PhD Applications Fall '18 Season

[ShewantsthePhD101]

gotcha gotcha gotcha. Not trying to fight. The categories of "competitive" and "non-competitive" are just a lot more confusing than your last sentence there.

[KA.DINGER.RA]

  On 1/31/2018 at 5:56 AM, EarlyXianity said:

I'm not sure if you think the distinction is insignificant, or if you are taking issue with my use of "non-competitive." 

In either case, I apologize for causing any confusion.  

To me, competing against multiple people for a slot feels very different than what Duke does in their process.  That's all I was attempting to convey.  

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One of my classmates last year had a non-competitive interview at Hopkins last year. I think it's mainly just to make sure you're not a freak that they don't want to be around for 5+ years. I mean it's "competitive" in the sense that you could throw a stick in your own bike spokes and they could not extend an offer, but much less so than the method used by Notre Dame or Emory.

[kenshiro]

Perhaps rather than calling them competitive and non-competitive, it'd be more enlightening to call them qualifying and disqualifying. The distinction being that the former is to determine whether you're the right candidate, and the latter is to ensure you're not the wrong candidate.

[msdb]

This conversation reads a bit like a barometer of stress levels...Hang in there, y'all!

Edited January 31, 2018 by msdb

[xypathos]

We try but there's only so many distractions to go around!

[marXian]

To be clear, when most departments contact people to tell them they've been admitted, they also tell those people that the offer "isn't guaranteed yet." Not everywhere, but most places. This happened to me when I got the initial phone call from my department's DGS at the time, and I freaked out because I suddenly thought that my feelings of excitement at being admitted were too soon, i.e. that there was a possibility their offer could be rescinded for some reason.

When they tell admitted students that, usually all they're saying is that the decisions are pending administrative approval. In other words, most universities actually reserve the right to reject a department's admissions decision (based on something out of the ordinary like low GPA or low GRE scores or something), but this rarely ever happens. Still, departments feel compelled to say that admission isn't guaranteed at the time of notification even though it basically is.

All that to say, if you're invited to a preview weekend after admissions decisions have been made, i.e. you're not competing for a spot, you definitely have nothing to worry about--they're going to be trying to convince you to come to their program the whole weekend, and you should soak up every second of free food and booze you can.

[Almaqah Thwn]

  On 1/31/2018 at 5:34 PM, marXian said:

All that to say, if you're invited to a preview weekend after admissions decisions have been made, i.e. you're not competing for a spot, you definitely have nothing to worry about--they're going to be trying to convince you to come to their program the whole weekend, and you should soak up every second of free food and booze you can.

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So, does that apply to Baylor's preview weekend as well? I'm a bit confused with your earlier statement that schools like Baylor will "use that visiting weekend as a final interview and make cuts after the visit."  Or, would the cuts only be if students are just whack for some reason?

[Epaphroditus]

  On 1/31/2018 at 10:50 PM, Almaqah Thwn said:

So, does that apply to Baylor's preview weekend as well? I'm a bit confused with your earlier statement that schools like Baylor will "use that visiting weekend as a final interview and make cuts after the visit."  Or, would the cuts only be if students are just whack for some reason?

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That doesn’t apply to Baylor. They invite more people to their interview weekend than there are spots in their programs, so the students are competing.

I really think the idea of a “non-competitive” interview weekend only applies to Duke’s PhD program.

[EarlyXianity]

Congrats to all the folks getting good news from UVA tonight! 

[Epaphroditus]

  On 2/1/2018 at 1:55 AM, Clr said:

Got an email from Duke GPR (NT)! Invited to their weekend.

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Congrats!! I'm bummed that I didn't get one, but am glad I get to at least interview for their ThD program. Was it a generic or personalized email? 

[Clr]

  On 2/1/2018 at 2:16 AM, Hopeless_Academic said:

Congrats!! I'm bummed that I didn't get one, but am glad I get to at least interview for their ThD program. Was it a generic or personalized email? 

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Thank you! And sorry to hear—though the ThD interview is worth celebrating!

Hard to tell. Mostly generic (more details coming soon), with a personalized touch at the end.

[ShewantsthePhD101]

WHY ARE PEOPLE HEARING BACK AND I'M NOT?!

[KA.DINGER.RA]

It looks like some letter have gone out for Chicago for NELC. I'm not sure if it's just the NELC program or the NELC + HB. Heads up to those who applied and congrats if you got in.

[sd_waco]

As I heard from the first of my US programs, it seems like time to jump into the fray here. I was waitlisted at UVA yesterday for PhD in Religious Studies (Theology, Ethics, and Culture). I emailed today to confirm the meaning of the status update (which I'm 99% certain is a straightforward "waitlisting" but the wording left some ambiguity). I emailed the default departmental email, and someone replied to inform me that they were forwarding my message to the grad studies person.

