PhD Applications Fall '17 Season

[KnightGeorge]

It does seem a little odd about Baylor. That was me, actually, who posted and I was wondering the same thing. It seems like a lot of programs are just a tad later than they have been in starting the process. Holidays fell kinda weird this season, so maybe that's contributing to the calendar shift? 

[Adonalsium]

On social media, I've seen posts about Baylor interviews for New Testament PhD applicants as well.

[Wantingtogetinsomewhere]

18 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

On social media, I've seen posts about Baylor interviews for New Testament PhD applicants as well.

I assume that applies to Hebrew Bible too. Oh well, here's to hoping for a waitlist.

[axiomness]

RE Questions about Marquette: Can confirm they are real, I have a Skype interview scheduled next Monday. Granting a short e-mail exchange with the guy who set it up, it doesn't seem to be a 'preliminary' interview. I also had one with Northwestern yesterday.

Edited January 19, 2017 by axiomness

[menge]

43 minutes ago, axiomness said:

RE Questions about Marquette: Can confirm they are real, I have a Skype interview scheduled next Monday. Granting a short e-mail exchange with the guy who set it up, it doesn't seem to be a 'preliminary' interview. I also had one with Northwestern yesterday.

Congrats!

[magicsana]

Applied to Boston University, UC Davis, and University of Toronto. This is my second round of applications, and I really wanna attend BU! I have two profs ready to work with me, but it seems last year they took 1 student focusing on Islam out of 15 students or so. Yikes 

[KnightGeorge]

3 hours ago, axiomness said:

RE Questions about Marquette: Can confirm they are real, I have a Skype interview scheduled next Monday. Granting a short e-mail exchange with the guy who set it up, it doesn't seem to be a 'preliminary' interview. I also had one with Northwestern yesterday.

Congratulations! I'm just hoping they have a few more interviews to send out! Best of luck to you. 

[menge]

12 hours ago, KnightGeorge said:

Congratulations! I'm just hoping they have a few more interviews to send out! Best of luck to you. 

You and I both. Or at least that interviews for different subfields are conducted later! 

[axiomness]

Thanks everyone. Yes unfortunately I can't help you there, I'm very much in the dark regarding these sorts of details. My subfield there is systematics. 

Edited January 20, 2017 by axiomness

[xypathos]

As a consolation of sorts, I was notified today that I was accepted into Villanova's MTS program which they consider a stepping stone for students wanting to stay on for the PhD. The person that emailed me said the committee felt I needed more *specifically* Catholic theology courses in order to be successful in their PhD hence my ultimate denial for PhD but acceptance into MTS.

No word on funding or anything but it's something, I guess.

[KnightGeorge]

Quiet day...Wonder what Monday will bring 

[Kuriakos]

I'm fairly certain that Baylor notifications have gone out already. If you were not invited, do not fret yet. The waitlist is not created at Baylor until after interview weekend is over. Sometimes people who did not come to interview weekend even make it higher up on the waitlist than candidates who did. Nothing is settled for a while. 

[OneLastHope]

I have done a couple of informal conversation with faculty at a school - I don't know if they were official interviews but they felt interview-like. I think for all intensive purposes they were interviews but who knows for sure. Either way I wasn't sure I should post them in the results. Basically, since I'm local they had me come in and chat with the chair and a potential POI because they thought my app should go through a different area rather than what's originally on my application, and they wanted to see if I was amenable to it. All this seems kind of unusual.

Anyways, my question is - would it be over the top or too much to send emails to them to thank them for their time, for the conversations, etc? Or is that over kill and I should just wait it out like everyone else? 

I just feel a little antsy and crazy waiting...

[xypathos]

I would absolutely send them an email to thank them for their time. As well, if after the interview you feel even stronger ties to the school, you should let them know.

[OneLastHope]

12 minutes ago, xypathos said:

I would absolutely send them an email to thank them for their time. As well, if after the interview you feel even stronger ties to the school, you should let them know.

Thanks, not that I care about playing games or whatever but I still didn't want to seem onbnoxiously eager. If that's such a thing. 

[menge]

1 hour ago, OneLastHope said:

I have done a couple of informal conversation with faculty at a school - I don't know if they were official interviews but they felt interview-like. I think for all intensive purposes they were interviews but who knows for sure. Either way I wasn't sure I should post them in the results. Basically, since I'm local they had me come in and chat with the chair and a potential POI because they thought my app should go through a different area rather than what's originally on my application, and they wanted to see if I was amenable to it. All this seems kind of unusual.

Anyways, my question is - would it be over the top or too much to send emails to them to thank them for their time, for the conversations, etc? Or is that over kill and I should just wait it out like everyone else? 

I just feel a little antsy and crazy waiting...

I agree with @xypathos definitely send the follow-up e-mails. I don't think thanking someone is ever "over the top" and shows that you are a considerate individual. 

And I can commiserate on feeling antsy. At least you've had some interviews/responses. I'm attempting to throw myself into reading for comps at the end of the semester, but it's not really working. 

