PhD Applications Fall '17 Season

[rheya19]

I'm really struggling with the not-knowing today. Really. Struggling.

I have a TON of grading to do, which means I'm stuck in front of a computer feeling bored, so you know I've been checking this forum and the results list every 15 minutes.  

I applied to ten schools; I technically only need to get into one!! Just one! Oh Gods of Education, just give me one acceptance soon so I can stop worrying about whether I'm going to school next year or not!! .... And if I get like six or seven, then I can know I'm going to school and feel good about myself. Up to You, oh Mighty Ones.

[Averroes MD]

^ I am also going nuts...

Anyone have any more updates about Harvard (Study of Religion)? When is the final meeting?

[MarthUser]

1 hour ago, rheya19 said:

I'm really struggling with the not-knowing today. Really. Struggling.

I have a TON of grading to do, which means I'm stuck in front of a computer feeling bored, so you know I've been checking this forum and the results list every 15 minutes.  

I applied to ten schools; I technically only need to get into one!! Just one! Oh Gods of Education, just give me one acceptance soon so I can stop worrying about whether I'm going to school next year or not!! .... And if I get like six or seven, then I can know I'm going to school and feel good about myself. Up to You, oh Mighty Ones.

I believe we're all in the same boat, and will probably be so well into next week as well. 

[Marcion]

6 hours ago, marXian said:

Wow. I'm assuming this is an American school? I have never, ever heard of an administrative body regularly turning away admitted students, let alone a whole group of students, recommended for admittance into a department. I have seen, on this board (for other disciplines, not RS) horror stories of people who were promised admission and then rejected at a higher administrative level--so I don't mean to suggest that it is impossible for this to happen. But these stories are, as I say, horror stories. And there is usually something fishy about them--like the person who has been rejected isn't telling the whole story or something.

If there is a reason to reject someone after a department has recommended them for admission, it's going to have to do with funding, which is to say either the technical details of your application (your transcripts, GPAs, GRE scores) or the funding a department actually has available. Regarding the first, unless you have exceedingly below-normal GPA and GRE scores for grad school acceptance, your BA/MA are from unaccredited institutions, or your transcripts turn out to be fake or something, you probably don't have anything to worry about. Degrees from unaccredited institutions and low scores probably raise a flag at the administrative level that require more investigation, and it's entirely possible that those kinds of red flags could slip past an adcom if they thought an SOP and letters were really exciting. Regarding the second, it's also possible that a department offers more spots in its program than it actually has funding for. This is a regular practice of some departments, usually lower tier schools, because they know they're chasing after some of their admits who will likely also have offers from top tier schools. For top tier schools though...I'm not sure. My institution is an elite school (though maybe not considered a top tier RS department, idk) and I know my department does not do this. They always make sure they'll have enough money to fund anyone to whom they extend an offer. If they make ten offers and all ten accept, they're likely not going to make that many offers the following year because they won't have the money. But there's no rule or law that says they couldn't take a gamble in the hopes some people would turn down their offers.

But the second thing doesn't sound like what your POI is saying. I honestly have no idea what he could be talking about. From my experience in multiple graduate programs, I've never heard of an administration arbitrarily deciding not to take some or all of the students recommended by a department. Though if anyone else has more concrete information than I do, I would be very interested to hear.

 

I can confirm that my low GRE but my high grades, good recommendations, and publications raised concerns at Stanford. My advisers were called personally and asked why the gap. I am not sure what other schools do or have done but that is my antidotal experience. It's possible some schools have rejected me outright due to my poor GRE score but who knows. 

[Marcion]

19 minutes ago, MarthUser said:

I believe we're all in the same boat, and will probably be so well into next week as well. 

Didn't they meet yesterday or Monday? I am guessing we will know end of next week or by the start of March.

[seung]

 

1 hour ago, Marcion said:

I can confirm that my low GRE but my high grades, good recommendations, and publications raised concerns at Stanford. My advisers were called personally and asked why the gap. I am not sure what other schools do or have done but that is my antidotal experience. It's possible some schools have rejected me outright due to my poor GRE score but who knows. 

Yes, but in the case of other schools, it seems that the Graduate School actually vets recommended applicants on the basis of funding. Departments regularly recommend more applicants than are admitted, putting the leftover onto the waitlist.  This seems like a strange process to me, even inefficient. But at the end of the day, I am still at the mercy of the system.

[Alan.N]

Has anyone applied to UPenn, here? I am dying to hear about what is going on with Yale, too! 

[Adonalsium]

5 hours ago, axiomness said:

Can anyone here claim that Yale acceptance? Area?

