Fall 2021 Religion PhD

[cosmo92]

This is a general question for all:

    What do you think are signs or indicators of an interview having gone well? What were some of your interviews like?

I just finished an interview with faculty at BU and feel good about it; it went 5 minutes over and the conversation was lively/there was laughing lol. Do any of you feel as if the interview setting itself sort of makes you forget things you felt like you really wanted to say? Does the interviewing faculty acknowledge the fact that some things might be left out? Idk obviously it varies for each program and candidate, I'm just riffing at this point lmao

[_Athena_]

36 minutes ago, cosmo92 said:

This is a general question for all:

    What do you think are signs or indicators of an interview having gone well? What were some of your interviews like?

I just finished an interview with faculty at BU and feel good about it; it went 5 minutes over and the conversation was lively/there was laughing lol. Do any of you feel as if the interview setting itself sort of makes you forget things you felt like you really wanted to say? Does the interviewing faculty acknowledge the fact that some things might be left out? Idk obviously it varies for each program and candidate, I'm just riffing at this point lmao

From the sound of it, your interview went well! I would say a congenial atmosphere is a good sign, but I suppose you can never be certain with these things, unless you hear it straight from the horse's mouth. At the end of my UNC interview, my POI said that they were going to make a case for my nomination, but I'm not sure everyone would be that direct.

Anyway, I definitely forgot some things I wanted to say and said some things not as eloquently as I would have wanted to, but I still got in. I'm sure any reasonable professor will understand the major anxiety factor that goes into an interview. I'm wishing you the best of luck and hope you get in!

[cosmo92]

1 minute ago, _Athena_ said:

From the sound of it, your interview went well! I would say a congenial atmosphere is a good sign, but I suppose you can never be certain with these things, unless you hear it straight from the horse's mouth. At the end of my UNC interview, my POI said that they were going to make a case for my nomination, but I'm not sure everyone would be that direct.

Anyway, I definitely forgot some things I wanted to say and said some things not as eloquently as I would have wanted to, but I still got in. I'm sure any reasonable professor will understand the major anxiety factor that goes into an interview. I'm wishing you the best of luck and hope you get in!

Reassuring to hear! Thanks! I suppose we are our own most intense critics

[amam]

2 hours ago, cosmo92 said:

This is a general question for all:

    What do you think are signs or indicators of an interview having gone well? What were some of your interviews like?

I just finished an interview with faculty at BU and feel good about it; it went 5 minutes over and the conversation was lively/there was laughing lol. Do any of you feel as if the interview setting itself sort of makes you forget things you felt like you really wanted to say? Does the interviewing faculty acknowledge the fact that some things might be left out? Idk obviously it varies for each program and candidate, I'm just riffing at this point lmao

Hey! I wish you the best! Seems like a good interview to me! I mean, a laugh has to be good thing, right! lol
I also interviewed at BU last week - theology, ethics, and philosophy track. What track did you apply for, if you don't mind sharing? Plus, did they mention when we might hear back from them?

[cosmo92]

34 minutes ago, amam said:

Hey! I wish you the best! Seems like a good interview to me! I mean, a laugh has to be good thing, right! lol
I also interviewed at BU last week - theology, ethics, and philosophy track. What track did you apply for, if you don't mind sharing? Plus, did they mention when we might hear back from them?

I applied for Track 3: Practical Theology. I think they said we'd hear back in a few weeks. How many people were present during your interview?

[amam]

14 minutes ago, cosmo92 said:

I applied for Track 3: Practical Theology. I think they said we'd hear back in a few weeks. How many people were present during your interview?

Three faculty members. How many were present at yours? Also, do you have any idea how many students they take in total? My POI had mentioned it was very competitive.

 'A few weeks' also seems far! I was hoping, considering past years, that they might get back to us this Friday. Well! 

Edited February 9, 2021 by amam

[cosmo92]

5 minutes ago, amam said:

Three faculty members. How many were present at yours? Also, do you have any idea how many students they take in total? My POI had mentioned it was very competitive.

 'A few weeks' also seems far! I was hoping, considering past years, that they might get back to us this Friday. Well! 

