Doctoral applications 2015-2016

[ibnbattuta]

4 hours ago, menge said:

In my mind if you want to work with Elias and there are NELC faculty that will compliment your work, that would be enough reason to apply... that said, I have no idea how Upenn is perceived for Islamic studies, though no matter what it is still Upenn. You might try and contact the department and see if you can get in touch with any current grad students, especially if there are any working in Islamic studies. 

Thank you, appreciate the insight. 

[Esei_John]

13 hours ago, RW1823 said:

Ah we might meet then! I am an international applicant as well. I've been in touch with Klassen when I e-mailed her that I was going to apply in October, but that was definitely not an interview (I think?), more of an informal talk about my plans and whether UofT would be a good fit. So I don't think the lack of contact is necessarily a problem. I don't know how many spots they have available, didn't ask. They contacted me early mainly because I received an additional fellowship on top of the stipend, I think. He did say that official confirmations would go out Monday, so you'll probably know then. 

Thanks for the information! I'm really looking forward to meet you too  And congratulations on winning the fellowship. Obviously you must have exceptional credentials .

[KA.DINGER.RA]

I have heard from one of the five schools I applied to and they offered to pay for my flight, hotel room, etc while I'm there.  How does one know if a visit is "competitive" or "non-competitive?"  I'm still hoping to hear back from the other schools but I have no frame of reference for when I might hear from them.

[Laodiceans]

7 minutes ago, raleighheth said:

I have heard from one of the five schools I applied to and they offered to pay for my flight, hotel room, etc while I'm there.  How does one know if a visit is "competitive" or "non-competitive?"  I'm still hoping to hear back from the other schools but I have no frame of reference for when I might hear from them.

They usually make it clear in the invite email/phone call. You can either ask them directly, browse through previous years' posts regarding your school to see what others have said, or say what school you're talking about and maybe others here can help you out.

[KA.DINGER.RA]

Just now, Laodiceans said:

They usually make it clear in the invite email/phone call. You can either ask them directly, browse through previous years' posts regarding your school to see what others have said, or say what school you're talking about and maybe others here can help you out.

Sorry about that.  I have been asked to interview by Notre Dame.  I also applied to Emory. I know there recruitment weekend is in two days, but I've been told by all of my professors (they all have quite close connections with the professors there) not to worry too much about that.  I also applied to Harvard, PTS, and Florida State.

[ibnbattuta]

48 minutes ago, raleighheth said:

Sorry about that.  I have been asked to interview by Notre Dame.  I also applied to Emory. I know there recruitment weekend is in two days, but I've been told by all of my professors (they all have quite close connections with the professors there) not to worry too much about that.  I also applied to Harvard, PTS, and Florida State.

 

As far as I know, from anecdotes from personal friends and individuals on this forum, that if one was not invited to interview at Emory you did not make the preliminary cut.  That being said, you never know what kind of machinations are going on behind closed doors and this whole process is one giant, enigmatic crap shoot.

[RD_Paul]

2 hours ago, raleighheth said:

Sorry about that.  I have been asked to interview by Notre Dame.  I also applied to Emory. I know there recruitment weekend is in two days, but I've been told by all of my professors (they all have quite close connections with the professors there) not to worry too much about that.  I also applied to Harvard, PTS, and Florida State.

Notre Dame's interviews are competitive. I got into their MTS program last year, and Vanderkam told me while I was there that they always invite more prospective PhD students than they can take. 

[KA.DINGER.RA]

13 minutes ago, RD_Paul said:

Notre Dame's interviews are competitive. I got into their MTS program last year, and Vanderkam told me while I was there that they always invite more prospective PhD students than they can take. 

That's good to know. I appreciate it. I'm really excited/scared at the moment. I'm hoping to hear back from other programs soon as well.

[search the scriptures]

Does anyone have any information on the admissions timetable for the following programs that they could help me with?  I have not heard one word from any of them.

 

Brown (RAM)

Yale (HB / OT)

Boston University (Texts and Traditions)

Boston University School of Theology (Biblical Studies)

Brandeis (NEJS)

Fordham (Bible)

 

I was rejected by Baylor (Old Testament) via email on Jan 25th with no interview (obviously not a good thing).  I also applied to Boston College (Biblical Studies) and I was told today by a source connected to the program that acceptance letters went out on Monday for all concentrations within Theology (Systemic Theology, Biblical Studies, Theological Ethics and Comparative Theology would thus have gone out as well in addition to Historical Theology like _PATRISTICS_  mentioned above).  Since I have not heard a word from BC, I suppose that is acceptance is not a possibility now given that I was not contacted or interviewed. 

 

[turktheman]

1 hour ago, search the scriptures said:

Does anyone have any information on the admissions timetable for the following programs that they could help me with?  I have not heard one word from any of them.

 

Brown (RAM)

Yale (HB / OT)

Boston University (Texts and Traditions)

Boston University School of Theology (Biblical Studies)

Brandeis (NEJS)

Fordham (Bible)

 

I was rejected by Baylor (Old Testament) via email on Jan 25th with no interview (obviously not a good thing).  I also applied to Boston College (Biblical Studies) and I was told today by a source connected to the program that acceptance letters went out on Monday for all concentrations within Theology (Systemic Theology, Biblical Studies, Theological Ethics and Comparative Theology would thus have gone out as well in addition to Historical Theology like _PATRISTICS_  mentioned above).  Since I have not heard a word from BC, I suppose that is acceptance is not a possibility now given that I was not contacted or interviewed. 

