xypathos

Most programs require a Masters in order to be admitted. A few state that they don't require a Masters but also note that they'll rarely accept a BA applicant and when they do they have an exceptional background and stats. Syracuse has a funded MA but they take, I think, two students. Which, honestly, is par for the course. A lot of us went to seminaries or divinity schools to get our Masters, where full (or near) funding packages are much more common.

All I can suggest is that you reach out and see. Given the religious denominations, history, and school location of PTS and Union that you would be okay but that's merely my opinion.

If I understand your question correctly, yes - students who have an MA, MTS, MDiv from Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Duke, etc have a better chance of getting accepted into such a school for a PhD. The reasons for this are myriad but come down to: 1) You've had advantageous in your life that have allowed you to get accepted into these programs, 2) The professors for your M* degree will write your LORs to your PhD programs, 3) Those LOR writers and their respective readers will probably know each other, 4) You've proven yourself capable of performing at a high level, among a couple other reasons. I only know two international students who managed to get accepted into US schools for Religion and both had to do multiple Masters degree. In both cases they had a Masters degree from their home countries (both are also SE Asia) but were shutout from US institutions and told they needed a competitive US Masters, then to apply again. One did a Masters at Vanderbilt and ended up staying on for a PhD while another went to HDS then onto Yale for their PhD. Another two from S. Korea and Vietnam did a M.Div at VDS and are both now at Yale for another Masters but both are hoping for acceptances into a NT program so are catching up on languages.

How do you define yourself theologically? Would you say you're a moderate, progressive, or conservative? I ask b/c that's quite the spread of schools and it gives the impression that you're just throwing darts at a board to see which stick.

Yea I should have been a bit more descriptive in my use of Syracuse. It is correct that Syracuse doesn't require a Masters in Religious Studies but per the chair and a recently retired professor, students with an academic M.A. are given preference over a MTS or MDiv. In fact, the chair mentioned that to their recollection, they haven't accepted an M.A. (Theology) or M.Div without also having an academic M.A. in several years. Students that have applied with just a M.Div and if they're a strong candidate, they're kicked back to the M.A. program and if they do well after two years are allowed to carry over into the PhD at year three. Anyway, this is all for a specific school so its meaningfulness is limited.

There are probably less than five schools that require applicants to have an academic M.A. in Religious Studies, and almost none of them do work in theology/philosophy of religion (Syracuse Univ. may be the one exception here). Theology and philosophy of religion (in a Religious Studies department!) programs are extremely open to someone with an M.Div. If you're wanting to do philosophy of religion in a philosophy department, then yes, your M.Div will surely pose some problems for you. Also, the deciding factor will be how you use your M.Div/MTS and where it comes from! If you take ample opportunity to study language(s) and produce superior work in seminars, you'll be golden. EDIT: Where all are you looking to apply? Once we know more about you and the schools that you're looking at we can guide you more.

As @psstein noted, it's not a strict one at a time policy but it's fairly close. They try to give a prof. one student that is strongly within their field and then cycle through. As a loose matter of policy, Vandy takes two students (sometimes three, rarely) within each field/department in Religion (history, ethics, theology, etc).

Paul Lim at Vanderbilt works in the 15th and 16th C. so he's in your ballpark. That said, Lim is very peculiar about the kind of student he takes under his wing and I'm pretty sure VDS gave him a student last year. Well, I know Lim extended an offer to a student but I don't know if she accepted it.

If you're referring to him showing moderate signs of Alzheimer's, that's already been made public by the school and James himself. The university is, for now, willing to let him continue on until it becomes more pronounced and affects his daily routine, then he'll officially retire.

I'll also add http://academicjobs.wikia.com/wiki/Religious_Studies_2017-2018. There's a dedicated, though incredibly small, collection of editors that oversee the postings but they pull them from multiple sources then repost them so user can avoid AAR/SBL's paywall, and having to navigate multiple sites. Listings are broken down by full-time, post-doc, etc. There's also opportunities for those interviewing for a certain position to upload notes, questions asked if they're interviewed, etc. Self-reporting but at the bottom there's a place for applicants to list their field so you can size up competition. The 2017-8 hiring cycle is just getting started so there's minimal information but you can look at last year's to get an idea and it's as you'd expect - Americanists, Biblical Studies, and religious history make up a sizable amount. I think the last two years ~40 people uploaded data so the user base is small so keep that in mind too!

