PhD Applications Fall '17 Season

[Averroes MD]

4 hours ago, xypathos said:

@Averroes MD is as well, as I recall.

Yes I am.  I'm now going into mourning mode.

 

[seung]

Waitlisted at PTS... That's THREE waitlists I have to wait for.... =[

[alephbet]

2 hours ago, Eshtah said:

Congratulations to you!!! You must be thrilled! And thank you for your clarification.

I just have one question ( I am German and very clueless): If the official emails were not sent yet, is there any conclusion that can be drawn for someone who hasn't heard anything? Does the fact that my POI didn't sent me an unofficial email already tell me that I am out?

I didn't receive my email from my POI, so you likely won't hear anything from them regardless. I can't say for sure, but I think unofficial acceptances probably all went out today. If you didn't get one, it's possible waitlist notifications will go out next week. This is all just what I'm reasoning from what's happened today.

[magicsana]

Wtf Boston

[KnightGeorge]

Alas, what I wouldn't give for a word from Marquette... 

Edited February 24, 2017 by KnightGeorge

[rheya19]

UBC is my last application. (Except Austin, who I'm sure will come around.) I love the program, but Vancouver would be hard for my husband's career, so we'll just have to see.

[Eshtah]

4 minutes ago, rheya19 said:

UBC is my last application. (Except Austin, who I'm sure will come around.) I love the program, but Vancouver would be hard for my husband's career, so we'll just have to see.

I know exactly how you feel. I got into UCDavis, but we don't know how to make that work for my partner...

[Marcion]

Probably rejected from Harvard... well... STANFORD HERE I COME!!!

[Averroes MD]

2 hours ago, Marcion said:

Probably rejected from Harvard... well... STANFORD HERE I COME!!!

How will you handle 300 days of sunshine?

[seung]

Any other fellow Union applicants out there?

[Calvin S]

On the results one of the Harvard admits writes that last year he/she was shut out by all six schools and this year has two acceptances so far. I'm curious what that person did between years that helped? (If anyone wants to claim that acceptance)

And in general, anyone who did better in a second round, how did you improve your application?

[MarthUser]

56 minutes ago, Calvin S said:

On the results one of the Harvard admits writes that last year he/she was shut out by all six schools and this year has two acceptances so far. I'm curious what that person did between years that helped? (If anyone wants to claim that acceptance)

And in general, anyone who did better in a second round, how did you improve your application?

So was in a similar situation. I got an MDiv from a seminary in Boston and decided to apply to 12 schools last year. I got rejected from all of them except for Trinity Evangelical Divinity School but didn't get any funding. This year, I applied to 12 schools and got into Princeton Religion Dept and Florida State, interviewed with Stanford and Vanderbilt, and Baylor.

Over the course of one year, I did a one-year supplementary  degree at Boston University and took classes at Harvard. I diversified my recommendations (one from BU prof, one from Harvard, and one from my seminary). In order to get good recommendations and a strong GPA, I had to stand out in all of my classes and made sure that I met with professors (so be intentional/proactive) to build rapport and pick their brains. I also asked them for input on what research is relevant and wrote about it for my class papers because I suspect that I didn't get any interviews last year because my research topic was too broad/vague.

If you want more details, PM me. But in short, don't give up and take full advantage of the resources available to you. Talk to professors and ask for their assistance on making your application strong. And name recognition/knowing the experts in your field goes a long way. Hope this helps!

Edited February 25, 2017 by MarthUser

[seung]

So far, no one here has spoken up about being a co-applicant to the UTS PhD program. But since many of us are in the same place of hoping to get in SOMEWHERE, I'lll share this.  Seems that UTS acceptance letters have already been sent out. That's the last of the schools to which I've applied, and that means I have 0 acceptances out of 6 applications. Feeling like ****

[rheya19]

17 minutes ago, seung said:

So far, no one here has spoken up about being a co-applicant to the UTS PhD program. But since many of us are in the same place of hoping to get in SOMEWHERE, I'lll share this.  Seems that UTS acceptance letters have already been sent out. That's the last of the schools to which I've applied, and that means I have 0 acceptances out of 6 applications. Feeling like ****

I'm so sorry to hear that! That's so s***ty!

[xypathos]

2 hours ago, seung said:

So far, no one here has spoken up about being a co-applicant to the UTS PhD program. But since many of us are in the same place of hoping to get in SOMEWHERE, I'lll share this.  Seems that UTS acceptance letters have already been sent out. That's the last of the schools to which I've applied, and that means I have 0 acceptances out of 6 applications. Feeling like ****

I hope one of your waitlisted schools come through for you!

