Do I stand a chance?

[ghengisglebe]

Hi folks,

I'm an undergraduate at a very small -- virtually unknown -- Buddhist, "contemplative," university in Colorado, USA, majoring in Religious Studies with a focus in Sanskrit Language. My stats are fairly scattered: I have a 4.0 GPA, 158 Verbal, 138 Quant., 3.5 AW GRE scores. Planning on taking the test again.

I'm in the process of applying to the MA in Theology, Ethics and Culture at UVA. It's the perfect program/faculty for my particular interests in Religious studies, which are broad.

I get the impression that my relatively unusual pedigree may be a deterrent to my chances for acceptance. Apart from banking on my dazzling verbiage and rugged good-looks (that's a joke), What should I focus on as I move through the application process? Will strong letters of rec./statement of purpose/correspondance with profs at UVA make all the difference or should I begin entertaining more reasonable aspirations, like baby-sitting?

All jokes aside, I would really appreciate any advice or direction anyone has to offer. Thank you!

[Balatro]

Naropa University isn't as "virtually unknown" as you might believe it is - while I can't account for their Undergrad program per se, several of their MA (Religious Studies) graduates go on to wonderful PhD programs - Chicago, UCLA, UCSB, Harvard, Oxford, etc.

Speaking of Naropa, I do have a high school student that I tutor who has spoken of Naropa - perhaps you could PM your understanding of the school's climate, academics, etc or I could simply pass on his contact info if you'd prefer.

Getting into UVA is rough from what I understand (no personal experience here).

According to an outdated Admissions page (http://artsandscienc...pply/index.html), their usual successful applicants fall somewhere around here:

GPA: 3.7 (they due note that this is from a competitive school - naturally I presume they take grade inflation schools into account)

Old GRE V: 650-750 *Most RS programs don't look too hard at your Q score unless your proposed area involves some heavy statistics, in which case you'd probably be in an Anthropology or Sociology program anyway.

I can't speak for your writing score in relation to UVA, but I suspect that it's too low for them.

So, using my lazy math formula of ((GRE score * 15) - 1750) - your score of 158 would put you somewhere around 620 on the old system, which is obviously below their stated range. I also have to assume that competition for acceptance has since increased enough that if acceptance was ONLY based on GRE (and it's not), you'd probably not get in. Be aware that the stated GRE is for PhD applicants, though UVA states that their MA students generally score about the same as their PhD applicants - also keep in mind that I'm assuming competition has increased.

That said - I'd still apply anyway.

Your statement of purpose, LORs, proposed course of study, etc are really going to be what makes the decision. Your scores aren't low enough to get chopped by any kind of cutoff point so it'll be the above points that I named which really make your application shine. The website I linked above mentions that the quickest path to rejection for MA applicants is to apply for a program outside of their academic competence.

Other than that, I only hope that you're applying to schools other than UVA.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Balatro

[Guest]

Try for the 160's and at least a 4.5 on the writing, but I'm sure you already know that. I think you stand a fairly good chance, actually. It really doesn't hurt to apply and the MA program will at least be thoroughly less competitive than a PhD application experience, though I can't ascertain how much less. You should of course try and get good LOR's, but I do think you should spend a tremendous amount of time on your statement of purpose, highlighting specific individuals you'd love to study under (listing the senior-most professors first) and reasons why UVa is particularly and uniquely a good fit for you. You should absolutely correspond with professors as well, and I would recommend actually visiting the school to visit them in person if possible. I'd also say iking/following all of its social network sites is helpful, of course nominally but it is still worth your while since it demonstrates your interest, because admissions runs these things and pays attention. This will get your name out there and those on the admissions committee will be able to say more about you since they personally interacted with you.

Maybe attend smaller programs they may offer, such as symposiums/conferences or some sort of week long intensive. This is the most concrete way to show your interest in the school and its activities.

[MsBOOM]

I applied to their Theology, Ethics, and Culture program last year and got in. I went to a fairly unknown school for undergrad (George Mason University), and GMU has an incredibly smaaaaaaaaall religious studies department.

As for the GRE, I didn't do so well either... my stats were just a tad higher than yours. I would recommend taking it again and attempting higher for the writing part at least. Aside from the GRE, I had great LOR's, a strong SOP, and great undergrad stats in the religious studies department. I had no previous connection to professors at UVA, and aside from my letter of admission, I still haven't had any contact with them, haha.

In short, I believe you do have a good chance in getting in. If you have more questions, def let me know.

[tcb-ing]

The MA program is not super-difficult to get into, from what I understand. Although, if you are thinking of moving straight into a PhD program in TEC I wouldnt count on it. Have you thought about applying in History of Religions? TEC has the lowest acceptance rate of all the areas at UVa.