seroteamavi

Hey there,
You might start with Todd Hickey's "Papyrology" in The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. That period of papyrology is notoriously understudied. I work quite some in late antique papyrology, which has some related graphic features. Though I admittedly don't know much about research dealing with post-fifth century papyri. Shoot me a PM if you want to chat more about this. It's a damn difficult field to navigate oneself without some guidance!

I've heard of people transferring as late as their fourth year. Obviously, that's extremely uncommon and would only happen probably in situations where an entire department is being dismantled by the university or something. I have a colleague who began a PhD program last year, didn't like it, applied to new places and got in to a much better school. That school wants her to start over (technically) because she only completed a year in the first program, but she's fine with that. They might even be letting her transfer some of the course work over so that she could potentially start her exams a little earlier.
 
I even had a prof from my second MA program advise me to take whatever funded offer I received and spend my first year applying to better programs on that school's dime. I found that to be...distasteful to say the least. But I guess that does happen.

I am somewhat worried about the debt, as I do not want my family to be burdened, but not worried about the placement. I'm getting my Ph.D. at Ave Maria University. When I had to make my decision, I was surprised that this university is having such fine success with regard to placement data. I compared ours with that of some of the second-tier schools that seem to be on everyone's list, but the placement here has been better. Now that I've been here, I can see why. The university is still pretty young, but it's the real deal. The studies are quite rigorous, the faculty is erudite but not hyper-specialized to the point where one cannot pursue one's own interests, the learning environment is healthy, and my peers are true scholars. Many of the students have families, and the children are happy to have other children to play with. There are many areas where this place has room for growth, of course. At first, I wasn't sure if the fit was right, but now I am glad that I wasn't accepted to some of the colleges that were "higher" on my list.
 
To answer your question, when looking at the finances sometimes I toy with the idea of pursuing something else. Since, however, the life of a theologian is a vocation, I do not expect to get rich by my work, but that's the standard for this field and the humanities in general. Teaching university students or Catholic seminarians is my goal and I trust that I'll reach that. Plus, when else am I going to be thus at my leisure, reading the fathers in their original languages or discussing Nouvelle Théologie over scotch and cigars with classmates? I'm sure similar communities exist at various colleges around the nation, but I really like it here. The end is important, but one ought to be pleased to will the means along the way.
 
Best wishes to you as you discern your path.

I am somewhat worried about the debt, as I do not want my family to be burdened, but not worried about the placement. I'm getting my Ph.D. at Ave Maria University. When I had to make my decision, I was surprised that this university is having such fine success with regard to placement data. I compared ours with that of some of the second-tier schools that seem to be on everyone's list, but the placement here has been better. Now that I've been here, I can see why. The university is still pretty young, but it's the real deal. The studies are quite rigorous, the faculty is erudite but not hyper-specialized to the point where one cannot pursue one's own interests, the learning environment is healthy, and my peers are true scholars. Many of the students have families, and the children are happy to have other children to play with. There are many areas where this place has room for growth, of course. At first, I wasn't sure if the fit was right, but now I am glad that I wasn't accepted to some of the colleges that were "higher" on my list.
 
To answer your question, when looking at the finances sometimes I toy with the idea of pursuing something else. Since, however, the life of a theologian is a vocation, I do not expect to get rich by my work, but that's the standard for this field and the humanities in general. Teaching university students or Catholic seminarians is my goal and I trust that I'll reach that. Plus, when else am I going to be thus at my leisure, reading the fathers in their original languages or discussing Nouvelle Théologie over scotch and cigars with classmates? I'm sure similar communities exist at various colleges around the nation, but I really like it here. The end is important, but one ought to be pleased to will the means along the way.
 
Best wishes to you as you discern your path.

I'm also interested in patristic adaptations of Greek philosophy and how those affect Eastern Orthodoxy. I'm hoping to specifically focus on the Cappadocians (specifically, Gregory of Nyssa) and maybe even Denys, Maximus, and John of Damascus. 

Just declined Duke Masters in Religious Studies. CUA just notified me I receive a 5 year tuition waiver and stipend of $18,000/year in the MA/PhD Early Christian Studies program. Still haven't heard from ND.

I'm certainly no Expert about CUA, but I was on the interview list for the PhD program this season.  They invited something like 20 people to interviews for every area (and they have a lot of subfields).  I also am not sure about the MA/PhD track.  However, their current (relatively new) policy for PhD students is to fund everybody at 18,000 a year.  They were doing some much lower levels of funding in the past, but they now admit fewer students and fund them all at the same level. 
 
Being there for two degrees, I'm not sure what your timeline would be or the funding as it's different than the program for which I interviewed.  But their normal PhD funding is now much better than it has been in the past, although to my knowledge they don't offer competitive funding such as fellowships, etc.  
 
Again, I can't speak as a real authority on CUA, but I learned a lot from the interview weekend and would be happy to discuss more.
 
Pax,
 
Luke

Setting aside the fact that it sounds like sacklunch knows some things about CUA that maybe others do not and the fact that the job market is abysmal, I'd say this: I would think long and hard about turning down a PhD offer. Again, if you've already moved past or come to peace with the fact that the job market is really tough and you can see yourself doing nothing other than PhD work, I'd say you need a really really really good reason not to take a PhD offer when it comes your way.
 
PhD programs across the board are super competitive. Sure, T1 schools are more competitive, but I'd bet that most universities and seminaries do not admit more than 15-18% of applicants to PhD programs in our field, and you can bet that there are more than 18 qualified applicants in a pool of 100. These things are so subjective and require more luck and uncertainty than any of us really want to know. An applicant who gets rejected from a particular program maybe would have gotten in with the same application the year before or the year after. There are just so many factors outside of your control and so few applicants are THAT applicant that every program wants (even though all of us would like to imagine that we were/are!)
 
