PhD applications for 2012-2013 chit chat...

[sacklunch]

To be honest, the immediate financial future is more on my mind than the long term prospects. I would go to a second tier school with reasonable funding before I would attend a poorly funded top tier program. Thankfully, at the PhD level, program strength and funding seem to correlate well enough. As far as the long term prospects go, I'm pretty unconcerned. If the nice tenure-track positions don't work out, private high schools might be an attractive option. If teaching doesn't work out at all, I'll just finally get a real job like the rest of the world and read Greek in the evenings. Academia is such a imprudent career choice that once I started on this track, I just stopped worrying about it.

Well said. If I don't get a job after 15+ years of school then oh well? It's worth the risk, I think.

[LateAntique]

I promised myself going into this that if I wasn't okay with teaching high school (or something else), I wouldn't do the Ph.D. Part of me thinks, "I'm here because I want to learn more and because it's interesting." Then I look at student loans and think, "I'm going to need to pay these at some point." At any rate, things have worked out thus far, so I'm sure they'll continue to.

[sacklunch]

Indeed. I suspect you will be just fine, LateAntique!

[11Q13]

yeah i remember last year was way busier than now. what gives?

Harvard apps are in, I feel like I have a snowballs chance in hell, but that's also how I felt before I got into the MTS

[LateAntique]

yeah i remember last year was way busier than now. what gives?

Harvard apps are in, I feel like I have a snowballs chance in hell, but that's also how I felt before I got into the MTS

Good luck! I think that's how we all feel about our programs. I waver between feeling like I totally belong at ND and feeling like they probably let me in on accident.

And thanks to jdmhotness. My hope is that we'll all get in where we want.

[sacklunch]

Good luck! I think that's how we all feel about our programs. I waver between feeling like I totally belong at ND and feeling like they probably let me in on accident.

And thanks to jdmhotness. My hope is that we'll all get in where we want.

Haha! It's all a show. I, like everyone else, feel like it would be an accident if I got in anywhere. If you did get into ND by accident, hopefully they make another "mistake" and let me in, eh??

Edited December 5, 2011 by jdmhotness

[katholou]

I usually feel ok about my chances until I think nationally. Most of the programs I'm applying to will accept one person in my subfield; do I really think I'm the single most promising NT student IN THE NATION?! I often don't feel like the most promising NT student in any given Taco Bell. Yet, ignoring the presumption, I push on.

[LateAntique]

How are everyone's applications coming along? I just submitted two out of the three I have to do. It's going to be an interesting next few months - hopefully people around here will start hearing back in late January so we can have some more activity around here.

[katholou]

Just got the third of my five applications sent off. Should have the last two out this weekend, then just sit around for two months! I'm told that this is the worst two months of an entire academic career. I'm (perhaps foolishly) more excited than scared, though. Come quickly, acceptance letters!

[chambjn]

Hello, everyone. Good to see you here. I am new to this site, but it seems helpful! I am currently applying to PhD programs in American Studies and Religious Studies (focusing on American religion in a global context). I am having trouble finding answers to my question about whether I should tell the schools to which other programs I am applying (only a few ask this specifically on the application). My inclination is to leave it blank, but I don't want that to hurt me. Any advice? Or what are you guys doing about it? Thanks in advance.

[LateAntique]

Hello, everyone. Good to see you here. I am new to this site, but it seems helpful! I am currently applying to PhD programs in American Studies and Religious Studies (focusing on American religion in a global context). I am having trouble finding answers to my question about whether I should tell the schools to which other programs I am applying (only a few ask this specifically on the application). My inclination is to leave it blank, but I don't want that to hurt me. Any advice? Or what are you guys doing about it? Thanks in advance.

I mentioned all (3) schools to which I'm applying on my application. I don't think it hurts you. I think it's just about collecting data for the graduate school. I sincerely doubt any admissions committee has said, "He/she applied elsewhere? Well no thanks!"

[LateAntique]

Hi folks,

I just wanted to weigh in and let out a huge sigggggghh. Three of my five applications are submitted and such a strange feeling has come over me. I've been tinkering with my purpose statements and writing sample for months, but now they are submitted. I thought I'd be relieved but I'm finding it difficult to focus and complete some other assignments (i.e., study for my language finals). Is anyone else having a hard time cranking out that last paper or final of the term?

Fortunately I had all my work done before my applications were due. I am having to resist the temptation to go back and read my statements of purpose and my writing sample again. They are submitted and giving them another read will do absolutely nothing for me.

[katholou]

^{Just got the last application submitted. There is now absolutely nothing I can do over the next two months to increase my chances of getting in...quite a relief, actually!}

[chambjn]

Thanks for the input! Good luck with applications.

[11Q13]

well, the last apps are in. Now I'm pessimistic and bored.

[LateAntique]

well, the last apps are in. Now I'm pessimistic and bored.

Good luck! Do you know when you should expect to start hearing back?

[11Q13]

I think Harvard's is the earliest, around the start of February. I significantly revised my SOP after I submitted my app there, and they won't have my Fall grades available, so my hopes are pretty low. The rest I'm actually not sure.

Anyone know when we should be hearing back from Brown, Notre Dame, Princeton, or Yale?

[AbrasaxEos]

Last year, Princeton was around Feb. 22, and Yale was the 28th. I didn't apply to the other two, so I can't speak to them, though most fall in the Mid-February - Early March range. As most places that give you any money want to know if you are coming by April 15, they want you to have some time to actually make the choice. I think I had heard from all of mine by March 3rd last year.

[Sparky]

ND sends out interview notices (via phone) in very late January or early February for end-of-February interviews. Final decisions are sometime in March, but, uh, if you don't get an interview invitation it is not good news.

Good luck this year, everyone! My hopes and good thoughts are with all of you, both for successful app results and for surviving the next two months!

Edited January 5, 2012 by Sparky

[LateAntique]

Just a heads up for anyone applying to Duke Ph.D - I just got a letter from a professor at Duke telling me that my statement of purpose came out garbled because of a mechanical error. At any rate, I take this to mean that they are now looking at applications. I know this is not really "helpful" information, but it's information nonetheless.

[katholou]

Just got an invitation to interview weekend at Baylor, Feb 10-12. Am quite excited, and wonder why all the schools can't be this prompt!

[LateAntique]

Just got an invitation to interview weekend at Baylor, Feb 10-12. Am quite excited, and wonder why all the schools can't be this prompt!

Congrats!

[onoma]

Just got an invitation to interview weekend at Baylor, Feb 10-12. Am quite excited, and wonder why all the schools can't be this prompt!

Congratulations! Out of curiosity, what is your specialization within NT?

[katholou]

Congratulations! Out of curiosity, what is your specialization within NT?

Thanks! I'm interested in text criticism, Greco-Roman context of the NT and the relation of theological exegesis with historical-critical approaches.

[The Pierre Menard]

I also just got an invitation to Baylor's GPR Preview Weekend. Does anyone know when other schools usually do their interview weekend? I know not every school does one, but I thought someone might know some pertinent information.