newenglandshawn

Yes, May 2! I wonder how many people this happened to. I didn't hear anyone else - at least on here - mention it. Had you even applied? You got in somewhere though, right?

My gut reaction is to go for the MTS! If you only have a Masters in counseling, I would highly doubt that would be enough to get into an academic PhD program. And if your wife has a full-time job that can go anywhere, and it would be close by . . . all this seems like a no-brainer to me (even if you don't like the idea of going through another Masters)!

It would be helpful if we knew which schools you've been accepted by! I have a general idea of the schools to which I've applied, but don't know if those are the same schools. I'd say, generally speaking, though, you'll usually get tuition waived, and then a stipend that is anywhere from $15k to $25k/year - with places like Harvard and Yale on the higher end (in past years, Harvard was about $27k, from what I understand).

I actually had something very similar happen to me two years ago with Harvard Divinity School. I had created an account just so I could see what was on the ThD application (which they no longer have, as it has dissolved into the PhD program through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences). I never even applied. But I got an e-mail, saying that they had received my deposit and they were looking forward to seeing me in September. Since I hadn't applied, and certainly hadn't paid any deposit, I knew it was a mistake, and I e-mailed them immediately. They quickly responded by saying that it had been sent to me in error and that I should disregard it. I didn't hear anything about anyone else having something similar happen, so I guess it was just an isolated e-mail. It's a very good thing that I hadn't really applied because I'm sure I would have been an emotional trainwreck. And I think if I do get accepted somewhere this year, I will be guarded about celebrating too quickly! But, hey, if nothing else, at least I can tell people that I have been accepted into Harvard before!

At least none of us applied to Carnegie Mellon! Amen?

Care to pm me as well? I'm also curious since Cambridge is on my radar for next year if I don't get in anywhere this go-around.

May I ask how you know this about Harvard? It seems that in past years it sometimes hasn't been until March.

Got official word from Duke GPR that I was not offered admission (Hebrew Bible). No surprise there!

Wow! That seems late - based on what they seemed to have done in years past. I'm assuming you're talking about the Graduate Religion department, by the way, and not the School of Theology (to which I applied)? Perhaps there are on the same timeline, though, since there is overlap with the faculty in both programs?

Do they not have a wait list?

Does anyone know if Duke Divinity conducts interviews for the ThD, and also Princeton Seminary for their PhD?

Great question that I've been wondering myself. Thus far, I've not been shut out of any interviews from the schools to which I've applied, but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't get invited when those schools do extend invitations to interview. So I'll be asking the same thing!

Yes, very slow! But maybe that's for the best - for a number of reasons. My sub-discipline is also Hebrew Bible, and here's where I've applied. Boston University (School of the Theology), Duke (PhD and ThD), Harvard, and Princeton Seminary. I'm not terribly optimistic, but we'll see how it plays out.

Thanks for the encouragement! Let's hope my interactions do bode well. But time will tell. Just to clarify: I do have a Masters, but it's just not from a Top Tier program. All the best to you again!

This has not been my experience. Two of the schools I've interacted with, both Top Tier, have specifically asked those questions - and my research interests do align with theirs (though I would stop short of saying they were doing hand-stands about it). This may, of course, be somewhat due to the fact that I do not come from a "Top Tier" M* program, but I do also think it means quite a bit to them regardless of background. Even if they are really excited about your research interests, they will have to justify their excitement about you to an admissions committee, and every positive square inch they can use from your background will be to their advantage. That's just been my experience, though! And, of course, I agree that "fit" is more important than anything. Good luck with the applications.

To be honest, I am turning in PhD applications now, and I'm still not clear if that's what one is supposed to do. I think it kind of depends on the program. I think, by and large, you're supposed to express areas of general but unique interest, but not be as specific as expressing exactly what you want to write your dissertation on. Not sure if this makes sense, but that's I've tried to approach it!

I get the impression that Averroes MD is still an MTS student - in which case, I would think that a dissertation topic is perhaps even a little premature! By the way, just one take on the original question: I am not yet a PhD student and I won't claim to be an authority, but one professor with whom I was communicating essentially told me that the dissertation isn't usually about anything anyone is ever interested in reading! He said that the only purpose of it was to give persons the right to then write about interesting topics later. This was just one person's take, of course, and he was, admittedly, in the UK, but I thought it was an interesting perspective. So take it for what it's worth!

Again, are you talking about an M* degree, or a PhD?

