Fall 2021 Religion PhD

[alizeh55]

Just now, NTEJGuy said:

Ha, looks like last year rejections came out later than acceptances. Some acceptances were posted the 20th!

Oh wow - so whatever two people they’ll take will get in this week, you mean? Good for them!
 

Haha sigh. Don’t know if I’m numb or in a state of shock at this Point 

[NTEJGuy]

Just now, alizeh55 said:

Oh wow - so whatever two people they’ll take will get in this week, you mean? Good for them!
 

Haha sigh. Don’t know if I’m numb or in a state of shock at this Point 

I mean, who knows. Everything is different this year. But we're definitely in the territory. Two years ago,  they came out as early as Valentine's Day.

[alizeh55]

2 minutes ago, NTEJGuy said:

I mean, who knows. Everything is different this year. But we're definitely in the territory. Two years ago,  they came out as early as Valentine's Day.

Yup I saw Which is why I was expecting a response yesterday! No idea what’s going on in their side but I wish we had some sort of insight 

[Pierre de Olivi]

15 minutes ago, alizeh55 said:

Yup I saw Which is why I was expecting a response yesterday! No idea what’s going on in their side but I wish we had some sort of insight 

My advisor basically said things got off to a slow start. He made no committment about when applicants will hear back so far, which is fine. They're doing at least one faculty search concurrently which is likely eating into their time/energy.

What were your sources for the total number of admits and when they started deliberation?

[alizeh55]

16 minutes ago, Pierre de Olivi said:

My advisor basically said things got off to a slow start. He made no committment about when applicants will hear back so far, which is fine. They're doing at least one faculty search concurrently which is likely eating into their time/energy.

What were your sources for the total number of admits and when they started deliberation?

Ah, I see. Thank you for sharing that. I completely support them taking their time if that' the case!

RE sources--I have been talking to some HDS master's students who informed me. Also, after speaking to PhDs in NELC, it seems that low acceptances this year are norms throughout departments at Harvard.

 

RE deliberation--it was my own snooping around the calendar on the webpage, but now I'm realizing it could have meant anything and may not directly affect when they send out decisions

[sayf]

6 minutes ago, alizeh55 said:

Ah, I see. Thank you for sharing that. I completely support them taking their time if that' the case!

RE sources--I have been talking to some HDS master's students who informed me. Also, after speaking to PhDs in NELC, it seems that low acceptances this year are norms throughout departments at Harvard.

 

RE deliberation--it was my own snooping around the calendar on the webpage, but now I'm realizing it could have meant anything and may not directly affect when they send out decisions

that is correct. according to NELC PhD, they are only taking 1-2 students. 

[Adso_]

13 minutes ago, sayf said:

that is correct. according to NELC PhD, they are only taking 1-2 students. 

did anyone interview for NELC PhD? If so...gotta get the scotch ready ?

[alizeh55]

16 minutes ago, sayf said:

that is correct. according to NELC PhD, they are only taking 1-2 students. 

F...

1-2?! That’s insane. I hope CSR has at least a few more spots available than just two

[sayf]

3 minutes ago, Adso_ said:

did anyone interview for NELC PhD? If so...gotta get the scotch ready ?

Yes, I know someone who had their interview early in Feb. 

[Adso_]

12 minutes ago, sayf said:

Yes, I know someone who had their interview early in Feb. 

Well thanks for the heads up! have you heard anything about Johns Hopkins as well? 

[_Athena_]

In at Fordham!! Just got an informal acceptance over the phone!

[beorn1968]

28 minutes ago, _Athena_ said:

In at Fordham!! Just got an informal acceptance over the phone!

they are very very wise. deepest congratulations and solidarity

[Pierre de Olivi]

6 hours ago, alizeh55 said:

Ah, I see. Thank you for sharing that. I completely support them taking their time if that' the case!

RE sources--I have been talking to some HDS master's students who informed me. Also, after speaking to PhDs in NELC, it seems that low acceptances this year are norms throughout departments at Harvard.

 

RE deliberation--it was my own snooping around the calendar on the webpage, but now I'm realizing it could have meant anything and may not directly affect when they send out decisions

Glad I could help!

Yeah I've heard that the CSR is accepting fewer people but I haven't heard the exact number of 2 admits. But if you heard it from other Master's students it may just be that my info is out of date.

And yeah, I'm not sure exactly what the deliberations entail. My advisor didn't mention them at all and between that and the lack of commitment about a time I'm not sure we can definitively project when we'll get results based on when they occur. Still, it's useful to have any information we can! Good luck!

[_Athena_]

44 minutes ago, beorn1968 said:

they are very very wise. deepest congratulations and solidarity

Thanks so much!

[thewaiting]

7 hours ago, alizeh55 said:

F...

1-2?! That’s insane. I hope CSR has at least a few more spots available than just two

OK, had no idea NELC was taking that amount of applicants.

I actually think it's possibly unethical for schools to omit that info (they are taking TWO applicants) when you apply. Honestly, why not put that info somewhere on the site? I get that they look better when they have lots of applicants and a low admit ratio, but geez app fees are expensive. 

