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Try the apartment complexes on Clairmont road. They would allow you to walk to Clairmont campus and take the shuttle into the main campus (maybe ten minute drive) and the shuttle comes all the time. There are several complexes along that road. Not sure what the price variation is...Highland Lake is around $900, there's also Lincoln at Decatur and one other I always see but never remember. They also place you in proximity to Toco Hills (where you can do grocery, etc. shopping)--you could walk if necessary, but it would be a hike with a bunch of bags. You don't really want to rely on cars too much anyway--traffic is terrible here.

Yes, as I already posted earlier, U of C has much better financial support for the MDiv program. This is likely because people who want to go to Chicago are not usually the same people who really want to get an MDiv. However, the divinity school has to keep the MDiv program going because it is written in their charter that so long as the divinity school exists an MDiv program must also exist. I believe that there has been some renewed interest in building up and supporting the MDiv program in recent years, as I've been told from someone who got their MDiv and Ph.D. there recently. As to masters funding...although I applaud that there are schools out there which do in fact regularly fully fund their students, the provided list itself makes it clear why this is happening. These are not first tier schools for religion programs (at least not in fields of my concern) and were never recommended to me by advisors and professors as potential schools. Below is a list of schools where full funding for the MA/MTS is the exception, not the rule. Yale Divinity Candler School of Theology (Emory) University of Chicago Harvard Divinity Duke Divinity It's pretty understandable, really, why these schools don't give full funding--they don't have TA's for the most part, and they can still attract the students. Judging from what everyone has been talking about in regards to Ph.D. applications, these are much more along the lines of the places you want to go if you want to have a chance in this highly competitve field (again, at least in the areas I am concerned with/related to). The big exception is Notre Dame's MTS program, which always fully funds every student. Of course, they only accept 21 students.

I can't comment on likelihood of getting off the waitlist, but I will say that it is completely inappropriate to withdraw after accepting except for very serious reasons (like a huge family crisis) NOT because you were just trying to hedge your bets. It's unprofessional, plain and simple. It's not just the couple of professors there that you'll alienate--they will talk to other people in academia and then you will be known as untrustworthy throughout your career. You can sometimes get away with burning bridges when you're switching career tracks, but this is the same field in an already small group of people who get together regularly at conferences, etc. Don't do it. Suck it up and make the hard decision (after calling and finding out more info about your status). Of course, wait until the April 15th deadline.

On the Harvard, Yale, Chicago question...I agree that they all seem similar in prestige. Considering where you'd want to be for a doctoral program is an excellent consideration, as well as funding and general quality of life you'd have there. One thing that you should note, however, is that if you are planning to use your education to eventually teach at a college then you probably shouldn't get a Th.D. They just aren't marketable in the same way. Thus, you would be interested in the Harvard Committee on the Study of Religion and the Yale Department of Religious Study as well as Chicago Divinity (that is, for the Ph.D.). Although you should definitely be concerned about faculty, etc. I think that with the prestige of all these programs you should consider quality of life very carefully. Will you be happier closer to friends, family? What about cost of living? Safety? Just the general feel of the campus, the campus culture?

On the topic of weather...even in the North it really depends where. For example, I lived in Indiana several years and the winters are incredibly grey and dreary--wet, not snowy, but still chilly. I also lived in Minnesota, however, and although you may think it's worse up there it's actually a lot better since the sun is out almost all the time during the winter. There may be a foot or so of snow on the ground through March, but at least there's a sunny blue sky. So...spend lots of time on weather.com seems to be my point.

That was a really intense post. In my search for non-MDiv masters programs in religion a few years ago I generally found that most schools, particularly those attached to a university, did not give much funding. This was part of why I felt so lucky to end up where I did and get a full plus stipend award, though this is by no means for all the masters students here. Most programs fund their MDiv students much better than MA or MTS. Chicago is a prime example. I was told point blank by my undergraduate advisor that if I wanted to go to Chicago for the masters I should go as an MDiv so I could actually get funding, even if it did mean additional requirements. I'm just wondering why you applied there to begin with, seeing as you seem to have great reservations about it now. I almost applied to a few more places two years back, but then I reasoned that if I got in I wouldn't go there regardless and would just take someone's spot in the first round and make them have to wait forever to find out. So what was it about Chicago that you did like? Obviously there was something since you applied there? Was it just reputation, though you cut that down pretty well in your post, so it can't be that... I really am curious about perceptions of Chicago.

ace98cc7, Someone in my masters program got into Fordham a week or so ago. It may just be the early short list acceptances.

Philmajor--No, I don't really know how Chicago makes decisions, though from what I've heard generally, their internal applicants aren't given any particularly special treatment, though certainly a recommendation from someone deciding admissions must do something to help.

This is in response to the people talking about University of Chicago-Divinity on the results page (I thought I'd move it here to not complicate the results board). I was told in an email from Chicago a bit over a week ago that they would notify in mid-March. Furthermore, I was told today by a fellow applicant who was in recent communication with Chicago that they said they notify only via post, both for rejections and acceptance. They will send letters on March 6 or 7, which means they should reach us all a bit later.

That may be the case at Emory this year, but it's not usual. They didn't accept anyone internally last year.