All that to say that even though an MTS from ND is going to give you even better prep than you already have for applying in a couple years, it is still no guarantee that you'll get in anywhere--even CUA again.
 
There may be other, more important factors to consider here that outweigh what I'm saying, but I do think the randomness of PhD apps is something to consider.

Florida State University on a fellowship!!

Thanks! That was me - very excited to be attending ND in the Fall! 

Anybody else apply at Florida State or Catholic University?  I've had some good news from both places, but not an official acceptance yet.  

I also applied at Notre Dame, UChicago, Yale, Boston College, UVA, and will apply in a couple weeks at Ave Maria University. 

Thanks!

Luke Arredondo

I would slightly disagree with the above comment. If you have something like an MTS you will be at a slight disadvantage when compared to other applicants who have 3-5 yrs of M* work (a somewhat common fact). It would be different if, say, you had an MA in Classics or your undergraduate focused on Classics/NW Semitics (and so on), but as it stands, you will likely be competing against students with strong backgrounds in classical languages (not just biblical). That said, Classics MA's are fairly competitive and it is somewhat rare to find such a program that will only allow you to focus on classical Greek (I'm assuming you have little to no classical Latin). There are exceptions, of course, but searching over in the Classics forum will be the best indicator. I thought about going this route before I did my second M* and ended up doing a religious studies M* program that allowed me to take courses over in classics. This let me focus more on classical Greek texts alongside getting deeper into Aramaic/Syraic/Hebrew. I have found RS departments to be more open about letting students work over in Classics Departments, while Classics faculty, at least the ones I have dealt with, are often bewildered when students want to delve into Semitic materials.
 
My recommendation would be something like Pratte's Eros at the Banquet. This book begins by slightly modifying Plato's Symposium while taking the reader through the entire dialogue. Once you're in chapter 3 or 4 you are reading the unedited text. It has great notes for students needing to solidify their understanding of common classical forms and structures. The companion grammar note book that comes with it is also fantastic. 

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.

The link you posted is from two years ago (which is also useful!). Last year can be found here:

For some reason my hands are programmed to open a new tab, control t, and then hit f to bring me to gradcafe. There is no reason for me to come back, but I keep being drawn back.... :|

Fair enough, we all are working with our own experiences. I, on the other hand, mentioned faculty in every one of my apps, and had the luxury (luck!) of receiving several top offers. I know a dozen or so doctoral students at other top 10 programs in 'our' field and all of them I am almost certain mentioned faculty in their statements. I think if your SOP demonstrates good fit within the body of your essay, then you might be good to go without naming anyone. I guess, weighing the possibilities of one not gaining admittance to a program, either because of mentioning faculty or just simply not being competitive (based on things well outside your control, to be sure), I would put my money on the latter. Anyways, I suspect if one is competitive and the fit is good, then mentioning specific faculty may not matter at all! So, yes, it seems we agree more than disagree!

I'm sorry if I came across as terse.
 
A faculty member gains very little benefit from having a student publish, and no benefit if that publication isn't good or isn't in a good journal. Faculty don't benefit much if their students succeed, but they gain much more by them succeeding than by encouraging students to publish something they shouldn't, somewhere that they shouldn't.
 
Unless you have reason to believe these professors are especially horrible people and are seeking to torpedo your career out of spite, trust that they're suggesting what's best for you--especially if they're willing to help you revise it.

I love marXian and his comments, but, honestly, value the advice of the professors who know you and your work over anonymous posters on an online forum. Seriously, do what your professors recommend you to do.

I faced the same thing to an extent. I think you are fine to do it either way for Ph.D. purposes. The main thing schools are going to want is some sort of attestation to your language ability. They are not going to care so much where that comes from. This is what I've heard. If someone knows better, please correct me.

I faced the same thing to an extent. I think you are fine to do it either way for Ph.D. purposes. The main thing schools are going to want is some sort of attestation to your language ability. They are not going to care so much where that comes from. This is what I've heard. If someone knows better, please correct me.

I agree with both Body Politics and Joseph45. Masters students should not be worried about publishing. People think that if they can just get something published somewhere it will up their chances for acceptance into a PhD program. I'd say that unless the journal is widely known, a publication in a random journal is not going to help much if at all. Furthermore, chances are your work as a masters student is not going to be as good as it will be when you're a PhD candidate--you should hope it's not! Publishing something officially is a "forever" move. Whatever you publish is going to be out there in databases for anyone to find. You may publish something that ends up coming back to bite you later in your career. That's not to say that people don't change their minds over their careers--they do. But usually their thought as a masters has not matured, making the chances of publishing something regrettable much higher. 

BUMP
Being a dealer in rare and collectible books, I cannot stress bookfinder.com enough
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t1_1&qi=WkKAncpPQDbd3F1D7fiI5E96tW4_2213891704_1:761:3190&bq=author%3Ddenise%2520moyes-schnur%26title%3Dog%2520the%2520terrible%2520returns%2520og%27s%2520further%2520adventures%2520in%2520prayerbook%2520hebrew
this link for classical hebrew og the horrible shows listing from 17-133 usd (whoa, that was including shipping to where i live...)
don't rely just on amazon (it listed it at 133) to buy books

Seriously. Always try to gently shake the university money-tree. The worst that can happen is nothing falls out.

I would add from my experience that writing a statement of purpose is like writing poetry to a girl who you are pretty sure has never noticed you before and who has a lengthy history of spurning poetry from better-looking guys. Perfect agony. Is death preferable to writing nearly a dozen such statements? Perhaps.

so I actually came here to look for this information - it's very handy to have it all in one thread

I'm afraid it's all going to disappear into the back pages of gradcafe; is there any way to get this pinned so we don't lose the info? would that even be helpful?