PhD applications for 2013-2014 chit chat...

[religiousstudiesscholar]

Nope. I haven't talked to anyone else in the Religious Ethics concentration that has, either. But I'm pretty sure Yale requires all of its departments to interview PhD applicants. I thought I heard that somewhere, anyway.

Yes, they do, from what I've gathered. Did you get the email today? So sorry, btw. 

[crackthesky]

Yes, they do, from what I've gathered. Did you get the email today? So sorry, btw. 

 

Yes, I received the e-mail around 5:15 this evening. It directed me to the Yale website where I could plug in my pin and password. Maybe you could try doing that? At the very bottom of the page it said a decision was posted and I clicked on a link that sent me to a form (but nice) letter. And no worries! It wasn't my top choice. I hope it was for those that got in!

[religiousstudiesscholar]

Yes, I just saw mine. I did have an interview (and an informal interview with my POI at the AAR in November), so rejection, especially given in such a standard form, stings greatly. 

[crackthesky]

Yes, I just saw mine. I did have an interview (and an informal interview with my POI at the AAR in November), so rejection, especially given in such a standard form, stings greatly. 

 

Ugh, I always feel that they should at least write personal messages to those they interview...you know, having made it so far in the process.  Either way, congrats on making it that far at Yale. That is no easy task. I hope the rest of the application season is more positive for you!

[NTstudent]

I spoke with a friend who is currently in the PhD program at Marquette (Systematics) and he thought offers for new students would go out next week.

[coffeekid]

Yikes. Just got rejections from Yale and uChicago 20 minutes apart. The academy seems to be wishing me a good weekend!

[EndlessAshley]

How possible would you say it is to publish/present when you're not enrolled? I'm graduating in May, but I hope there's something I can do to change my application before I inevitably reapply.

[Kuriakos]

Yikes. Just got rejections from Yale and uChicago 20 minutes apart. The academy seems to be wishing me a good weekend!

 

I had the same unpleasant experience.

[coffeekid]

How possible would you say it is to publish/present when you're not enrolled? I'm graduating in May, but I hope there's something I can do to change my application before I inevitably reapply.

 

Very possible. I took a year off to do CPE, and during that time did more substantial extracurricular academic stuff than I had during my masters. Especially if you have some underdeveloped term papers from your previous program, time outside of school is a great opportunity to beef them up and send them off to CFPs and journals.

Just be sure to be disciplined with that time and start early. A year can slip by you pretty quickly while you're "catching up on the books you've been meaning to read."

[Theo-Be]

Not sure how many others are waiting on Yale, but I just received an email from them so if you haven't heard back you probably will soon! (My application was rejected...which was no real surprise.) I applied to the Religious ethics program.

 

Congrats to those of you who were accepted!

and yet uchicago wait list and bc etc. are not too shabby

[crackthesky]

and yet uchicago wait list and bc etc. are not too shabby

 

Loyola Chicago acceptance and BC wait list are not too shabby, either! Like I said, we must have good taste!   

Edited February 23, 2013 by crackthesky

[NTstudent]

How possible would you say it is to publish/present when you're not enrolled? I'm graduating in May, but I hope there's something I can do to change my application before I inevitably reapply.

I did my SBL presentation in my "off" year after a less than ideal first application cycle. It wasn't really "off" because I worked hard to improve my CV and become a better scholar. Don't worry about your actual program status when you submit. Just remember that the submission deadline for an annual meeting presentation is next Thursday at 11:59 pm. Best of luck if you decide to submit something.

[la sarar]

I'd say keep those presenting jets cool until you hit the PhD program.  I think that a lot of people see it as a way to notch up their belt for a nice full CV when they apply, but I often find that presentations by M* students end up being more or less created for this end.  I also think (and know from sitting on two) that committees often see presentations that are done as a M* as just this.  Plus, if you haven't actually published your work that you presented in some kind of peer-reviewed journal, I hardly think that they are going to think too much of your new reading of Galatians 2.  This is probably a little bit harsh, but my advisor told me the same thing as I sat with him wringing my hands over not having done enough presentations.  So, if you can pull off a sweet presentation that was subsequently published, maybe it would help - but, take a look through these boards (historically) and note the huffy comments along the lines of "Hmph, I guess 2 [garbage] articles in a peer-reviewed [sectarian theological] journal, 5 [garbage] presentations at SBL and NAPS...isn't good enough for school X!"  They are right.  Those aren't good enough, you also have to be an innovative thinker, who is excited as hell about her or his subject, can communicate that through the written medium, and is going to probably change the field with their amazing dissertation. 

 

I thought that presentation would precede publication. At least my academic adviser told me so. He doesn't like "pre-mature" publications, but said that presentations would be good exercise and preparation for serious publications in future (not necessarily immediately and not necessarily the same paper). I presented last year at SBL in Chicago as a master student. I felt terrible, as a foreigner, non-native speaker, reading a paper written a year before the event when I just finished my BA. But my professor encouraged me and I appreciate that. I personally don't think it's possible at all to "skip" the "garbage" phase in one's work as a student in humanities. 

 

So I was a first-time presenter and a first-time participant last year in Chicago, which was not enjoyable at all. But at least I got to understand how everything looked like and felt like. I didn't expect to attract any attention (any attention obtained by that paper would not be particularly positive attention, I knew it, but they did accept it anyway so that's why I said they were lenient with first-time presenters), being in the same session with two pretty famous professors and one advanced doctoral student. 

 

I submitted that proposal and paper simply because I wanted to know if what others had told me was true. I mean, I've met a much more advanced graduate student with several years of graduate work, who told me that even participating the conference was an unrealistic idea for students, especially masters, and I wanted to know what that meant. 