You might also check into Baylor. It's not mentioned a lot, but it is fully funded and has faculty - from what I can tell - who are interested in theological approaches.

From everything I can tell, Duke and Princeton Seminary (which I'm assuming you meant, rather than just Princeton) are the best schools for exegesis/theology of the HB/OT. You may also want to look into Harvard, where Jon Levenson is open to Jewish/Hebrew Bible theology. And though I will not be applying there, I think University of Chicago may be worth looking into - though others may be able to correct me on this. Of course, a lot of it depends on what one's specific interests are. If you are interested in Hosea, say, and a particular professor at Duke or Harvard is interested in Exodus, this is, of course, a factor as well. By and large, though, most top tier/funded HB/OT programs seem to be generally focused on ANE or textual-criticism. Very few top universities seem interested in theological approaches/interpretations - with a few exceptions. From what I gather, Yale, when Brevard Childs ruled the roost there, used to be a good place for this approach. That's why the places that emphasize this approach today (e.g., Duke and Princeton Seminary) have a lot of HB/OT faculty who did their training at Yale. (Again, someone who is a lot more knowledgeable of the ins-and-outs of all this can correct me.)

This is essentially what I've heard as well. Also, every school I've looked into says that they will take your best score from any section. The one exception is Harvard, which states that they will consider every score from the GRE you've taken. But I'm not even sure if you should fret much about improving your writing score. My guess is that most programs will get a better idea of your writing skills from your statement and writing sample, rather than some random timed test in which you are asked to write about whether a park in downtown Podunk should receive greater funding. My situation with the AWA was similar to yours: because I have done a lot of writing and feel confident in it, I didn't prepare. As a result, I got a 4 - which, to me, is a nightmare. I am going to retake it in two weeks. However, I visited with my professor of interest from Boston University yesterday (which, though it certainly isn't the creme de la creme, is still a good program that would get a person full funding), and she told me that a 4 is "not terrible." This, of course, isn't the case with everyone and everywhere! I think the best thing you can do going forward is to spend a lot of time working on your Statement of Purpose. Everyone seems to indicate that this is probably the single most important factor in the process (assuming that an applicant has reached a minimum level of academic achievement). And it's not easy! It takes a lot of time to research programs and professors, trying to figure out whether your interests align with theirs, and then how you can articulate that in a Statement. It is easily the hardest thing I've ever had to write, and I'm still not finished, even though the application deadline is a month away!

Wow! I'm not the resident expert on here, but I would say your GRE scores alone would get you serious consideration for a PhD program (even though the Writing is not on the top end). On the other hand, why is your GPA a little lower (though not awful)? Does the disparity between your GRE scores and GPA indicate that you underachieved or didn't work as hard? This may be a question for some. Or is writing perhaps not your strength? I'm assuming you have done quite a bit of language work, which is always huge, and if you have strong recommendations and find a good PhD fit, I would say give it a shot. When are you hoping to apply?

I think you will find a number of people who have gotten into programs - even PhD programs - with scores lower than this. It seems to me that someone I interacted with recently on here got into a program with something like 160 V and 138 Q. But, these are more the exception rather than the rule, of course! As for what factors could offset lower GRE scores: I have not gotten into a program (yet!), but I'll just tell you what the PhD director at Duke told me when I queried him - and it was revealed that my scores were not exceptional. He said that one will have to have an especially strong Statement of Purpose and strong Letters of Recommendation. This is always the case, I think, but especially if one's GRE scores are subpar. Truthfully, I think most people would agree that that Statement is the single greatest factor in the whole process (assuming, of course, that an applicant has at least baseline stats in other areas). So if you are wondering how to spend the remaining time you have, it might be most fruitful to spend more time trying to craft a great statement than to spend a lot of time trying to raise your GRE scores by a few points. That's just what people have recommended to me!

Just curious: do you think it is any more misguided than people who spend their lives studying texts they don't believe are true? I don't mean to sound disrespectful or flippant about this! I'm just really curious about how people process these ideas sometimes. We could spend a lot of time on this discussion, I'm sure, but one response to this question is that there seems to be evidence that the early apostles already believed their own writings could be classified as having inspiration to the degree that the Hebrew Bible did (cf. 2 Peter 2:14-16).

I would imagine that an inerrantist would say that the original documents were innerrant - thus if the LXX could get one closer to the original documents, it would in no way threaten an inerrantist, but only aid him/her in finding the original inerrant word.