 

I hear that Brown will be making decisions soon according to a friend I emailed there. She didn't have much info, except that it was her understanding that decisions will be made soon and that all would hear back before the end of the month--I know not too helpful. Yale is conducting interviews right now. I believe that includes HB. No clue about BU or Brandeis, but a contact at Fordham said Fordham normally makes decisions the end of Jan./first week of Feb. and announce soon afterwards. Since no one has posted (from my search on the results) anything from Fordham just yet, then my guess is they haven't informed anyone yet. 

[search the scriptures]

Thanks turktheman.  In anyone's experience, do schools ever accept someone without contacting first and/or interviewing?  Or is a form of contact (email, call, etc) always the norm before an acceptance letter if an applicant is going to be accepted? 

[turktheman]

9 minutes ago, search the scriptures said:

Thanks turktheman.  In anyone's experience, do schools ever accept someone without contacting first and/or interviewing?  Or is a form of contact (email, call, etc) always the norm before an acceptance letter if an applicant is going to be accepted? 

It seems to depend on the school. One of the best ways--though not the surest--is to check past forums here. Each year a new group is set up to discuss doctoral applications, so there's often more information in them then using the search feature of results. From your list, I know Yale calls or emails to schedule an interview. I don't know if the rest necessarily do so.   

[pmajor]

To all who have interviews, etc. this weekend. Best of luck. I'll be reading the Silmarillion and waiting to hear how they went.

[pmajor]

Saw somebody got waitlisted at JHU... anybody got anymore details? Radio silence for me. Does that bode ill for me?

[Tha-Boy]

6 hours ago, pmajor said:

Saw somebody got waitlisted at JHU... anybody got anymore details? Radio silence for me. Does that bode ill for me?

Sorry I'm coming out of nowhere! (I even made the fancy, color-coded signature!). Anyway, that was me. I got an email Feb. 3rd saying I was on the short list for admission: "The question now is not your eligibility, but whether we can offer you an appropriate financial aid package. As our budget for next year will not be finalized for a few more weeks, I must ask your indulgence to be patient with us for a while longer until we get a clearer picture of what we can offer." It was a great email to receive, but I'm still walking around like a deer in headlights; I have no idea how to interpret it or what to say

[pmajor]

9 hours ago, Tha-Boy said:

Sorry I'm coming out of nowhere! (I even made the fancy, color-coded signature!). Anyway, that was me. I got an email Feb. 3rd saying I was on the short list for admission: "The question now is not your eligibility, but whether we can offer you an appropriate financial aid package. As our budget for next year will not be finalized for a few more weeks, I must ask your indulgence to be patient with us for a while longer until we get a clearer picture of what we can offer." It was a great email to receive, but I'm still walking around like a deer in headlights; I have no idea how to interpret it or what to say

Congrats! I hope the funding works out for you. 

[tdwightdavis]

On 2/5/2016 at 2:41 PM, pmajor said:

To all who have interviews, etc. this weekend. Best of luck. I'll be reading the Silmarillion and waiting to hear how they went.

Oddly enough, in my van from the airport to Baylor we had a conversation about the Silmarillion. 

[pmajor]

Just now, tdwightdavis said:

Oddly enough, in my van from the airport to Baylor we had a conversation about the Silmarillion. 

How did it go? The interview, not the conversation about the Silmarillion.

[tdwightdavis]

1 minute ago, pmajor said:

How did it go? The interview, not the conversation about the Silmarillion.

Hard to say. I guess I'll know how it went in 7-10 days.

[RW1823]

 

On 2/4/2016 at 1:18 PM, Esei_John said:

Thanks for the information! I'm really looking forward to meet you too  And congratulations on winning the fellowship. Obviously you must have exceptional credentials .

I just got my official e-mail from UofT, with a scan of the acceptance letter. Have you heard anything yet? Kept my fingers crossed for you!

[Esei_John]

5 minutes ago, RW1823 said:

 

I just got my official e-mail from UofT, with a scan of the acceptance letter. Have you heard anything yet? Kept my fingers crossed for you!

Sadly not yet. was it a generic mail?? I'm still waiting..

[Samahito]

Somebody posted a rejection from Harvard's PhD in the Study of Religion on the 4th. Anybody want to claim it? Any insights into whether or not decisions are going around?

Thanks!

[KA.DINGER.RA]

I was told by someone in my department that the faculty at Harvard is meeting this week to further discuss applications.  Take that for what it's worth.

Edited February 8, 2016 by raleighheth

[Samahito]

Thanks, @raleighheth. Good luck with your interviews! I hope good news comes your way. 

Edited February 8, 2016 by Samahito

[RW1823]

4 hours ago, Esei_John said:

Sadly not yet. was it a generic mail?? I'm still waiting..

Hm, not sure if it was generic or not. It was a scan of the official letter I'll supposedly receive on paper this week. But the e-mail was addressed to me personally. I really don't know what's common or not, I'm afraid.