That said, you're not alone. I was rejected from Villanova (PhD) but referred to their MTS program. Accepted to Manitoba's PhD in History and Religion but offered a 10k scholarship which won't even completely cover tuition and I just cannot bite the bullet on going in debt for a PhD. I did turn down a PhD in Public History at NC State but after visiting the campus and having a candid conversation in job placement prospects, I couldn't see myself putting the time in the program.

So, in short, I'll likely be hitting the job market come Spring and seeing how things fair come next year.

For what it's worth, if you're willing to travel overseas, you still have several months to submit applications to some second and third tier UK schools! I'm looking at a couple myself, honestly!

[seung]

Took @menge's suggestion and started a new topic under "Religion" for people to discuss their decisions. Check it out! Hope that it can be of help.

[Marcion]

I am getting ready to accept my offer from Stanford but I still have not officially heard from Harvard, but in all realism, if we did not hear on Friday should we assume we have been rejected?

[Marcion]

22 hours ago, Calvin S said:

On the results one of the Harvard admits writes that last year he/she was shut out by all six schools and this year has two acceptances so far. I'm curious what that person did between years that helped? (If anyone wants to claim that acceptance)

And in general, anyone who did better in a second round, how did you improve your application?

 

 

 

I cannot speak for myself, but I can speak for a few people. For some people, just taking time off helps them. Some faculty members are suspicious of students who have gone from Undergrad to Grad and now want to do the Ph.D. Fearing burn out is very really because burn outs do happen. Given that this is about investing time, energy, and money, people worry about that. So just being in the "real world" for a little bit helps. But other things I have seen help is boosting the CV just a little. Adding a book review or two from respectable journals. Publishing one peer reviewed article in a solid journal. Volunteering some of your time to a digital humanities project, such as transcription work. Attending your local/regional conferences. Maybe presenting as well. Building up the networks that didn't before. And just simply improving your GRE score, SOP, and Sample Essay because you don't have to balance four other classes. All of these things I have seen help people. 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Marcion

[Eshtah]

1 hour ago, Marcion said:

I am getting ready to accept my offer from Stanford but I still have not officially heard from Harvard, but in all realism, if we did not hear on Friday should we assume we have been rejected?

I am honestly assuming that I was rejected although all posts concerning Harvard didn't even concern my field (Islamic Studies). I will wait to hear from them and I wouldn't accept anything prematurely, but at this point I feel it's best for my well being if I let go of the idea that I might get in. From what I have understood, not only did the POIs sent out unofficial emails but so did the Chair of the department and I see no reason why the chair would contact some but not others. I therefore assume that everyone who got in already received an email.

[Calvin S]

3 hours ago, Marcion said:

I cannot speak for myself, but I can speak for a few people. For some people, just taking time off helps them. Some faculty members are suspicious of students who have gone from Undergrad to Grad and now want to do the Ph.D. Fearing burn out is very really because burn outs do happen. Given that this is about investing time, energy, and money, people worry about that. So just being in the "real world" for a little bit helps. But other things I have seen help is boosting the CV just a little. Adding a book review or two from respectable journals. Publishing one peer reviewed article in a solid journal. Volunteering some of your time to a digital humanities project, such as transcription work. Attending your local/regional conferences. Maybe presenting as well. Building up the networks that didn't before. And just simply improving your GRE score, SOP, and Sample Essay because you don't have to balance four other classes. All of these things I have seen help people. 

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. 

[Marcion]

14 minutes ago, 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. 

 

A funded program like Yale's STM woul be good. Do not pay for it!!!

[MarthUser]

5 hours ago, Marcion said:

I am getting ready to accept my offer from Stanford but I still have not officially heard from Harvard, but in all realism, if we did not hear on Friday should we assume we have been rejected?

I'm in the same boat. I'm very close to just accepting Princeton's offer (given that it's just a really good offer and the faculty/grad students have been awesome) but I'm also still waiting on Harvard. I'm currently taking currently taking classes there so I'm imagining an awkward scenario where I accepted Princeton's offer only to have my Harvard professor tell me that I've been accepted to Harvard's program, and I tell him/her that I preemptively rejected Harvard's offer because they didn't get back to me as quickly as my other schools...

If someone knows, do let us know.

[Marcion]

I have accepted Stanford's offer. Game over. Peace!!!

[formerlurker]

Has anybody heard from Brown RAM?

[seung]

23 minutes ago, formerlurker said:

Has anybody heard from Brown RAM?

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