Doctoral applications 2015-2016

[bertochalaco]

Hello all, 

I applied to UVA, Duke (ThD), Notre Dame, University of Chicago, and Wheaton for theology. So far I have an interview at Wheaton and haven't heard back from anyone else.  

Edited January 20, 2016 by bertochalaco
typo

[pmajor]

5 hours ago, nevermind said:

I applied to CUA (5 years ago) and was accepted to their Semitics program (no interview). So something might've changed or simply the semitics dept. does things differently. Good luck!

Thanks nevermind! That's a huge encouragement.

Also, I called Emory today and the director of the department had no knowledge of the video submission thing that Abdelazar mentioned. So, maybe it depends on the department. Anyway, he also said Emory invites for interview weekend get decided TOMORROW! So, that's why no one has heard from Emory yet (also, it's only January).

[pmajor]

On another note, it just occurred to me to ask the collective: How does being an evangelical (with an M.Div from an evangelical institution) factor into my viability as a candidate within secular-leaning/unaffiliated programs?

[RD_Paul]

Got an e-mail this morning from my POI at Princeton Seminary asking for a Skype interview tomorrow. Not sure if every department is doing that, but just so everyone knows.

[therealhogwarts]

If you applied to the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory, final interview candidates were decided today. If you were one of them, you should receive a call or email very soon.

[tdwightdavis]

35 minutes ago, therealhogwarts said:

If you applied to the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory, final interview candidates were decided today. If you were one of them, you should receive a call or email very soon.

I'm not sure if I appreciate this information or if I hate you for it. My refreshing of the Emory results page and my email has increased by 5000% in the past few minutes.

Edited January 21, 2016 by tdwightdavis
grammar fix

[therealhogwarts]

1 hour ago, tdwightdavis said:

I'm not sure if I appreciate this information or if I hate you for it. My refreshing of the Emory results page and my email has increased by 5000% in the past few minutes.

Apologies. By soon, I meant one-two days!

[fides quarens intellectum]

20 hours ago, pmajor said:

On another note, it just occurred to me to ask the collective: How does being an evangelical (with an M.Div from an evangelical institution) factor into my viability as a candidate within secular-leaning/unaffiliated programs?

I can't comment on that exact question, but I have a Catholic background (2 seminary degrees, 1 in philosophy, the other an MA in Theology), and was admitted at FSU in their Religion, Ethics, and Philosophy track last year.  The two others in my cohort also had seminary backgrounds.  We're, of course, doing different kind of inquiry now, but they weren't scared off by our backgrounds or anything.  In fact, depending on the particular institution you end up at, you might find more freedom to look at evangelical questions in an institution with no specific focus than in one which would have some sort of guiding role in what kinds of questions you can ask.  At least for me, I am very happy and pretty confident that at a secular institution, I'm able to pursue Catholic questions with less interference than I might have had at some Catholic institutions.  Does that make any sense?

[JN527]

Baylor's waitlist went out.  Did anyone receive rejections, particularly in the theology subfield?

[Epaphroditus]

21 hours ago, pmajor said:

On another note, it just occurred to me to ask the collective: How does being an evangelical (with an M.Div from an evangelical institution) factor into my viability as a candidate within secular-leaning/unaffiliated programs?

It depends. If you're going for more semitics/philology leaning programs, then it probably won't affect you at all. If you're going for more Hebrew Bible/ANE programs, it might affect you. It definitely doesn't help you, but I don't know how much it necessarily hurts you, depending on what school you came from.

To give an example from last year, an applicant on this forum from an evangelical school got into all the top NT programs (Duke, ND, Yale, Princeton). If you show in your writing sample that you can do quality research that doesn't just affirm your confessional commitments, then I don't think it matters all that much.

[nevermind]

22 hours ago, pmajor said:

On another note, it just occurred to me to ask the collective: How does being an evangelical (with an M.Div from an evangelical institution) factor into my viability as a candidate within secular-leaning/unaffiliated programs?

I think that admissions committees are likely to view degrees from evangelical institutions as "non-rigorous". I had a degree from a religious school (not evangelical, but it was where I obtained my M.A.) and it definitely hurt me when competing with students from other institutions (Harvard, Yale, etc.). 

This book review also alludes to the perception of religious institutions as non-rigorous (at best):

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/06/new-book-reveals-how-elite-phd-admissions-committees-review-candidates

[Almaqah Thwn]

22 hours ago, pmajor said:

On another note, it just occurred to me to ask the collective: How does being an evangelical (with an M.Div from an evangelical institution) factor into my viability as a candidate within secular-leaning/unaffiliated programs?

