PhD Applicant in Religion/Anthropology

<p>Hey everyone, so this is the first time I've written here since I've been in High School and it was so much help the first time around that I'm back. Here's my story: I'm a Johns Hopkins University student planning on applying to top PhD programs in anthropology and religion (depending on the school). I'm a double major in anthropology and philosophy, and my research interests are in post-Kantian German idealism (esp the phenomenalist movement) and religion (esp Roman Catholicism, philosophy/theory of religion, anthropological studies in religion). I'm a member of the American Academy of Religion as well as several other professional societies and will have a stellar research resume upon graduation. Im confident about the GREs but I'm nervous about my GPA. I had a very rough first semester sophomore year. I will likely get honors at least in one department but those of you who are familiar with JHU know its not always easy to keep up (though, I'm not going to complain, as my departments aren't nearly as tough as others in a lot of ways). As a result my overall GPA will likely suffer and I'm wondering how much this is going to hurt me. I luckily have a great relationship with my Anthro dept (the faculty are absolutely wonderful) so I'm hoping I'll get some good recs. </p>

<p>I know that these two departments are not the most popular at any school and get significantly less applications than some other programs but I'm still very nervous. I really have my eyes set on the very top level only.</p>

<p>Any advice for a nervous 2nd semester sophomore? Thanks!</p>

<p>Not to worry. One semester of "slippage" will not hurt you in the least. If your grades were below a 3.0 that semester, do take a paragraph or less to explain your situation in your personal statement when you do apply to grad schools.</p>

<p>When it does comes time to apply, you will do well to look for graduate schools specifically according to FIT, and not to some "US News and World Report" list. You will need to have advisors and professors who are noted scholars in your specific field of interest. You may already know this, but specifically in the field of religion, ALL PhD programs have particular strengths, and some "top" schools are appropriate for some students, and some "top" schools are not.</p>

<p>How do I know this? I direct a graduate program in Religion. ;)</p>

<p>Aha! (she exclaimed) This info removes a bit of the mystery behind "Professor X." ;)</p>