religioustiger

It means that Duke Div. covers all of your tuition costs

Dude, take Vanderbilt. People there just seem happier

Yes, it's possible. A few people have done it at Duke. It's easier to switch from MTS to MDiv, but it can be done the other direction, too. You just have to make a really good case to the academic dean.

Missed this--"Courses in Duke’s Department of Religion do not count within this limit." Thanks!
 
Ordination is def. on my path, so not doing it is not an option right now. Of course, MAs are always advantageous prior to PhDs, but are MDivs, practically, at that much of a disadvantage when it comes to PhD admissions?

Sure, some admission offices do feel more welcoming than others and it may well be true that their attitude exemplified pre-enrollment is what one can expect from them in the future. Jdmhotness's point is that the attitude of any given institution's admissions department is not necessarily indicative of what the general environment, at this particular institution, is like.
 
While I do agree with hotness I still feel that Duke has really mishandled things and that this will, and I believe must, factor into my and others' decisions concerning whether or not to attend. What I fail to understand is how Duke still manages to sustain a great student body when they treat applicants the way that they do. For instance Jcosta, who has posted on this thread, received full-ride offers to Vanderbilt, PTS, and Yale and has still yet to hear from Duke concerning the status of his funding. Surely Duke realizes that his application is very strong and that, in all likelihood, he has received other offers (which he has). I am in a similar situation; I have made my other offers known to Duke's admission committee and they still will not give me any information other than the fact that I should hear sometime before April 15th (lol). All that being said, how can they expect to maintain the strongest student body possible when they mishandle applications and effectively lose out on many extraordinary candidates simply because of their poor procedures? 

I guess I'm not as concerned with any department's staff. The limited time you actually have to deal with them makes the trouble negligible. It's one thing if they are straight up being assholes, but it seems like they are just really busy. Once you arrive at a graduate program you are not there to mingle with the staff. Now if the faculty were acting that way....that's another thing entirely.
 
I remember before my MTS thinking some of the same things. I vividly remember a lady at Vanderbilt being really rude to me (admissions) and it left a bad impression about the program after. But I had to remind myself that is one tiny experience that is likely not representative of an entire school/department. I attempted to make the choice where I wanted to go based off of their faculty (fit) and secondly smaller things like that. 

Yes from what I gathered. All 100% and 75% scholarships were granted when decisions were given. There is a SLIGHT possibility that someone could decline it but it is extremely unlikely

Still no Duke Div. aid email...

That kind of sucks. Not to be a downer, but do you want to go there if they are giving you the run around like this now? One of my deciding factors was the sense I got from the department as a whole, that they would work with me toward the things I want to do.

I cannot believe duke treats applicants this way. They refuse to even let me know where I am on the list for scholarships. I have other offers and I have voiced that fact to them. 

Officially going to PTS! Very excited. Anyone else made a decision yet?

Def. time to bump this thread back up!

Considering an application fee is somewhere between 50 and 100 dollars, which is a lot of money for some people (don't worry Mom, I'll pay you back once I publish that best-seller), I don't think it is out of line for an applicant to expect an e-mail response or two. 
 
(Although I imagine the people tasked with responding to these e-mail requests aren't the ones responsible for the discrepancy between application fee cost and the staff made available to process them, so I guess we can spread the sympathy around.)

I don't know. I've seen first hand what kind of work these people do--know how we're all at our wits' end? Yeah, well multiply your anxiety by two hundred people. The guy at our office read me (anonymously, of course!) just a small sample of the kinds of e-mails they get every day: "Can you change my file?  What if this part of my application is late? Why do you still have a paper application; it's ridiculous! I only have two letters of recommendation--how will that hurt my chances?" 
 
Individually, these kinds of requests/questions/etc. wouldn't be a big deal. But those folks get hundreds and hundreds of those emails. When do you think you'll make a decision? Have you made a decision? Can you tell me your decision? 
 
So I understand why they said "shame on you"; you turned in your application--once it's in, you're locked and loaded. They know you might go to conferences and write interesting papers and meet interesting people between December and April--but for the sake of paperwork, what's done is done. 

A word of friendly advice if any of you are admitted to the Vanderbilt MTS. It may be worth your while to request more funding than the initial offer.

Yeah I'm just ready to hear back from Vandy and Duke. What the hell?

Would it be unreasonable to ask for like 90%? If not, how much would you consider to me too much?

Is anyone willing to claim one of the five full-ride scholarships that Duke awarded to MDiv applicants last month?

Is anyone willing to claim one of the five full-ride scholarships that Duke awarded to MDiv applicants last month?

Crap, a couple of people have posted acceptance/funding results from Vanderbilt Divinity on the 2012-2013 MDiv forum. I didn't hear anything from the department. Should I be concerned that all the fully-funded offers have gone out? 

Duke's five-hundred application "rounds" and indeterminate funding/scholarship awarding dates is far too complicated. I was accepted into the MDiv program and they refuse to give me a date by which I can expect to receive funding information. 

Josh,
 
u from Forest Grove? Cool man, I'm in Oregon City. I have friends who went to Warner Pac

I know what you mean. Kids are starvin to death and I'm shitting my pants cause I'm compulsively eating too much due to my "seasonal-application-anxiety." It's a fucked up world man. 

I know what you mean. Kids are starvin to death and I'm shitting my pants cause I'm compulsively eating too much due to my "seasonal-application-anxiety." It's a fucked up world man. 

I know what you mean. Kids are starvin to death and I'm shitting my pants cause I'm compulsively eating too much due to my "seasonal-application-anxiety." It's a fucked up world man.