There were four at mine. Not sure how many they're taking this year, but I know its been reduced pretty significantly which sucks haha. Also I wish more than anything that we would find out this Friday but I'm not getting my hopes up lmao

[sayf]

21 hours ago, alizeh55 said:

After a lot of [unhealthy] stalking, I learned that Harvard CSR will be meeting tomorrow to discuss applicants.

 

you might be able to see this for your school too.

 

if you go to the calendar section of the program website, sometimes they have their internal meetings on public. So every year CSR has this “committee meeting” flagged under grad school on the second Monday of February. It also aligns with all the results posted on Gradcafe.

 

I hope this helps whoever is anxious like me about when we will hear back!

Hi, what's the tea on Harvard Religion? I was told that the department is an organizational mess and that students were just number and word "toxic" was thrown around but would be interested if that's not accurate. 

[alizeh55]

Just now, sayf said:

Hi, what's the tea on Harvard Religion? I was told that the department is an organizational mess and that students were just number and word "toxic" was thrown around but would be interested if that's not accurate. 

So I’ve heard mixed things after getting into contact with 4 current students. What I’ve learned is that it has its pros and cons, which also depends on your field of study. Major pros I’ve heard of is funding. 
 

what personally attracted me was the interdisciplinary nature of it. Knowing I can take courses all around is precisely what I need for my research interests, and it’s also the exact format my master’s program had as well.

 

There’s also really only two academics I’ve grown up reading, who have impacted my research interests deeply, of which one was my advisor for my MA, and the other I’ve personally gotten into contact with at Harvard. So that was a huge plus point for me.  You know what they say — you apply to work with faculty more than you apply to an actual school. 
 

I do think the quality of the department matters because we’re spending ~5+ years with the same administration and faculty. 

At the end of the day, I’m just an applicant who has heard from a few students. I wonder if anyone else has any experiences or insight to add.

[CafeConGabi]

2 hours ago, _Athena_ said:

From the sound of it, your interview went well! I would say a congenial atmosphere is a good sign, but I suppose you can never be certain with these things, unless you hear it straight from the horse's mouth. At the end of my UNC interview

Did you do an interview for the Religious Studies dept at UNC? 

[sayf]

1 minute ago, alizeh55 said:

So I’ve heard mixed things after getting into contact with 4 current students. What I’ve learned is that it has its pros and cons, which also depends on your field of study. Major pros I’ve heard of is funding. 
 

what personally attracted me was the interdisciplinary nature of it. Knowing I can take courses all around is precisely what I need for my research interests, and it’s also the exact format my master’s program had as well.

 

There’s also really only two academics I’ve grown up reading, who have impacted my research interests deeply, of which one was my advisor for my MA, and the other I’ve personally gotten into contact with at Harvard. So that was a huge plus point for me.  You know what they say — you apply to work with faculty more than you apply to an actual school. 
 

I do think the quality of the department matters because we’re spending ~5+ years with the same administration and faculty. 

At the end of the day, I’m just an applicant who has heard from a few students. I wonder if anyone else has any experiences or insight to add.

Thanks for your response. That's helpful! Did these current students mention if their advisors actually have time for them? Funding is always important—although Cambridge is expensive regardless. The issue I heard from someone with experience there was that the committee is not really a department with a strong core. In any case, most relg departments are fairly interdisciplinary across the board. 

What are your areas of interest and who are you looking to work with there if you don't mind sharing?

[alizeh55]

2 minutes ago, sayf said:

Thanks for your response. That's helpful! Did these current students mention if their advisors actually have time for them? Funding is always important—although Cambridge is expensive regardless. The issue I heard from someone with experience there was that the committee is not really a department with a strong core. In any case, most relg departments are fairly interdisciplinary across the board. 

What are your areas of interest and who are you looking to work with there if you don't mind sharing?

Sending a PM!

[_Athena_]

7 minutes ago, CafeConGabi said:

Did you do an interview for the Religious Studies dept at UNC? 

Yes, Religious Studies - Ancient Mediterranean Religions.