If others are interested/for sake of comparison, the message was:

"Your application to the Religious Studies program was highly regarded by the faculty. You have been placed on an admission waitlist and are a candidate for that program should an opening become available. You will be notified once a final decision regarding your application has been reached. If you have questions in the meantime about your status, please contact the program to which you applied."

I'll gladly confirm the meaning and answers to my follow-up questions when I get a response.

 

In the meantime, I've been scanning through and want to confirm what seems to be the case:

1) Duke ThD interview invitations have definitively gone out, with no reason to continue hoping if you haven't gotten one yet?

2) Yale has started interview invitations but is less systematic so it's still a crap shoot?

 

[jmarvin_]

So does no response from UVA at this point imply rejection?

[EarlyXianity]

  On 1/30/2018 at 11:36 PM, Hopeless_Academic said:

All ThD interviews, which are competitive, are by Skype (even for local candidates) and happening this week.

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re: Duke Th.D. -- That's my impression; especially from the post quoted above. But I'd be curious to hear more about what's going on if anyone knows. 

I called DDS admissions in the middle of the week last week to ask about the process, and they told me that it could be as much as another couple of weeks before various faculty had made decisions. But whoever I spoke to was the first person who answered the phone; they didn't seem to be very close to the process or have very specific information. So I'm inclined to trust @Hopeless_Academic.

Edited February 2, 2018 by EarlyXianity

[Epaphroditus]

  On 2/2/2018 at 8:46 PM, EarlyXianity said:

re: Duke Th.D. -- That's my impression; especially from the post quoted above. But I'd be curious to hear more about what's going on if anyone knows. 

I called DDS admissions in the middle of the week last week to ask about the process, and they told me that it could be as much as another couple of weeks before various faculty had made decisions. But whoever I spoke to was the first person who answered the phone; they didn't seem to be very close to the process or have very specific information. So I'm inclined to trust @Hopeless_Academic.

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All Duke ThD interview invites have gone out, and I think what the admissions person is referring to is the fact that the Duke Div admissions committee is meeting next week to make decisions after all interviews are finished. Then, acceptances will go out and those on the waitlist will be notified.

[lames18]

Boston College acceptance emails going out!

What an incredible relief!

[sd_waco]

  On 2/2/2018 at 8:53 PM, Hopeless_Academic said:

All Duke ThD interview invites have gone out, and I think what the admissions person is referring to is the fact that the Duke Div admissions committee is meeting next week to make decisions after all interviews are finished. Then, acceptances will go out and those on the waitlist will be notified.

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Hopeless_Academic --

Forgive me if you've already said elsewhere or if I should know this, but how do you know the ins and outs of the system? Are you currently at DDS?

(I realize there's no way to avoid the appearance of passive-aggression in putting that in text, other than to here clarify that I intend none.)

[sd_waco]

  On 2/2/2018 at 8:30 PM, jmarvin_ said:

So does no response from UVA at this point imply rejection?

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No idea -- I haven't seen any "rejection" posts, only a couple of acceptances and a handful of waitlisting. I imagine that if I can get a reply to my waitlist email, it will clarify to some degree.

[jmarvin_]

  On 2/2/2018 at 8:56 PM, lames18 said:

Boston College acceptance emails going out!

What an incredible relief!

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Congrats to all who get in - I'm at BC's theology department now and it's a wonderful intellectual community with so many brilliant minds.

  On 2/2/2018 at 9:01 PM, sd_waco said:

No idea -- I haven't seen any "rejection" posts, only a couple of acceptances and a handful of waitlisting. I imagine that if I can get a reply to my waitlist email, it will clarify to some degree.

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Thanks for the answer;  I wouldn't be surprised if they're just waiting until they look at MA applications and will respond to me then, since I don't have an MA.

[xypathos]

  On 2/2/2018 at 7:05 PM, sd_waco said:

2) Yale has started interview invitations but is less systematic so it's still a crap shoot?

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My contact at Yale has confirmed that they've finalized everyone they care to interview but not everyone has been interviewed yet.

[sd_waco]

  On 2/2/2018 at 11:08 PM, xypathos said:

My contact at Yale has confirmed that they've finalized everyone they care to interview but not everyone has been interviewed yet.

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Well that's not what I was hoping to hear, but thanks for the update. Can I ask who your contact is (student/faculty/admin, etc.)?

[xypathos]

  On 2/3/2018 at 12:30 AM, sd_waco said:

Well that's not what I was hoping to hear, but thanks for the update. Can I ask who your contact is (student/faculty/admin, etc.)?

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Faculty

[menge]

  On 2/2/2018 at 8:30 PM, jmarvin_ said:

So does no response from UVA at this point imply rejection?

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Probably. My experience with UVA last year is that they send admits and waitlists about now, also some rejections. They also seem to keep a pile of apps in reserve in case they burn through the waitlist, though for practical purposes if you haven't been notified it is likely a rejection.