UVa is extra competitive this year

[studyordie]

Uva says they are expecting a record number of applicants and budget cuts (i.e. fewer fellowships), I would imagine this is more of a national trend than an isolated instance.

[probingtheology]

studyordie:

where did you get that information? I was actually wondering that very thing for state schools...

[studyordie]

The info is from one of their senior faculty after I emailed him regarding my application to their department. I'm bummed because it is far and away my top choice.

[probingtheology]

Studyordie:

If I may ask, with whom at UVA do you wish to study? What are you interests? I know that one element of the application process that is really important is the purpose statement, so if that is strong you will increase your chances in this extra-competitive year.

[studyordie]

My interests revolve around the transcendent orientation of reality (as opposed to closed causal systems that posit reality as pure immanence) and the inadequacies of most modern ways of reading the Bible. Kovacs, Ochs, Hart, Marsh, Mathewes, Childress and Wilken (if he's still actively teaching in the fall) are all scholars I'd love to work with. I worked pretty hard on my purpose statement and I hope they will be impressed. Now that apps are in I am further familiarizing myself with the faculty that interest me but with whose work I am less familiar, so as to be able to make quality contact with as many of them as possible as the process gets going. I said I was bummed to find out UVa is probably taking less folks (out of more folks applying!) but my faculty adviser instills in us that the whole thing is a crap shoot and to give it your all if you even want a chance, so in reality it's hard for me to be more disillusioned than I already am .

[studyordie]

http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=14 ... 0084024526

This article makes it seems like the various departments will be cutting their budgets their own ways, so the task will be for us to convince the religious studies department that we are worth cheaper wine at departmental functions, or maybe those of us interested in UVa could offer to do some mowing and pruning around the department's building .

[probingtheology]

Studyordie

Actually, I called the department yesterday and talked to the secretary about various issues and I asked her about budget cuts to the Religion dept. She said they are going to have the same number of fellowships they have had in previous years and that the economic crunch (and Tim Kaine) is not going to effect them this year. I hope that makes you feel better, because it does me. Best of luck and by the way, I think your interests sound fascinating. To me, it seems like you would definitely be able to write a dissertation under advisors Peter Ochs and Kevin Hart among others. If you have any kind of background in phenomenology, especially Marion, Lacoste, Henry, etc, then you might be able to make good on Hart.

[Morgenstern]

This article may be of interest to those following this thread: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/12/08/gre

[studyordie]

probingtheology

That is good news, guess I got a bit overworked. The article that Morganstern posted is interesting and exactly the opposite of something I read a few weeks back that stated GRE registration was up 10% (but that might have been a blog or forum, I can't remember). In theory, I can see the whole "economic crisis" thing go either way regarding people like us. Currently it only further compels me to apply to programs because I'm already a dirt poor grad student so I have nothing to lose and bad job prospects. A year and a half ago, however, I had a decent job and would have thought harder then I did at the time about giving that up to go back to school had the economy been where it is currently.

[demondeac]

So I have a theory. Increasing number of applicants only decreases the probability of admission if every applicant is reasonably comparable. Like the lotto, more people buy tickets, the less likely you are to win (and some have compared the PhD admission process to a lottery, but we have to agree it is not ENTIRELY random, even if sometimes irrational). But instead of the lottery analogy, think of more like the NFL draft...

Only the very best few athletes are selected in the draft. First round draft picks seldom turn down an opportunity to go into the NFL, because when you're that good you will go regardless of economic conditions. The majority of the players who sign up for the draft and get drafted in the later rounds don't make it, hands down. Even if more players sign up, these players are doomed to not be selected.

The point is the most qualified people were probably the ones already applying, regardless of economic conditions. And PhD apps are like getting drafted in the First Round, since there are probably only 32 funded spots or so. Maybe if you're a second-rounder (i.e. Waitlisted or not funded) and you'll make it in off the waitlist, but the odds are against you.

So the moral of the story is a Calvinist one: as they say in the South "you either is, or you isn't". Even if you "is", there are no guarantees of getting in. But if you "isn't", you definitely aren't getting in (or affecting other people's chances). And thus the applications can decide whether you are elect or not! Now that I think of it I never really liked Calvin anyway...