well for the Ph.D. application, then.

Edited by kenshiro
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