PhD applications for 2014 chit chat...

[Kleets712]

Just contacted via email for interview at BU. So, when you see that result, know it's mine. It seemed casual, in person, and likely instituted by POI or sub discipline (as opposed to institutional). Multiple people seemed like they would be there however. 

Edited January 23, 2014 by Kleets712

[calebm12]

Congrats on the interview, Kleets!  Anybody have insider info on when Duke will start sending out invites?  I would guess any day now, but who knows.

[MBIGrad]

I heard a rumor that Duke opted to cut all funding for doctoral Religion applicants this year in favor of establishing a basketball team comprised completely of REL students...weird.

Edited January 23, 2014 by MBIGrad

[MsBOOM]

I heard a rumor that Duke opted to cut all funding for doctoral Religion applicants this year in favor of establishing a basketball team comprised completely of REL students...weird.

 

HAAAAAAA. LOVE IT.

[MsBOOM]

Duly noted. My emotions almost got the best if me.

I'm going to take one more shot though. I was wait listed last year but recommended for admission by all of the departments professors. This was due to a poor GRE score attached to a "very strong" app. I couldn't afford to retake the GRE this season. But I certainly will this year to reapply for 2015.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what were your scores? You could PM if you'd like to keep it a secret. GRE scores are the bane to my acceptances, I fear.

[marXian]

Just contacted via email for interview at BU. So, when you see that result, know it's mine. It seemed casual, in person, and likely instituted by POI or sub discipline (as opposed to institutional). Multiple people seemed like they would be there however. 

 

First, congrats on the interview!

 

But I'm confused by this distinction between "institutional" interviews and "other." Usually, if a department has an interview process prior to offers of admission being made that is the discretion of the department--at least, that's how it works at Northwestern. In other words, it's not the university itself that is mandating all programs conduct interviews. At NU, some departments interview and some don't (religious studies does not.)

 

Again, every program seems to be slightly different when it comes to admissions, so some here may have different thoughts or experiences, but I wouldn't take an invite to interview from your POI as something casual as opposed to something that would be more formal if sent from the university itself. If you haven't been offered admission, and your POI made it clear it's an interview, then that interview is going to ultimately decide whether or not you're admitted.

 

On the other hand, some programs (like mine) offer admission via a phone call (or email) from the DGS and the POI along with an invite to a prospective students weekend (many NU departments do this.) That isn't an interview weekend, but an opportunity for already admitted students to see what the department is like, meet faculty in RS and those related to the student's AOI, etc. in order to make a decision about where they'll attend. It's my understanding that interview weekends also serve this purpose.

Edited January 23, 2014 by marXian

[Kleets712]

First, congrats on the interview!

 

But I'm confused by this distinction between "institutional" interviews and "other." Usually, if a department has an interview process prior to offers of admission being made that is the discretion of the department--at least, that's how it works at Northwestern. In other words, it's not the university itself that is mandating all programs conduct interviews. At NU, some departments interview and some don't (religious studies does not.)

 

Again, every program seems to be slightly different when it comes to admissions, so some here may have different thoughts or experiences, but I wouldn't take an invite to interview from your POI as something casual as opposed to something that would be more formal if sent from the university itself. If you haven't been offered admission, and your POI made it clear it's an interview, then that interview is going to ultimately decide whether or not you're admitted.

 

On the other hand, some programs (like mine) offer admission via a phone call (or email) from the DGS and the POI along with an invite to a prospective students weekend (many NU departments do this.) That isn't an interview weekend, but an opportunity for already admitted students to see what the department is like, meet faculty in RS and those related to the student's AOI, etc. in order to make a decision about where they'll attend. It's my understanding that interview weekends also serve this purpose.

 

I mainly put that in there to manage people's anxiety. If you haven't gotten an invite from BU and you applied, you shouldn't be worried. It's not as if they sent them out at the same time. Instead, my POI and the subdisicpline of the program wanted to have an interview - different subdisciplines could handle it differently. 

 

The distinction was to basically say - this seems like it was not like Baylor's all or nothing email system - it was more POI/subdiscipline based. I'm just wary of people fretting when they should not.

 

I should note I have met with this professor a couple times before - it's not casual necessarily, but it wasn't stiff either.  

 

Edited: I'm not a smart man but I know what adjectives are (maybe). 

 

Edited January 23, 2014 by Kleets712

[d_kahr]

Has anyone else applied to Baylor and not yet received an email of any sort?

[Giotto]

I'm the PTS interview recipient.  The professor who emailed me told me they are interviewing by Skype the short list of Hebrew Bible candidates on Tuesday.  

[theorykween]

Did anyone here get one of the Yale interviews that have been posted? If so, what subfield?

[theogeek]

No I applied to the theology subfield. I'm curious to know what the subfield was for that first one that was posted awhile ago. Other than that, I only see one New Testament one. 

[theorykween]

My guess (and hope) is that many of the subfields have not sent out invitations yet.

 

The older one was sent to an international student (according to the info posted) which may have something to do with why they recieved such early notice.

 

Last year, interviews invitations were sent out on Jan 25th and slightly after. Unless we hear from someone with more knowledge, I'm going to give it another week until I assume the worst.

 

Cheer up! We're going to go (back to) grad school soon!

[theogeek]

Haha! I am still in grad school at the moment and I'm finding it hard to focus on my work while waiting for all these results!! Yeah I'm not going to assume anything until I hear from schools. How can you see it's an international student? I am technically "international" as well, as I'm Canadian. When I look at info for international students on most US institution websites though, it's usually just stuff about ESL so I don't think I fall under the typical idea of international! 

[11Q13]

(;

Edited January 25, 2014 by 11Q13

[diazalon]

(;

 

Congrats! Who did the email come from?

[Khayzuran]

Congrats to whomever got into Stanford. Wondering what subfield?

[MBIGrad]

Congrats to UNC's Religion in the Americas admit. If you are on here, was your funding offer "the usual" from UNC, may we ask?

[runthejewels]

Congrats to UNC's Religion in the Americas admit. If you are on here, was your funding offer "the usual" from UNC, may we ask?

 

Thanks!  No word on funding.  I received a general acceptance letter via email

[runthejewels]

Also, what is "the usual?"  Is it decent?

[MBIGrad]

I believe the usual is $15.5k, with unusually high student fees (in the thousands) for which students are responsible. In my estimation, this has the potential to make life in Chapel Hill difficult, but who knows? I hope they give you more.

Edited January 27, 2014 by MBIGrad

[sacklunch]

I think it would make it pretty difficult. FWIW, both Duke and CH have been recently really enforcing the 'no work outside of the university' rule. In fact, Duke just changed the PhD student TA rule where you now can only do (I think) one class a semester, which naturally cuts everyone's funds. I guess this was never enforced before, but for whatever reason now the admins are strict about it (I guess they think grad students are making too much money...).

 

CH is a lot more expensive than Durham, but considering other large cities, it's pretty decent. If you want to be in walking distance to campus I imagine it would be pretty expensive, but pretty cheap if you live within bus distance (or biking). I think most people expect to pay around $500 a month with roommates and maybe 750-800 without.

[Kleets712]

[diazalon]

[MBIGrad]

Concerning the UNC/money thing, I'm not sure about you all, but it's made me apprehensive about several of my applications (UNC, BU, FSU, even UT), whether or not the stipends will allow for living in those areas; and that's if I get accepted. What up wit dat?

[d_kahr]

How does one typically adapt their application package when applying to a program the year following a rejection from said program? Is it expected that personal statements, letters of recommendation, etc. be completely overhauled (perhaps even entirely different references)? Or would the same documents be able to be considered afresh in the context of the new applicant pool?