Yetanotherdegree

You are reading too much into it. The MDiv is designed to focus your studies on courses that will give you some degree of competence in ministry and, as such, you will have limited electives and many of those electives will be from a short list or a narrow area. Even if it isn't listed in the bulletin, your faculty advisor will work with you to focus your interests and this, in turn, will further limit your choices. You won't have as many completely free options as you might think. For the MDiv, you will want and need the div school aspects; the religious studies department, not so much. It's good to go to a school where both exist, and there is typically a great deal of crossover in faculty. But there's no benefit to them being integrated within the institution. In fact, I would argue that separate departments are sometimes indicative of larger institutions with more resources and thus greater opportunities for students. And as for class size, the foundational courses in the various areas will be required of virtually all incoming students in the program. Intro to NT is typically quite large, although the exact size of the class depends on the number of incoming students. You can figure it out by looking at the number of preceptorials/tutorials and then multiplying that through to estimate. For example, Duke's calendar for fall 2013 offers 12 preceptorials for "intro to OT", maximum 14 students in each group. Total spaces for students = 12x14=168. The class won't be any bigger than 160, probably closer to 150. Not sure about Yale, but you could look at the course list and figure it out. At a smaller institution, it will be a smaller incoming class and smaller courses, although they may not offer the small-group preceptorials the way a larger institution does.

Thanks, Kuriakos!

I got the phone call a week ago, no letter yet. I'm curious: what's in the acceptance envelope? Other than a "congratulations, you're in" letter? Is there info about registration? Faculty adviser/people to contact? Thanks!

I wish I had taken some language courses. Greek, Latin, Hebrew.. Now, I'm trying to cram in Latin and Greek in my spare time because I didn't take the courses when I had the chance. If you think you might need them, start studying now!

Wow, that's helpful. Thanks!

How much time are you putting in to GRE prep, and for how long? Do you wish you had more time? How much time is ideal? If you know your score, how much did you study and do you wish you had done more? Or was it enough? I'm planning to write in August, trying to work out a schedule for test prep. Thanks!

I'm not so sure that letting you know later than other institutions about your funding package constitutes "mishandling" of your application. You will know by April 15, and Duke obviously gets enough qualified and exceptional applicants that they can fill their programs with good candidates. The program is competitive which means that, among other things, they can take their time with the applicants who are not getting the bigger scholarships, and there will still be people who sign up for those spaces and are happy to do so, whether the admissions office has "mishandled" their application or not. Of course you want to know where you stand, everybody does. And if Duke is worth it to you, then you'll wait it out. If not, then you are free to accept one of your other offers. But I don't think it's a personal slight or an egregious error and you shouldn't take it that way. It's just the way they handle admissions, not an insight into the quality of their degrees.

Thank you! I figure it can't hurt to try...

Thank you!

I've been admitted to the degree program of my choice and I will start in September. I know that students in my program are eligible to TA for some courses. There's a specific course I want to TA for, how do I go about getting myself on that list? Do I talk to the instructor? To my program director? Faculty advisor? Or someone else? I'm going to start emailing people next week, but if anyone can help me figure out who to hit up first, it would be much appreciated!

I'm looking at a couple of course options for next year. They're courses in the various languages, but the descriptions don't list prerequisites. Instead, they say that they require "intermediate reading proficiency." How would you understand that? How many courses does it take to get to an intermediate level? Is there some sort of standard for this somewhere? I googled but am not finding anything helpful? Thanks for any info!

The North American model for PhDs normally includes coursework and comprehensive exams. North American degrees that don't are most likely not accredited and certainly not as widely respected as those that do. UK and other international PhDs are more likely to be entirely research based. There are several well-respected UK institutions that offer PhDs via distance learning, but not many. Exeter is one of those places. But of course, there's no funding and it will run you $150k plus if you manage to finish quickly.

Congratulations!

Thank you!

My friend is on the faculty at Duke. She tells me they are seriously understaffed this year and are dealing with some staff transitions and challenges behind the scene. I don't think it's anything personal, they're just struggling to keep up at their busiest time.

Congratulations on the acceptance! I hope you hear good news about the funding soon

Thanks, Kuriakos. By class, I meant the entering cohort. I saw the stats in the bulletin that say there are 23 ThM students currently registered, I'm expecting that means an incoming class of maybe 15? Also, it says 20 men and 3 women which seems a little odd to me. I guess I'll figure it out in a few months. For the doctoral seminars, did you end up going to the religion department? I didn't see a whole lot of doctoral level courses listed in next year's calendar. Unless the 9** level courses are all doctoral?

Kareniskimova, good luck! If you get the international scholarship from Duke, it will cover most of your tuition. where are you coming from? And what's your academic background? Kuriakos, what's the size of a typical DDS ThM class? And what sorts of people do the degree? It's expensive! Also, any word on where you're going next year yet? I hope you get into the programs you want.

Or what are you deciding between? Are you still waiting for any decisions or info? Also, what happens on here after the middle of April? Does the board just kind of stop until the 2014 admissions posts start next fall?

Unit ion? The was supposed to say tuition! Darn autofill

That's true. If you are an international student, Duke offers one fully-funded ThM unit ion scholarship. I know their admissions committee has already met. Have you heard anything from DDS yet?

Well I didn't need to call.. The admissions director called me this afternoon.

You sound like a strong candidate for many programs. One thing I would suggest is that most formal ministry positions (chaplaincies etc) do expect you to have some denominational standing. You don't need to be ordained, but you do need a denomination to support you along the way. Since you identify as episcopalian, you may want to ensure that there is at least a small possibility of denominationally appropriate formation during your MDiv. While you don't need to attend an episcopal seminary, you might want to look at places like Yale or Duke, both of which offer elements of Anglican/episcopal formation within a broader divinity school setting.

No.. The job is perfect if I am taking courses, not so good if I am not. I would take it, to begin in June if I will be at school in September, but not if I will not...

I applied for a degree with rolling admissions. As I was getting my application together, I met with a friend who is on the faculty at the institution in question. While I was there, he called and spoke to the admissions person who said they would respond in a week and a half - two weeks. It's now coming up on four weeks. And I am looking at a new part-time job that needs to know about my future availability. this is a perfect position for me if I am taking courses. If not, not so much. Should I email and ask the program director about my status? Or should I just be patient? Honestly, I don't need to know NOW, and they will probably get in touch with me before early April (when I need to be able to let the job people know my availability), but I want to know. I feel like so much of my life is up in the air until September becomes clear, and I just want to get on with things. Call? Or be patient?