I'm suspicious as it seems a little too early for Yale and it sounded like @seung was saying they just sent their recommendations to GSAS for approval a day or two ago. The past couple years Yale didn't get back to applicants for first picks until Feb 19th at the earliest and Feb 24th at the latest. Though I also didn't see anything about waitlisting at Yale the past couple years. Did I just miss that or were no waitlisting reported at Yale or does Yale not waitlist its applicants?

[turktheman]

15 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

I'm suspicious as it seems a little too early for Yale and it sounded like @seung was saying they just sent their recommendations to GSAS for approval a day or two ago. The past couple years Yale didn't get back to applicants for first picks until Feb 19th at the earliest and Feb 24th at the latest. Though I also didn't see anything about waitlisting at Yale the past couple years. Did I just miss that or were no waitlisting reported at Yale or does Yale not waitlist its applicants?

The department's recommendations were sent to GSAS last Wednesday (or was it Tuesday . . . can't be sure now). I can confirm that at least one person has been notified of his/her acceptance today by a call. I assume this means acceptances are ready to go out, but there's no rule that subfields have to sync their notification efforts.  

[jsant09]

3 hours ago, Marcion said:

I can confirm that my low GRE but my high grades, good recommendations, and publications raised concerns at Stanford. My advisers were called personally and asked why the gap. I am not sure what other schools do or have done but that is my antidotal experience. It's possible some schools have rejected me outright due to my poor GRE score but who knows. 

I would imagine there could be many reasons for the gap and the calls are really just for additional information. Similarly, I have a 4.0 and good recommendations, but my scores are just below the limit for most schools. The feedback I received from professors at my current M.A. and the two programs I applied to were that the scores matter to some and not at all to others, and that they wouldn't prevent me from being seriously considered. One in particular suggested I not even worry about addressing it in my Statement. So, I guess it depends on just how low we are talking. If you are just below the threshold I wouldn't worry too much. 

[formerlurker]

1 hour ago, turktheman said:

The department's recommendations were sent to GSAS last Wednesday (or was it Tuesday . . . can't be sure now). I can confirm that at least one person has been notified of his/her acceptance today by a call. I assume this means acceptances are ready to go out, but there's no rule that subfields have to sync their notification efforts.  

Thanks for the info! Do you know what subfield the acceptance was in, by any chance?

[Averroes MD]

I. can't. sleep.

[seung]

7 hours ago, formerlurker said:

Thanks for the info! Do you know what subfield the acceptance was in, by any chance?

I received notification of my recommendation the first week of February. And also, I second this question

Edited February 16, 2017 by seung

[menge]

Probably about time to add a "presumed rejection" category to my list...

[FlyPiper]

Does anyone know what the status is of UT Austin besides AMR? The historical data shows this week being the week they notify, however it is still silent. 

[axiomness]

58 minutes ago, menge said:

Probably about time to add a "presumed rejection" category to my list...

I make my list in Excel in such a way that all programs are by default in "presumed rejection", and only get moved if I hear something else. It's not much catharsis but it has helped me a bit when getting though the last week(s) of February. Better to get excited with low expectations than to get let down with high expectations (imo).

Edited February 16, 2017 by axiomness

[the.waiting.game]

4 hours ago, FlyPiper said:

Does anyone know what the status is of UT Austin besides AMR? The historical data shows this week being the week they notify, however it is still silent. 

A friend of mine was accepted to their American Religions track last week.

[FlyPiper]

1 hour ago, the.waiting.game said:

A friend of mine was accepted to their American Religions track last week.

Thank you! I will still hope for the best, but expect the worst than since I also applied to Americas track. 

[SG_SC]

Waitlisted at Loyola Chicago. New levels of anxiety here.

[NewPhD]

Does anybody know if Princeton does interviews for (all) potential candidates for Religious Studies?  If I haven't gotten one, does that mean I'm out?  It doesn't look as if anyone has heard from them yet...

[the.waiting.game]

5 hours ago, FlyPiper said:

Thank you! I will still hope for the best, but expect the worst than since I also applied to Americas track. 

Same here--hard to say... I know someone who got into UT at the last minute last year, so you never know.

[Rabbit Run]

48 minutes ago, NewPhD said:

Does anybody know if Princeton does interviews for (all) potential candidates for Religious Studies?  If I haven't gotten one, does that mean I'm out?  It doesn't look as if anyone has heard from them yet...

Not sure, but I don't think Religion, Ethics, Politics does at least.

[rheya19]

YAAAY! Finally! Interview with Iowa next week!!! YAAAAAY!!!!

[Averroes MD]

33 minutes ago, rheya19 said:

YAAAY! Finally! Interview with Iowa next week!!! YAAAAAY!!!!

Congrats ! I've heard good things about Iowa. You should be proud of yourself. 

[Marcion]

5 hours ago, rheya19 said:

YAAAY! Finally! Interview with Iowa next week!!! YAAAAAY!!!!

Good luck!!!