xypathos

Give it a couple more months. We're all recovering from the last application cycle and preparing for the move.

Smoking and/or drinking. The real vice of every PhD student.

I think this to some degree depends on your denomination. Being an Episcopalian, I've met a lot of priests that have a (real) PhD in various fields within Religious Studies or Theology that don't teach, they're full time priests. Seeing it quite a bit among Presbyterians as well. I don't see a problem with it, the Church needs the Academy, so who better to walk that fine line than a highly educated priest? As others have said, in today's market you need a backup plan. If you get a PhD or end up going ABD, what else are you willing/capable of doing?

From what I recall, at the time of application the application fee and first month's rent. There is no security deposit, last month's rent, or broker fee for HUH.

If you're capable of coming up with your own funding, you could maybe get your DGS to let you not TA. Though really this depends on the school. Some offer say 4 years of stipend across the board, guaranteed (Yale, I believe does this). Some only offer say 2 years of stipend (Harvard's CSR for example) but then offer 2 years of teaching fellowships, in which case you're still given the stipend amount (generally) but on the condition that you do the teaching fellowship. While say Vandy requires you to serve as a Research Assistant your first year, then to TA in years 2 and 3 in order to collect the stipend.

Most, if not all, of the big name Div. schools offer an MA that allows you to concentrate in biblical studies. For example, Yale: http://divinity.yale.edu/admissions/bible-concentration A particular nod I'll give to evangelical schools is that some of them really focus on language and some of them do languages REALLY well. That said, as Joseph noted - if you're not Christian, you might find the environment troubling. I don't know how well Fuller, for example, does languages but I've known several students come out of the program that praised it and they were also agnostic or atheist. Joseph's suggestion to look to Harvard, Yale, Chicago, maybe Duke, and I'd add Vanderbilt - perhaps Emory too but I don't know anything about the school. These are great schools to look to. They're feeder schools, well known, and offer generous aid to all of their students.

I felt the same so I looked at the school's faculty and sure enough - almost none of them have PhDs. It looked like three faculty had PhDs - two from McMaster and one from Waterloo. Most simply have a D.Min and almost all of them from Gordon-Conwell.

Again, who cares? There are some people that come from top schools that have spotty scholarship. Graduating from Harvard doesn't save you from having a brain fart and writing something that you may regret or reconsider 20 years later. As scholars we won't 'mature' until a good decade or two until after we've completed our PhD. We're all biased in how we approach our work. Un/fortunately the name of religious studies leaves so much of our work to conjecture and our well-meaning educated guesses. If you're doing historical approaches, then you can say X happened, though scholars may differ on X happening because of Y, Z, or some combination thereof. In other subfields it's much more so open to interpretation. If some scholar interprets the material and concludes "Jesus was divine" and another concludes differently - who cares? We need the differing opinions in the academy, even if we disagree with them - it's how we all grow. While certainly not a hard and fast rule - generally those that hold an inerrant view of scripture don't go teaching at Harvard or other mainline schools. They're more likely to end up at a seminary and that's okay too. Those students attending that seminary, at that point of time in their life, need that scholar and s/he needs them. So no, it's not bad - just different. If reading from scholars that interrupt scripture as inerrant is problematic for you, don't read them or work with them.

Regarding point #2, my professors, save one, didn't allow grandstanding in the classroom. We were certainly encouraged to debate and civilly criticize another's point(s) but there was a fine line that if we crossed the professor would tell us to discuss it privately or they would forcibly change the discussion. Sometimes it was hard to tell where that line was but generally I looked for signs that the wider audience had shut down or that I had reached a point where I was being critical and not constructive. I should note that the professor who allowed grandstanding was recognized as a great scholar but loathed for his classroom environment. No one escaped his classroom without being completely eviscerated in front of the entire class and he took delight in seeing students do it to one another. Quips like "it's the most useful thing you've contributed to the classroom all semester" or "at least you're attractive" were light days.