Hey pmajor,

I'm in another branch of the same institution in which you are studying, who also just happened to apply to three of the same programs that you did. Just a heads up: Chicago's NELC apparently sent out invitations for qualified applications to attach a three minute video to their resume (However, I do not know if this was for all NELC students). I haven't heard anything from Johns Hopkins or UT Austin, though. Best of luck! 

[pmajor]

32 minutes ago, Almaqah Thwn said:

Hey pmajor,

I'm in another branch of the same institution in which you are studying, who also just happened to apply to three of the same programs that you did. Just a heads up: Chicago's NELC apparently sent out invitations for qualified applications to attach a three minute video to their resume (However, I do not know if this was for all NELC students). I haven't heard anything from Johns Hopkins or UT Austin, though. Best of luck! 

I saw that, as well... However, there are about 20 separate subdisciplines in the NELC dept at Chicago. So, there is no way to tell what dept specifically asked for those.

[pmajor]

Also, what happens to our logical reasoning abilities after submitting applications? We have suddenly gone from being potentially astute thinkers to middle-school girls crafting whole narratives from hearsay and what some jerk brags about in the "Recent Submissions" sections (you know you'll brag too, given the chance). One Department from Chicago's NELC may have sent out invites for video summaries; likewise with Emory. However, that doesn't necessarily constitute an advantage... its just a fact. I've been encouraged by folks who didn't get invited to Interview Weekend, or any other such event, and yet still got into their program. Let's not read too much into what little information we have. You know, critical thinking and all...

[Esei_John]

Hello all, 

I'm an international applicant for a Religion & Society ph.d. programs in US. 

I applied to Duke, Harvard, University of Chicago, UNC at Chapel hill, Princeton U, Boston University. So far I  haven't heard back from any school.  

 

But I've checked there was some admission-contacts from Duke committee last week in page 2 posting and gradcafe result.

Does it mean that (although my subfield is different from theirs, and I'm an International applicant) there is a fairly high probability of me being rejected?

It is already Friday and still no mail from Duke.

It's so disappointing... Duke was my first choice..

 

 

Edited January 22, 2016 by Esei_John
typo

[thisistheyear]

Has anyone heard from Vanderbilt about interviews yet? Seems like it should be happening right around now. 

[RD_Paul]

Saw on the results page that someone in NT got an interview with Duke. Can anyone confirm/claim that? 

[pmajor]

For all those, like me, who are staring at your inbox for an email from Emory... they are closing early today due to inclement weather! So, we may not hear anything until Monday! Enjoy your panic attacks... I know I will

[pmajor]

6 hours ago, Esei_John said:

Hello all, 

I'm an international applicant for a Religion & Society ph.d. programs in US. 

I applied to Duke, Harvard, University of Chicago, UNC at Chapel hill, Princeton U, Boston University. So far I  haven't heard back from any school.  

 

But I've checked there was some admission-contacts from Duke committee last week in page 2 posting and gradcafe result.

Does it mean that (although my subfield is different from theirs, and I'm an International applicant) there is a fairly high probability of me being rejected?

It is already Friday and still no mail from Duke.

It's so disappointing... Duke was my first choice..

 

 

Esei_John,

     I wouldn't give up hope, just yet. I have been told that every school does things differently, AND every department (and sub-department) does things differently. So, just because some have heard from Duke doesn't mean that Duke is out of the question for you. I wouldn't venture into the realm of building a whole decision based on one person's experiences, thus far. However, I may need to hear the same thing in the coming weeks!

[RD_Paul]

Just got a call from the NT chair at Emory. Invited for interview weekend.

[pmajor]

 

1 minute ago, RD_Paul said:

Just got a call from the NT chair at Emory. Invited for interview weekend.

Congratulations! Hope to hear more encouragement before the day is out!

[RD_Paul]

7 minutes ago, pmajor said:

 

Congratulations! Hope to hear more encouragement before the day is out!

Thanks, unfortunately, the interview weekend is the same weekend as Baylor's, to which I"m already committed. So, I will be doing the Emory interview via Skype, I think. 

[RD_Paul]

I just heard directly from an acquaintance at Duke that the admissions committee won't even meet until next week, so whoever has claimed on here that they've gotten invited to interviews is just trying to toy with us. I hope that is encouraging to you all who were hoping to hear from Duke. I know it is for me!

[Cloud_Cult]

On 1/21/2016 at 10:01 AM, RD_Paul said:

Got an e-mail this morning from my POI at Princeton Seminary asking for a Skype interview tomorrow. Not sure if every department is doing that, but just so everyone knows.

Let us know how this goes!

[RD_Paul]

1 hour ago, Cloud_Cult said:

Let us know how this goes!

The interview went well. Pretty short. I think they just use these short conversations to put a name with a face. In any case, we'll see!