PhD Applications Fall '17 Season

[formerlurker]

18 minutes ago, seung said:

Brown sent out its acceptance letters first week of Feb. Sent out notifications of the waitlist the following week.

Thanks, Seung, that's what I thought. I haven't heard anything from them though, so I guess they send out rejections later?

[seung]

8 minutes ago, formerlurker said:

Thanks, Seung, that's what I thought. I haven't heard anything from them though, so I guess they send out rejections later?

Yes, that is the practice of most schools

[Alan.N]

On 2/24/2017 at 1:56 PM, menge said:

For those waiting on UPenn: I solicited a response, and they indicated that decisions have not been finalized, but that they will be by March 6. 

Thanks so much for the UPenn update! 

I've also been waiting for Brown (RAM). I saw RCT results on the board, but nothing on RAM, and of course no rejection or anything from them...

Edited February 27, 2017 by Alan.N

[seung]

21 minutes ago, Alan.N said:

Thanks so much for the UPenn update! 

I've also been waiting for Brown (RAM). I saw RCT results on the board, but nothing on RAM, and of course no rejection or anything from them...

Pretty certain that decisions are sent out by the GSAS simultaneously for the department as a whole, not by each subfield at different times.

[Alan.N]

5 minutes ago, seung said:

Pretty certain that decisions are sent out by the GSAS simultaneously for the department as a whole, not by each subfield at different times.

Ah, great! Even more riding on UPenn's decision now, then... O.o 

[mdivgirl]

On 2/27/2017 at 0:11 AM, Calvin S said:

I actually have the opposite problem. I have lots of years between my masters and now, so I'm thinking that a ThM or equivalent may help with updated letters of rec and better writing sample. 

I was in a similar position.  If you can afford a Th.M., by all means, do it.  I would love to have had the chance, but financially, it just would not have worked out for us.  (If I hadn't gotten into a Ph.D. program this year, I might have applied to something like Notre Dame's MTS or other funded programs, but there aren't that many out there.)

There are a lot of things you can do on your own, though.  The POI at the school I eventually got into said that getting a high GRE score was more important for me than most to prove that I could still handle the work (Verbal and writing, mostly.)  I live overseas so review classes wouldn't have helped (they would be aimed at ESL learners), but a few GRE vocab app downloads and all the review books in the local English bookstore did the trick.  

I was applying to history programs mostly (though the one I got into was a religion one) and my writing sample was pretty awful.  You should be able to update it on your own even if you don't get to go back to school.  I revisited my undergrad thesis paper, and that gave me a lot of insight into the progress in the field which I used in the updated sample.  It also showed me just how much more sophisticated my analysis is now than when I was 19.  I didn't have it done by the time I needed to contact those writing recommendation letters, but I had enough of it to send them a pretty polished introduction with a good thesis and a well developed outline, so I think that may have helped.  (You should not have this problem -- I had some trouble ordering one of the key works I needed from overseas which delayed my work on it.)  You can do a lot with a few secondhand books from Amazon and Googlebooks.  (I also had access to JSTOR and some journal articles.)  If you are around a university, you might be able to get access to the library for a fee.  (In college I was able to buy a year's access to Princeton Seminary's library so I could work on a paper from sources in their special collection over spring break one year.  I have no idea if this is something most places do or not.)  Anyway, I basically ended up doing an independent study and learned a lot, and that came through when I wrote the SOP as well.  It also gave me something to show my old professors.  You could also do a lot of language work on your own, which is useful in itself and also in showing professors that only vaguely remember you your dedication, etc.  I also listened through the whole course on Early Modern England offered by Yale on YouTube and basically fished for every lecture I could from my POI at the schools I wanted to get into and other scholars in the field.

I am assuming that if you are considering a Th.M. you did not get into a Ph.D. program.  I applied to three history programs last year and didn't get into any, but the University of Chicago did offer me a spot in a Master's program with a half tuition scholarship which I would have loved to accept but it wasn't financially or logistically feasible.  I only incidentally mentioned this to one of the professors writing my recommendation letters at the very tail end of a last minute conversation, but she ended up being more impressed with this than I had been and I am guessing that was reflected in her recommendation, so if you have any similar offers, don't forget to mention them the next time around.  Also, I ended up using a lot of my Chicago essay for my applications this year because I figured I had to have done something right in that one.  And I think my work on the updated writing sample and really getting to thoroughly know the scholarship in one small area was basically me trying to do more Masters' level work even if I couldn't go to a master's program, since the Chicago master's program's big selling point was their acceptance rate into funded Ph.D. programs so I figured they wouldn't let me in if they didn't think I could be ready in a year to be accepted since it would mess with their stats.

I don't know if these random thoughts are of any use and I am sure others have other things they have done, but I am basically saying that if you can manage a Th.M., by all means do it.  I can't see how you can go wrong, especially if you can do one at a top tier school.  But if you can't, you can still do a lot on your own if you are intentional about it.  It helped me to think like I was in a Masters program even though I wasn't.  A lot of a Th.M. is taking MA/M.Div. courses and just doing more work, and you already know what the masters courses entail.