The UGs that live off campus but not with their parents mostly live in College Hill or the parts of Glenwood that run along Lee St.

The College Hill District is within a very short walking distance of UNCG and Greensboro College. There's also plenty of small time galleries, coffee shops, bars, and eateries. 400 for rent and utilities will require some searching but is doable, though you might be pushed into the Glenwood neighborhood, which is still waking distance to the areas I named.

I've been told by some Adcoms that should I take Princeton's summer course(s) for German and French reading proficiency, that the course would allow me to bypass their exam. Presumably if they're willing to do it for one program, there's others as well though I don't know of any off the top of my head. Obviously the DGS/Chair for your department would.

Not sure what you're trying to say or imply but yes, anyone can call themselves a Reverend.

This really depends on your denominational requirements. Not all positions require board certification but more and more are. That said, if you want to be certified, you will be required to be accepted/endorsed by your denomination. The beginning process for this, if you want to be taken seriously, is to spend a summer of full time work completing a CPE unit. That entails about 10 weeks of 40 hours a week working under a certified CPE supervisor. If a summer of this isn't an option a lot of hospitals and placement opportunities offer extended CPE units where you'll work for about 20 hours a week for about 16-20 weeks. If you do this and love it, there are further opportunities such as chaplain residencies that last a year. The bonus is that you get paid though the pay varies from program to program. Some in the mid 20s and some in the higher 40s. Some of this is due to location, though applicants that did their initial CPE in a Level 1 Trauma hospital favor better, overall. I was fortunate enough that I was able to compete my initial CPE while still in undergrad. This is incredibly rare but it happened because my priest is head of pastoral care for a regional hospital chain and they had someone drop after the application season had closed. Plus he was willing to vouch for my maturity. If you have more specific questions I'm certainly capable of answering them and referring you too other resources. Toss me a PM.

It's from the direct mouth of Union faculty and graduate students that the department is largely uninterested in "real world, practical applications" when it comes to the intersection of psych and religion. While I was short in my research interests in my post here, I wasn't with the faculty I met when I spent a week on campus. They emphasized that the department is nearly entirely focused on theory and that should I attend Union, I would largely be on my own when it came to research and making connections. Their suggestion was that Vanderbilt was a better fit all the way around.

Union Theological and Vanderbilt come to mind as well. While "Christian" schools, nothing requires that you focus on Christianity and they have access to scholars who work on eastern religions and psychology. Union's program is exclusively theory based. While their religion and psychiatry program is housed within Practical Theology - the current faculty is largely uninterested in practical/'real world' applications and discussions. The coursework and class discussions are almost exclusively dedicated to Freud and Jung. I had always thought Freud was dead and gone from the academy other than a brief mention in passing. Yet, at Union he's looked upon with the same cult worship that Wittgenstein is in most philosophy departments. Like you, I'm interested in religion and psychology (R&P) though from a largely Christian focus. I loved the campus and atmosphere at Union, though I was put off by their disdain for practical discussions and applications of R&P - my focus is on mental health, namely depression and suicide. I also felt, honestly, that a lot of the discussions and work being done among the R&P faculty and students was...old. From sitting in on classes, talking to faculty, and reading their works, I just got the feeling that most of their work and discussion points came from 30-40 years and they've just kept having the same conversation in their insulated community despite the academy having moved on.

Spinoza, for now.

Presuming my partner comes with me to TN, I'll be paying professional movers. Well, her parents have asked to pay it actually. She's disabled due to Muscular Dystrophy so they don't want me to doing it and they've never, for whatever reason, trusted paying strangers to do it. If it ends up just being me - if it doesn't fit in my car, it won't be coming. At least not on the first trip anyway, I may end up packing some things to mail at a later date. I practice a fairly non-materialistic lifestyle as I tend to move every 2-3 years and it has made life simpler for me.