I think you're taking the right approach, especially if you're looking to apply to competitive, TT PhD programs in another year or two. Your language list is impressive and certainly on point for PhD applicants, so you'll stand out there. I would make sure to mention, even in passing, that you're looking to diversify your education and skill set. Some others could chime in with experience or passed down advice about making the jump from an evangelical school to a mainstream one. Certainly when it comes to biblical studies and languages, evangelical school alums tend to do well, as their programs are exceptionally strong in this regard. Your GRE scores are fine and certainly beyond a screening cutoff - probably even for PhD programs but certainly for M* applicants. I think your program list is strong enough. Often I like to plug my own alma mater (VDS) but I imagine Segovia has to be on the edge of retiring any day now and AJ is a controversial professor that almost got fired about four years ago and last time I read the VDS culture report from the dean, their looking to focus future faculty more in cultural and postcolonial studies, given the job market in biblical studies.

I've since spoken with two faculty members and a recent alum of the PhD program. So, while certainly not exhaustive, I can answer some questions. I spoke with theology professors and the alum I spoke with was in the same area, so any questions you have about HB specifically, not sure what I can address. While the listing of departments and faculty strengths can be a bit misleading on the website, a more proper structure would be: Biblical Interpretation (BI) HB Early Christian/NT Religion and Psychological Studies (RPS) Religion and Behavioral Sciences Pastoral Theology and Care Religion and Social Change (RSC) Theology, Philosophy, and Cultural Theory (TPCT) This information and more can be found on (http://portfolio.du.edu/jointphd) Each department (BI, RPS, RSC, TPCT) gets two students they admit each Fall. It's not a hard and fast rule but its been the standard for years. PhD Students can usually get a 100% tuition waiver but livable stipends have been trickier. The website says students can't serve in a GTA position until Y2 but I've had some students tell me that that isn't an enforced rule, though the pay is only $2000 per position, per quarter so work>reward. I know Denver loosely, having visited and vacationed quite a few times, and M* alums of Iliff - part-time jobs in Denver are available and if you'd be looking for a PT ministry job, Iliff students fair well. There's no screening cutoff in regards to GRE but anything (in verbal) at 75% or higher is considered competitive. Looking at ETS' site, 75% would approx. a V score of about 157. Math is, almost universally, ignored unless a student is being considered for some kind of fellowship and even then scores of 150 tend to meet qualifications. Writing is of course important. I'm not sure what questions you, or anyone else, my have but if I can't answer them then I Mary or Annette at DU/Iliff certainly could.

I wanted to reach out and see if there's a current DU/Iliff student on here before I reached out to the university for a reference. Primarily interested in the usual: quality of life, financial aid offers, etc.

As @Kuriakos notes and I've seen prospective students run into at my former seminary - without an ATS accredited M.Div program and three years of work experience post-M.Div, you shouldn't be accepted anywhere. This is one thing that the ATS doesn't really allow member schools to budge on.

ND, BC, Chicago, and HDS are, I think, the only big name schools that want GREs for M* applicants.

It depends on MA v. PhD naturally. For MA: My big pre-first day concerns were finding a place a live, moving, spending time traveling (walking and driving) the area to get a lay of the land, lining up some part-time work, attending school and public social events to meet people only to ask "Wanna go grab a beer?" Individually emailing professors and acquiring reading lists so that I can buy the books off of Amazon b/c lol at the univ. bookstore prices! I'd encourage M* students not to spend too much time worrying about reading pre-first day. It doesn't hurt of course but neither is it that necessary, since a lot of M* programs expect full-time students to be doing 12-15 credits/semester. PhD: A lot of the above applies still but there's a lot more reading involved. I've learned to forego reading most books cover to cover and instead find a review in a trusted journal. If there's no such review and it's not a new or super old book, I question its value. Still, fully read books within your prime area or at least enough of it! Continue to review language(s) until you're past your exams.

