PhD Applications Fall '18 Season

[KA.DINGER.RA]

Two things:

1) I spoke with a PhD student over beers tonight and apparently the professor who will be sending out interview emails for ND has the list of approved applicants in hand. I have no idea when the emails will go out, but things are apparently decided.

2) I got an interview for Brown in Assyriology/Hebrew Bible. Stoked!

[ShewantsthePhD101]

@KA.DINGER.RA OHMYGODTHATSAMAZING!!!! Congrats in your Brown interview!

[KA.DINGER.RA]

Red alert, mofos. Notre Dame is sending out letters.

If you don't get one immediately, don't necessarily stress. They do it by concentration. I've heard people say they've gotten it 24ish hours later than others.

[Clr]

Confirmed--got an email from Notre Dame (CJA)! 

[KA.DINGER.RA]

  On 1/29/2018 at 3:09 AM, Clr said:

Confirmed--got an email from Notre Dame (CJA)! 

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Congrats! What specialty? 

[Clr]

New Testament. Thanks for your updates this weekend; they've been very helpful. 

[msdb]

I got one for CJA/HB. Appreciate the info about when invitations would be coming! 

[lames18]

Got one for Systematics! Thank you so much for the updates... they have kept me sane!

Congrats to everyone else. Looking forward to it (and another round of nerves!)

[EarlyXianity]

There have been several who’ve posted about CJA and Systematic Theology at ND. Has anyone heard from History of Christianity? Have things been silent for Liturgical Studies and Moral Theology? 

[KA.DINGER.RA]

  On 1/29/2018 at 9:59 PM, EarlyXianity said:

There have been several who’ve posted about CJA and Systematic Theology at ND. Has anyone heard from History of Christianity? Have things been silent for Liturgical Studies and Moral Theology? 

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Some HC peoplw have gotten letters, but I can’t imagine they all have. There are a couple of internal applicants who I would bet anything are getting interviews who haven’t gotten them. I haven’t talked to any Liturgy or MT people who have heard.

Edited January 29, 2018 by KA.DINGER.RA

[Epaphroditus]

Does anyone know when Duke (GPR) is sending out interview notifications? I don't see anything in the results and it seems they would've sent them by now based on previous years.

[msdb]

  On 1/30/2018 at 3:11 PM, Hopeless_Academic said:

Does anyone know when Duke (GPR) is sending out interview notifications? I don't see anything in the results and it seems they would've sent them by now based on previous years.

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No idea. Last year, per a first-year GPR student, interview invitations went out on 1/27. Another person told me she thought they went out in February but wasn't quite sure. 

Seriously, though, I'm dying over here, i.e., refreshing my email entirely too often and hoping I haven't just been passed over. 

[EarlyXianity]

I spoke to Carol Rush at Duke GPR yesterday. She said that individual fields had ranked their lists and that the admissions committee would be meeting later this week. She said notifications would go out the first week in February, but I wasn’t clear if that meant the end of this week or sometime next week.

Edited January 30, 2018 by EarlyXianity

[EarlyXianity]

This is probably common knowledge for the rest of you, but it was new to me.  As I've checked the results, I've been following "religion" and "religious" and "theology" to try to keep up with the varied terminology.  

You can, however, put the following in the search bar to combine those searches: (relig*|theol*)

That search will show you any posts that have words that begin with "relig" or "theol" and should generally cover everything related to those of us who are following this thread.  

The link to that search is: https://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=(relig*|theol*)&t=a&o=&pp=250

[Epaphroditus]

  On 1/30/2018 at 5:43 PM, EarlyXianity said:

I spoke to Carol Rush at Duke GPR yesterday. She said that individual fields had ranked their lists and that the admissions committee would be meeting later this week. She said notifications would go out the first week in February, but I wasn’t clear if that meant the end of this week or sometime next week.

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Thanks for the update! My guess (hope?) would be later this week, since next week wouldn't give a lot of time to plan for the interview weekend. Carol Rush told me 8 people would be invited to the weekend, which is the weekend of Feb 16.

[EarlyXianity]

  On 1/30/2018 at 10:56 PM, Hopeless_Academic said:

My guess (hope?) would be later this week, since next week wouldn't give a lot of time to plan for the interview weekend. Carol Rush told me 8 people would be invited to the weekend, which is the weekend of Feb 16.

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That's good to know. Are ThD interviews the same weekend? 

[msdb]

  On 1/30/2018 at 10:56 PM, Hopeless_Academic said:

Thanks for the update! My guess (hope?) would be later this week, since next week wouldn't give a lot of time to plan for the interview weekend. Carol Rush told me 8 people would be invited to the weekend, which is the weekend of Feb 16.

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Does that 8 include all subject areas?? 

[EarlyXianity]

Yes. Duke GPR interviews are not competitive, even though an interview does not guarantee admission.

[Epaphroditus]

  On 1/30/2018 at 11:16 PM, EarlyXianity said:

That's good to know. Are ThD interviews the same weekend? 

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

[ShewantsthePhD101]

...what is the difference between a competitive and a non-competitive interview?

[xypathos]

Competitive interviews are when there’s six slots but you interview say twelve people. Generally they’re in person and often a mix of single (you and a faculty member and/or you and several faculty) and group events though the group events are often more of a chance to observe social dynamics.

Non-competitive is if there’s six slots then you generally interview those six. Sometimes more get interviewed but it’s to build a waitlist.

Edited January 31, 2018 by xypathos

[marXian]

  On 1/31/2018 at 4:03 AM, ShewantsthePhD101 said:

...what is the difference between a competitive and a non-competitive interview?

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I'm not sure I understand what EarlyXianity is saying, tbh. If the interview weekend isn't competitive, how could getting an invite not be a guarantee of admission?

Some departments interview via Skype, make cuts, and then once admissions offers are extended, admitted students are invited to a prospective student weekend where they're wined/dined/wooed. This is what my department (Northwestern) does. Other programs, Baylor for instance, use that visiting weekend as a final interview and make cuts after the visit. My department doesn't refer to our prospective student weekend as a "non-competitive interview" or an interview at all. If anything, we're trying to convince them to come here and not another program!

[EarlyXianity]

xypathos has described it well. 

They only invite as many people as they plan to admit. Even so, they do not guarantee an offer of admission. It’s more like a final check of fit for both the candidate and the faculty. 

[ShewantsthePhD101]

  On 1/31/2018 at 5:33 AM, EarlyXianity said:

xypathos has described it well. 

They only invite as many people as they plan to admit. Even so, they do not guarantee an offer of admission. It’s more like a final check of fit for both the candidate and the faculty. 

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But they're both still competitive. One is competing against other students and one is competing against the idea of what an xyz student should be. I would think a non-competitive interview would be a visitation weekend. Meeting people once you've already been accepted. This seems like an arbitrary line to draw. Regardless of whether you're competing against 11 other sudents for 1 of 6 slots or simply interviewing to ensure a fit - the interviews fulfill the same purpose. You're still trying to convince the university to want you.

[EarlyXianity]

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.