As per, http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/handbook/academic_information.php - Graduate Students are not entitled to utilize the Pass-Fail option with their courses, it's an undergraduate option only. That said, with instructor permission, you may be allowed to take a course as SAT/UNS

Some schools offer this route but you don't move to the U.K. for the program. Instead you fly in once a year to meet your advisor and discuss your work. Beyond that you stay in your home country instead of moving to the U.K.

Do what you want to do. We just want to make sure that you're fully aware of the realities.

You know yourself better than any of us, but how does this program help you get to where you want to be? Looking at the coursework you said you've completed to date and what this program requires, it's going to be two years at the minimum. Looking at the language requirements, I think you're really looking at three years. While history and religious studies share some skillsets and research methodology, there are differences. This program is designed for the former, though it would still be beneficial for you if you're interested in the history of Christianity. I think there are better programs if your goal is a PhD in Religious Studies. As others have stated, I'd look at the academic MA/MTS degrees offered by Yale, Duke, Harvard, Vanderbilt, and the like. Just my .02

This honors thesis - it seems to read more as a post-bac than anything. Did you take courses at all during this year or did you solely focus on writing the thesis? You mentioned completing the BA through distance education - which is fine, I did the same and got two extremely generous funding offers. Somewhat different boat than you since I'm going the M.Div route but I touched base with Vandy before I ever applied to discuss my situation and was informed that 1) the school must be regionally accredited, 2) good grades, 3) solid LORs - do those three and the committee wouldn't bat an eye at the fact that it was online. I know some of this isn't relevant to you. Without knowing more we can't suggest programs, unfortunately. The biblical scholars in training here need to know more about what you're interested in to suggest PhD programs. That said, I don't think you'd get into any of them. You're going to need at least one more M* degree to flesh out your research interests some more, work on the ancient languages, counter the online degree (it'll get you into a M* program, but I wouldn't dare apply to PhD programs with only an online degree), and probably to court some stronger LORs. The GRE isn't that bad, it's mostly overhyped. There are more important things in your app. As far as preparing for it, I really enjoyed Magoosh.

Perhaps some of you can help me in my apartment/rental home quest. I'll be attending Vandy for three years, so while I'm not opposed to moving between years, I'd love to find something I can enjoy for all three years. I'd love to keep my commute to 20 minutes or less - less is better since I am in my 20s and want to enjoy Nashville's night life. That said, I don't care for the club scene at all and my idea of a good night is a place quiet enough for friends and I to have dinner and enjoy some good beer. I'd love close proximity to some good brewpubs or bars that specialize in beer. I'm from NC and spend a lot of time in Asheville so I've been spoiled in that regard. Here's the tricky part though. My long time partner is wheelchair/scooter bound so I'm looking for apartments that are WC accessible, flat thresholds, ground level - if they're second floor or higher, then obviously a reliable elevator is mandatory. From our experience here in NC, the biggest problem we've found is doorway measurements (her not being able to get into a room at all) and the size of bathrooms in particular that can't accommodate a wheelchair, where she's unable to shut the door or move around once inside. We have three cats as well. We've found most landlords that allow cats just haven't cared that we have three, though some certainly have. That said, we're not willing to get rid of or temporarily misplace any of them. My partner is currently a high school English teacher in NC with a Masters degree. So, presuming she's capable of lining up a job we'll have that salary of approx. 40k plus my stipend of approx. 15k, in addition to whatever part-time work I'm able to line up. I've heard a lot of good things about East Nashville, though that's it as far as neighborhoods and neighboring cities. I'd love to hear about other neighborhoods that may be of interest, as well as potential apartment complexes, or areas that tend to favor toward house renters. Our ideal arrangement would be 2 br/1.5+ ba since we will have friends and family visiting us. A room that we could turn into an office would be great as well. Obviously being in Nashville and hitting up places is the way to go. We'll be headed up there mid to late July to do just that but I want to get a head start on locating neighborhoods in Nashville or neighboring cities that I need to scout out on these trips.

Agreed