I had a professor email me in the middle of the night, a professor that so happens to be one of my thesis readers. Anyway, in his email he chided me for not being a "giving Christian" because I do not have an extroverted, bubbly personality. That Christians have an obligation to be giving and out going, and because I am not outwardly as such, ergo bad Christian. I followed up with an email asking for clarification and really taken back by all of this. I acknowledged that I am a reserved person but that obviously he's speaking to something much deeper than this. I asked if we could meet to talk about this. He responded that he neither has the time nor inclination to grant such a request. Here's a slightly edited (for privacy) series of emails: 1) I sent him and the other readers a digital copy of my thesis, along with a note that printed copies will be placed in their faculty boxes. I also personally thanked said professor because he lost his wife last year but also because he wrote some LOR for me, along with editing my thesis. He's been very helpful up to this point and so his email below really took me for a loop. -------- 2) His response: I also want to to also understand, [name], that I have gone well beyond the "extra mile" with you in this process, for the simple reason that it is what I should do as one who seeks to mentor you in this Christian pilgrimage. Being a Christian, of any sort, implies being a giving person. You have not been a very giving person, [name]. You have with-held yourself from others, both in class and otherwise. In response to the kindnesses you have been shown, I place you under holy obligation to do differently, in so far it is within your power to do so. ------- 3) My response: Would it be possible for us to meet when you're on campus so that we may discuss this? I know that I'm not an extroverted , freely talking individual. That said, you're obviously referencing something beyond this and I don't clearly know what that is. ---------- 4) Final response: I am referring precisely to what you identified in your reply. You need to push yourself a more to contribute in class and participate otherwise in the life of community. It is too easy for you to sit back, hold back, and let things go back. No one on the teaching faculty feels like they know you , [name]. That is not our fault, and ultimately it is not our problem. More than this I do not have time or inclination to say. ------------------------------------------------ I've spoken with my advisor and shared this email with another professor, who both feel that the professor in this email is 1) wrong and 2) way out of line. We're a small school, very small in fact and while I can report this to the Dean (one of them have asked me to do), they did so stating that it would sour relationships permanently. As well, with me graduating there would be little to nothing done about it and while they would withhold approaching the professor until after my thesis defense, it's too late to and would raise too many red flags to remove him at this point. I get his wanting me to be more outgoing but also, it just isn't my personality. Also, I think it's entirely unreasonable of him to expect everyone to be as such. As well, the whole "you have not been a very giving person" comes across as intentionally wanting to be hurtful.

What's your ideal teaching environment should you get a PhD? Wheaton carries a lot of clout in the evangelical community while Marquette is Catholic, of course. This matters more post-PhD but it's something to be mindful of. At this stage, I'd accept the Marquette offer myself. I don't know Wheaton and Marquette's placement record for getting students into a PhD but if a faculty member or two would be willing to tell you, that would be useful information.

I'd use the system that the school has setup. If you were notified of your admissions decision by way of "Your application status has been updated. Click here to read it." and there's a system to decline the offer - use that. If someone from Admissions emailed you to tell you, email them. No need to over analyze this. If you were a PhD applicant, I'd suggest contacting the POI and Admissions Officer in an email but Masters students are a dime a dozen.

Certainly hope so.

I endorse @marXian's comments a thousand times over and then some! Do the readings you need and then some, setup a schedule where you read X-number of journal articles a week (prepare for comprehensive exams throughout the 2-3 years rather than cramming it all), get access (or subscription) to the top journals in your field and read the articles and especially book reviews in them. Take the journey that you're embarking on seriously. That said, find time to do something not related to your studies! Take up homebrewing and share your production with colleagues, take up running or cycling, read a Stephen King novel (even if it's only a dozen pages a night before bed!), spend time volunteering or being an activist for a cause that moves you, etc. Do something not directly related to your studies.

I've been notified that the theology department at Canterbury Christ Church (UK school attached to the Church of England) has put forth my name for acceptance and to award me a studentship which would fund my studies. The nomination essentially guarantees me acceptance (they've never had a nomination turned down) but receiving the funding is trickier, being international. Being that I would be ordained my potential primary supervisor (a CoE priest) is reaching out to various dioceses about serving 1/2-time at a church in exchange for housing and funding, as part of a backup. Just have to make sure we don't violate visa laws on that end. It's something at least and the prospect of life in England for the next three years is alluring.

That was 2014, I had heard the time had changed but that it was still March 15th - yet, that's obviously not the case this year. I suspect it'll be the 16th or 17th then.

The only way you'll know is if you ask, otherwise you're left with a "What if..." If a school crosses me off their list because I play the card, "I have an acceptance elsewhere but I really want to be here" - well, fuck them.

Quick turn around. I haven't worked with the small group that this student is in but I think he's reputable. That said, per the student he was notified in a private email by a professor he's hoping to work with, aiming for a PhD post-M.Div. So, it's an informal notification and a false flag about all decisions being released. Sorry folks I'll update earlier post.