 

 

2 hours ago, _Athena_ said:

In at Fordham!! Just got an informal acceptance over the phone!

Congrats!! 

[thiscalltoarms]

No informal phone call here, but my status update was a Fordham acceptance as well. I was waitlisted at Fordham last year and they kept me on the WL til mid-August (assuming I'd have gotten in if international students couldn't get to class because of COVID restrictions? Why else keep someone on a WL until 2 weeks before classes start?)

[cosmo92]

2 minutes ago, thiscalltoarms said:

No informal phone call here, but my status update was a Fordham acceptance as well. I was waitlisted at Fordham last year and they kept me on the WL til mid-August (assuming I'd have gotten in if international students couldn't get to class because of COVID restrictions? Why else keep someone on a WL until 2 weeks before classes start?)

Which subfield did you apply to?

[alizeh55]

3 hours ago, _Athena_ said:

In at Fordham!! Just got an informal acceptance over the phone!

Wow- congratulations!!!! 

 

2 hours ago, Pierre de Olivi said:

Glad I could help!

Yeah I've heard that the CSR is accepting fewer people but I haven't heard the exact number of 2 admits. But if you heard it from other Master's students it may just be that my info is out of date.

And yeah, I'm not sure exactly what the deliberations entail. My advisor didn't mention them at all and between that and the lack of commitment about a time I'm not sure we can definitively project when we'll get results based on when they occur. Still, it's useful to have any information we can! Good luck!

You know you're on gradcafe too much when you get banned from liking too many posts in one day LOL. Yeah, makes sense!! Thanks and likewise  

 

1 hour ago, thewaiting said:

OK, had no idea NELC was taking that amount of applicants.

I actually think it's possibly unethical for schools to omit that info (they are taking TWO applicants) when you apply. Honestly, why not put that info somewhere on the site? I get that they look better when they have lots of applicants and a low admit ratio, but geez app fees are expensive. 

 

 

Congrats!! 

I 10000000% agree. CSR, for example, says on their website that the admissions is very competitive -- 5-7% on their website. But 5% of, say, 200 is still 10 people. In terms of PhD applicants, that's still more than 1-2. 

I know academia is heavily flawed and elite institutions have their baggage, but this doesn't feel right at all. It feels too much like a business model lol 

[thiscalltoarms]

1 hour ago, cosmo92 said:

Which subfield did you apply to?

Systematic theology here...

[alizeh55]

I also really wonder how admissions works in "religion" departments. If you have several tracks, such as Islamic Studies, Buddhism, Judaism, etc. but only take 10 applicants a year, are you essentially taking one from each discipline or just choosing the best applicants overall? 

[cosmo92]

9 minutes ago, alizeh55 said:

I also really wonder how admissions works in "religion" departments. If you have several tracks, such as Islamic Studies, Buddhism, Judaism, etc. but only take 10 applicants a year, are you essentially taking one from each discipline or just choosing the best applicants overall? 

I've been wondering the exact same thing; especially now that fordham has released some decisions, I wonder how my track (theological ethics) ties in with the other tracks and the subsequent decisions made; so frustrating

[alizeh55]

18 minutes ago, cosmo92 said:

I've been wondering the exact same thing; especially now that fordham has released some decisions, I wonder how my track (theological ethics) ties in with the other tracks and the subsequent decisions made; so frustrating

Exactly. So what I do remember is getting in touch with someone at CSR who said the program at Harvard is a lot more Christian-centric, which I think isn't a big deal for me as an Islamic Studies student considering you can take classes at any department including NELC. However, I'm sure it doesn't help the actual admissions criteria.

While I do like that the PhD holds a title of Religion for future teaching purposes, I really wish each track or religion had their own acceptances and merged under one program. It's probably not in their hands, though.

Columbia did that. They have Islamic Studies and South Asian Studies completely separate, though students take classes in all departments. Only thing is they don't offer PhDs (only MESAAS does), just masters, so I'm sure they have more control in that sense.

[thiscalltoarms]

47 minutes ago, cosmo92 said:

I've been wondering the exact same thing; especially now that fordham has released some decisions, I wonder how my track (theological ethics) ties in with the other tracks and the subsequent decisions made; so frustrating

 

No idea in terms of Fordham, but I do know from sources in a couple other programs that those schools with 3-4 tracks used to (pre-covid) start by take 2 students per track and then there would be a few remaining spots (2-4 school depending) that would be selected based on best available. So some years you'd get 4 systematics and 2 biblical studies and 2 ethics and others it might be 3 per track or 4 ethics and 2 of the others. Further complicating it, the waitlist might mean that you are the runner up for that track only but not the next best available over all... so depending who says no you might or might not get off the list. 

It's basically chaos! And every school has a different strategy and different internal politics.

[crossroadsph]

4 hours ago, _Athena_ said:

In at Fordham!! Just got an informal acceptance over the phone!

Congratulations! It’s a very good program and I am glad that you got in!

[sayf]

9 hours ago, Adso_ said:

Well thanks for the heads up! have you heard anything about Johns Hopkins as well? 

Hi, no info on that front, sorry!