[xypathos]

I agree with @menge, a post-interview thanks is a common courtesy. While it perhaps isn't as "known" among our (millennials) generation, it is/was among our POIs. A simple sentence or two about how much you loved the school or a "I could really see myself here" goes a long way.

Three of my interviews have explicitly asked, "Could you see yourself here?" The issue of "fit" is a two-way street and they want students that want to be involved in the life of the department, school, and community. While it's anecdotal, one interview specifically asked some avenues that I could see myself getting involved with at the school, stating directly that they're not interested in students who aim to attend, be active in the classroom and then disappear. Anyway, all of this is to say that if you're eager to attend and the school is a good fit - let them know! You will not come across as too eager.

Edited January 21, 2017 by xypathos

[Wantingtogetinsomewhere]

I noticed an invitation to Emory's interview went out for Asian religions. No word on other fields, though. Either they haven't gone out yet and are set to be released Monday or they already, like Asian religions, gone out and people are not positing anything. I'm very disappointed in gradcafe's usefulness this year. Are people not aware of the results feature to post their progress? Is there a better website out there now? Is there some overarching fear that admission committees will decipher who is posting what (despite the anonymity of the results page) and deal out punishment? It is such an unusually quiet year on here.

[MonkeyMagic]

I heard from one of my friends at Emory that each committee has already dispatched invitations to leading applicants for interview this weekend. Congrats to those invited for interview!

Edited January 22, 2017 by MonkeyMagic
clarity

[the.waiting.game]

1 hour ago, Wantingtogetinsomewhere said:

I noticed an invitation to Emory's interview went out for Asian religions. No word on other fields, though. Either they haven't gone out yet and are set to be released Monday or they already, like Asian religions, gone out and people are not positing anything. I'm very disappointed in gradcafe's usefulness this year. Are people not aware of the results feature to post their progress? Is there a better website out there now? Is there some overarching fear that admission committees will decipher who is posting what (despite the anonymity of the results page) and deal out punishment? It is such an unusually quiet year on here.

@Wantingtogetinsomewhere I heard from their Am REL track about an interview just this morning, so they may still be sending emails out--hard to say...

[xypathos]

1 hour ago, Wantingtogetinsomewhere said:

I'm very disappointed in gradcafe's usefulness this year.

It's a mutual concern for most of us and its has been noted in the History and Philosophy sections as well, participation in the forums has dropped off significantly.

On the flip though, the subreddit for Graduate School is very active, there's a subreddit for theology, and a separate one for Religious Studies but the activeness of the last fluctuates significantly. I'm not particularly active or aware in any others so I can't say much more.

[menge]

1 hour ago, xypathos said:

It's a mutual concern for most of us and its has been noted in the History and Philosophy sections as well, participation in the forums has dropped off significantly.

On the flip though, the subreddit for Graduate School is very active, there's a subreddit for theology, and a separate one for Religious Studies but the activeness of the last fluctuates significantly. I'm not particularly active or aware in any others so I can't say much more.

The discussions in History and Philosophy are worth reading, and do provide some possible explanations.

Anecdotally, my department chair indicated that graduate applications for last season were down, and that this was a trend that he confirmed was also the case at several other departments. It is possible that there simply aren't as many applicants. Also relevant is that with about 10 yrs of data archived, there is less need for the forum function here on GC. As for why results aren't being posted, I'm not sure.

Edited January 22, 2017 by menge

[Averroes MD]

When are we expected to hear back? Anyone know? What about for Oxford and Cambridge? And how about U.S. schools like Harvard? Is it really March or April? 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Averroes MD

[menge]

7 minutes ago, Averroes MD said:

When are we expected to hear back? Anyone know? What about for Oxford and Cambridge? And how about U.S. schools like Harvard? Is it really March or April? 

According to my own obsessive research on the results page, a good number of US programs could start posting decisions in Feb. Northwestern for example seems to begin notifications pretty early. Harvard looks like it usually posts the first round in mid to late Feb. No idea about UK schools, as I haven't applied to any. 

[xypathos]

Per Oxford's website (https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/after-you-apply/decision-timeline?wssl=1) about the decision timeline for graduate studies, applicants can expect a decision about their application 8-10 weeks after the close of the deadline. So, you're looking at mid to late March. Also, I believe Oxford traditionally notifies Masters applicants before DPhil, not that really means anything. That said, funding notifications for accepted students can take all the way until June so if you're an American it can put you in a very tricky spot.

My advice from a classmate that went to Cambridge for their DPhil and it's the advice their advisor, an Oxford alum, gave them: If you have an acceptance to a funded PhD in the US but you really want to attend school in the UK, pay your deposit/secure your spot in the US but keep your application in the UK going forward. If accepted and the funding works out, simply apologize to the US school and walk away from the offer. It sucks and it puts them in a terrible spot but it's the name of the game. UK schools notify about funding really late and generally speaking, non-EU applicants from first world countries are last in line for funding.