[sstubble]

4 hours ago, Alan.N said:

Thanks so much for the UPenn update! 

I've also been waiting for Brown (RAM). I saw RCT results on the board, but nothing on RAM, and of course no rejection or anything from them...

Also applied to Brown (RAM). Haven't heard back. Let me know if you (or anyone else) hears anything. 

[seung]

I should have named the forum I just started "Waitlists" or "Waitlist Movement" or something along those lines, instead of "Choices and Decisions." 

[menge]

Looks like a rejection for UPenn was posted yesterday for someone who interviewed... really not sure what that means for those of us who didn't get an interview, and have yet to hear. I would think non-interviewees would be rejected first! 

[Alan.N]

22 minutes ago, menge said:

Looks like a rejection for UPenn was posted yesterday for someone who interviewed... really not sure what that means for those of us who didn't get an interview, and have yet to hear. I would think non-interviewees would be rejected first! 

I am so confused as to what they are doing, I was sure that I would receive a decision one way or another yesterday after seeing that someone has gotten a rejection, especially since I interviewed too... nothing yet!

Edited February 28, 2017 by Alan.N

[menge]

2 minutes ago, Alan.N said:

I am so confused as to what they are doing, I was sure that I could a decision one way or another yesterday after seeing that someone has gotten a rejection, especially since I interviewed too... nothing yet!

I'm convinced this process is meant to serve as a months long psychological gauntlet. 

Edited February 28, 2017 by menge

[menge]

13 hours ago, seung said:

I should have named the forum I just started "Waitlists" or "Waitlist Movement" or something along those lines, instead of "Choices and Decisions." 

or "Purgatory" perhaps.

[seung]

1 minute ago, menge said:

or "Purgatory" perhaps.

Couldn't have said it better. The big question for me is what awaits me on the other side of purgatorial suffering.

[Calvin S]

Thanks @mdivgirl!

[seung]

Does Yale not waitlist? If not, then what does the school do if/when not enough admitted applicants accept?

[axiomness]

Just now, seung said:

Does Yale not waitlist? If not, then what does the school do if/when not enough admitted applicants accept?

I'm pretty sure Yale does not waitlist.

[Epaphroditus]

2 hours ago, seung said:

Does Yale not waitlist? If not, then what does the school do if/when not enough admitted applicants accept?

My guess is that they simply don't accept students that year for that subfield. This sort of happened this year in NT (no one was accepted), though for different reasons.

[rheya19]

It's a "no" from UBC. And unless Harvard or UT-Austin offer me a spot at 11:59PM on April 14th, I guess I'm heading to Iowa! Good luck, everyone, and don't let the process get you down! It's just grad school.  

[slothtbh]

Long time lurker here. 

Thanks to all who have posted here over the last few months. It's been helpful to not feel alone in this process. 

Was wondering if anyone has received an offer from Duke or Union Theological Seminary. I see rejections on the results page, but no offers yet. (Unless I missed it.)

I haven't heard anything from either but have heard definitively from all other places I've applied (BU, Emory, Vandy, Loyola, UVA).

Thanks!

[seung]

5 minutes ago, slothtbh said:

Long time lurker here. 

Thanks to all who have posted here over the last few months. It's been helpful to not feel alone in this process. 

Was wondering if anyone has received an offer from Duke or Union Theological Seminary. I see rejections on the results page, but no offers yet. (Unless I missed it.)

I haven't heard anything from either but have heard definitively from all other places I've applied (BU, Emory, Vandy, Loyola, UVA).

Thanks!

Offers have definitely been sent out for Union. Don't lose heart, though, because they do not announce their waitlist

[Laodiceans]

4 hours ago, slothtbh said:

Long time lurker here. 

Thanks to all who have posted here over the last few months. It's been helpful to not feel alone in this process. 

Was wondering if anyone has received an offer from Duke or Union Theological Seminary. I see rejections on the results page, but no offers yet. (Unless I missed it.)

I haven't heard anything from either but have heard definitively from all other places I've applied (BU, Emory, Vandy, Loyola, UVA).

Thanks!

Duke has already sent out offers to the PhD for all GPR tracks and has notified those on the wait list. The ThD has also sent out offers, but I'm not sure if they have notified for the wait list. I would presume so, but I don't know for sure so wanted to be clear.

[turktheman]

Does anyone know if Emory sent out rejections yet?

[slothtbh]

Thanks for the insight! 

As for Emory, I can't say about all rejections. For me, I was initially put on the waitlist/or named as an alternate, but then received a rejection last week. Not sure if all departments have done this or not. 

[turktheman]

11 minutes ago, slothtbh said:

Thanks for the insight! 

As for Emory, I can't say about all rejections. For me, I was initially put on the waitlist/or named as an alternate, but then received a rejection last week. Not sure if all departments have done this or not. 

What subfield are you?

[menge]

Anything out of UPenn this week? I know they said by March 6, but I was really hoping that we'd hear by the end of this week.