 

I decided after that presentation that I might want to wait until I enroll in a phd program and maybe pass my generals/qualifications to present again. 

 

In sum, I think garbage papers are unavoidable in one's career and I personally would rather read trash aloud (T-R-A-S-H~~~) than publish trash and let others see it in print. At the same time, I'm not sure how low their standards are, I guess if one has five "garbage" national SBL presentations (before phd application!), then we would need a good many garbage-accepting conferences, which would be fun. 

[Qaus-gabri]

Congrats to anyone whoHAS presented at the annual meeting—I wasn't trying to discourage anyone, nor say that one *shouldn't.* That said, I still think regional meetings are probably the more appropriate venue for master's students—with few exceptions (and there most certainly are exceptions)

 

All that said, I imagine the discipline is determinative too. *Most* master's students in HB simply don't have the language proficiency to interact with enough cognate literature (and, for English speakers, non-english secondary sources) to treat a topic completely.

 

If you've got the chops, by all means, do it. I don't.

[Troppman]

There will always be exceptions. Reminds me of my first semester of grad school, trying to publish. An older grad student said "of course you can't publish, you shouldn't have anything to say yet!" Needless to say, they were wrong and the piece made its way out followed by several others. Skill and contribution don't always align with level of accreditation. In other words, I agree with you Qaus-gabri; but I wouldn't want to ever discourage anybody who actually has a novel field intervention to offer. Unless said person thrives off of being the underdog. In that case: you aren't worthy, and only after receiving a PhD will your thoughts maybe be good enough--maybe, you loser. 

:-)

Edited February 23, 2013 by StephanieDelacour

[Qaus-gabri]

There will always be exceptions. Reminds me of my first semester of grad school, trying to publish. An older grad student said "of course you can't publish, you shouldn't have anything to say yet!" Needless to say, they were wrong and the piece made its way out followed by several others. Skill and contribution don't always align with level of accreditation. In other words, I agree with you Qaus-gabri; but I wouldn't want to ever discourage anybody who actually has a novel field intervention to offer. Unless said person thrives off of being the underdog. In that case: you aren't worthy, and only after receiving a PhD will your thoughts maybe be good enough--maybe, you loser. 

:-)

 

Well said.

[ûl ʾašerātō]

I just surprisingly got an acceptance from Brown Religious Studies. Very thankful and relieved. My first (more or less certain) acceptance so far. 

 

I think you'll enjoy being at Brown (if you end up matriculating). The dept has great resources for its students, and has been producing some top quality work of late. Congratulations!

[rav989]

I'm sorry if this has been treated already somewhere else ,but want to probe gradcafe about something. 

I was waitlisted at my first-choice school. Apparently slim chances of getting in, but they encourage to apply again next year. Was a bit disappointed and thought about giving up the whole PhD thing (I realize this might be immature... but this is my first time in the application season). I did get into another school that I'm not as excited about which cheered me up. Do you think I should go to second-choice school or perhaps, now having a bit more confidence because at least one place wants me, I can wait for next year to try first-choice school again? 

 

[vega maudlin]

Do you mind sharing which was your first choice school (and what program)?

Edited February 23, 2013 by vega maudlin

[la sarar]

I think you'll enjoy being at Brown (if you end up matriculating). The dept has great resources for its students, and has been producing some top quality work of late. Congratulations!

Thank you very much! I visited and really like the atmosphere. 

[rav989]

Do you mind sharing which was your first choice school (and what program)?

 

It was Princeton, ancient med. I don't want to state the second-choice (if I go there, I wouldn't want anyone to know that's how I felt, and it's a small field so it'll be easy to figure it out... plus if I go I'll probably end up being convinced it should have been my top choice all along).

Edited February 23, 2013 by rav989

[stillwaiting2321]

Hi All,

 

I haven't heard anything from Emory yet. But I contacted the Laney Graduate School directly and I was told the PCRL Faculty has recommended me for admission, but I was not in the first round of offers to go out from the admissions office. Again nothing official, BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? Am I basically awaiting a waitlist notice?

[Perique69]

Hi All,

 

I haven't heard anything from Emory yet. But I contacted the Laney Graduate School directly and I was told the PCRL Faculty has recommended me for admission, but I was not in the first round of offers to go out from the admissions office. Again nothing official, BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? Am I basically awaiting a waitlist notice?

 

It means you are on the waiting list, but I wouldn't count on being notified officially that you're on this list.  The cagey GDR made their top 18 offers on Feb 14.  They interviewed 40 candidates for 18 slots.  So the waiting game could last until April 15, depending on what the top 18 decide.  Most of them will accept if history is predictable.      

[stillwaiting2321]

It means you are on the waiting list, but I wouldn't count on being notified officially that you're on this list.  The cagey GDR made their top 18 offers on Feb 14.  They interviewed 40 candidates for 18 slots.  So the waiting game could last until April 15, depending on what the top 18 decide.  Most of them will accept if history is predictable.      

Thanks, figured as much.  Hopefully the right one(or more) says no well before April 15. I've grown pretty tired of feeling like my life is in a state limbo. 

[ecotheology518]

hi there, i don't know how to do the whole quote multiquote thing...my husband says there's about 5 assistantships which give full scholarship and stipend of $17500.  the professors are open to people doing research on protestant theologians and many incorporate into their curriculum.  the majority of professors are catholic, with one protestant, two orthodox, and one jewish professor.  the tricky thing about duquesne is that you don't get to choose a variety of classes.  they offer one ph.d. in scripture, one in doctrine, and one in moral each semester and it just depends on which teacher is teaching that semester.  hope this helps.

Do you have any idea when Duquesne's committee is meeting or when they usually start sending out responses? There's isn't much info in the results search on grad cafe, which is why I'm asking.