[CafeConGabi]

1 minute ago, _Athena_ said:

Yes, Religious Studies - Ancient Mediterranean Religions.

*crosses off UNC from the maybe list*

Oh goodness. 

Well, good luck! : ) 

[_Athena_]

4 minutes ago, CafeConGabi said:

*crosses off UNC from the maybe list*

Oh goodness. 

Well, good luck! : ) 

I'm sorry! Good luck to you in the rest of the process as well!

[Adso_]

Has anyone heard back from JHU? Not a peep from them...applied to the NELC program and getting worried! 

[Magical_Night]

For BU, has anyone from track 1 had an intervew?  

[crossroadsph]

Just checking back in with hopes that everyone is doing fine. I am expecting that next week will be exciting for those awaiting results, based on past experience and the survey results. Unless, of course, COVID shook up things a bit. 

I had an email exchange with my POI in Toronto recently telling him that I was quite nervous about the whole application process and asking him if he had any insights on the process at his institution. He reassured me that it was alright and he understood. As for my other point, he did not answer it directly, which was fine with me. I'll share the answer when the time is right. 

Good luck to everyone!

[Absurd'sTheWord]

Rejected from SMU

[cosmo92]

Anyone else apply to Fordham's Theological & Social Ethics track? 

 

[alizeh55]

18 hours ago, crossroadsph said:

Just checking back in with hopes that everyone is doing fine. I am expecting that next week will be exciting for those awaiting results, based on past experience and the survey results. Unless, of course, COVID shook up things a bit. 

I had an email exchange with my POI in Toronto recently telling him that I was quite nervous about the whole application process and asking him if he had any insights on the process at his institution. He reassured me that it was alright and he understood. As for my other point, he did not answer it directly, which was fine with me. I'll share the answer when the time is right. 

Good luck to everyone!

Thank you! At this point I’m just checking my missed calls every afternoon to make sure I didn’t miss “the call.” What I’m dreading is getting an email saying “your portal has been updated” or something of that sort with no POI email or phone call prior. Hoping to hear back soon so the anxiety can end!

[crossroadsph]

44 minutes ago, alizeh55 said:

Thank you! At this point I’m just checking my missed calls every afternoon to make sure I didn’t miss “the call.” What I’m dreading is getting an email saying “your portal has been updated” or something of that sort with no POI email or phone call prior. Hoping to hear back soon so the anxiety can end!

Just to check with you and everyone else, since I have no experience of this: is it the convention for one's POI in a given school to contact them if they are admitted? 

Just wondering. 

[alizeh55]

1 minute ago, crossroadsph said:

Just to check with you and everyone else, since I have no experience of this: is it the convention for one's POI in a given school to contact them if they are admitted? 

Just wondering. 

So I only applied to Harvard this cycle, and based off of the results on gradcafe  (where accepted applicants stated they got emails or calls) it seems that’s the case for CSR. I also asked a current student in the program who confirmed that that is how they were informed. I wonder if there are exceptions, but I’m not sure. Also CSR does not do interviews so maybe that’s why the admission itself is formal.

not sure about other programs but I would definitely ask a current student (if you are in contact with any) or look into the results page if there are any notes mentioning a personal email from a POI! You never know, there could be exceptions even if that’s the case. 

 

[_Athena_]

1 minute ago, crossroadsph said:

Just to check with you and everyone else, since I have no experience of this: is it the convention for one's POI in a given school to contact them if they are admitted? 

Just wondering. 

It seems to happen a lot, particularly if you've had extensive prior contact with a POI, but it's not always the case! I received an informal acceptance via email from my POI at UNC before I was formally accepted. I don't think not getting a phone call/an email precludes you from getting in, but I'm sure it depends on the program/professor in question.

[alizeh55]

2 minutes ago, _Athena_ said:

It seems to happen a lot, particularly if you've had extensive prior contact with a POI, but it's not always the case! I received an informal acceptance via email from my POI at UNC before I was formally accepted. I don't think not getting a phone call/an email precludes you from getting in, but I'm sure it depends on the program/professor in question.

It’s good to hear that there can be exceptions. Thanks for letting us know!