11Q13

I have an offer at a university in the OKC area to be an assistant professor and I'm wondering, since the last reply to this was from 2017, if anyone can update me about life around OKC in the post-Trump era. First, I would have a salary of 50k (pre-tax), is that enough to live comfortably in a one-bedroom apartment (in unit washer/dryer) in a nice part of town? What are the cool places of town to live in if I want to be social? Should I try to move to the OU neighborhood even if that's not where I will be working or would downtown OKC be better? I wouldn't mind commuting 30 minutes or so to work.

I got into Harvard with a messy transcript and taking six years for undergrad. It all depends on why. Also, most schools will have application fee waivers, so look into that if the expense of applying is a concern.

As the only single guy (who wasn't a priest) for a couple years, this is very true in the PhD. My solution to it was that I made friends with the philosophers, English folks, and engineering grad students who are mostly single. Just meant that I spent time with the family oriented theology PhDs in other contexts like church picnics and bbqs.

I don't know what kind of tour you took or if it was decades ago, but it sounds like you're really misinformed. The area around campus is really posh if anything, nothing but brand new townhouses and apartments. The adjacent town of Mishawaka is also fairly affluent. Going to ND, within a fifteen minute drive you have your choice of anything from a McMansion to the ghetto, and there's also the on-campus housing somewhere in between.

It's cheap to live there because of steel and auto manufacturing collapse of half a century ago meant more housing than people needed and problems with poverty. Nothing to do with Notre Dame. I suppose it really depends on your interests, but I lived there for five years and was never bored. There are a ton of intellectually stimulating events going on constantly, including a steady stream of Theology events, Notre Dame has fantastic sports obviously, there's a great local craft beer scene, and plenty of nature around. If you really need to get away, you can take the train to Chicago. You also need a major reality check if you think you'll have a lot of time on your hands, though. You have two years. You will spend most of your time in the amazing library.

I'm biased perhaps, but I think your first move should be to follow the money. Notre Dame is offering you more, and it's also very cheap to live there. There is also a strong theology community at ND as well, and the department is looked up to and highly respected across the rest of the university, unlike Yale where they will think of you as those weird wizards up on the hill.

You won't know if you don't try. You can compensate for the GPA in a couple obvious ways: Do really well on the GRE "For my last 96 credits, my cumulative GPA is at a 3.97." Put this very early on in your application essay, and point out that your abysmal GPA happened in a past life. Don't dwell on it, though, move on quickly.

Oof

April 15 is the official "s*** or get of the pot" day, regardless of when the offer was made. It's an official policy that virtually all US programs abide by.

The QS world rankings for 2020 puts Harvard I think at #4 in Theology and Religion, no idea where BC is, but definitely not close.

This was basically my experience and also my reasoning. I was moderate/traditional and felt rather out of place there among the student body. There will be Catholics there, but they will also likely be very far left. That said, my relationships with the faculty (some of whom are more traditional) were fine. I certainly have no regrets going there though and your viewpoints will contribute to the diversity of HDS.

You should look at Harvard Divinity if these are your interests. Claremont in particular is horrible for funding, even if they do specialize in process stuff. Harvard will pay much better and open more doors.

The Harvard MDiv may be better suited to you and it is easier to get into than the MTS. The MDiv (unlike the MTS) does not expect any previous work in religious studies. Harvard is not a Christian seminary, so you should not be concerned about that with the MDiv.

Harvard and probably other schools have joint programs in law and Theology. I think you'd be a very attractive non-traditional applicant to many PhD programs in the US.

With a crappy GPA like that, the last thing you want to do is waive the GRE. You should take the GRE, and get a very high score, ideally close to perfect (except for the math). You would then explain your circumstance regarding your poor GPA, and say, "look, I am actually very bright, as you can see by how well I did on the GRE." I'd say that's your best chance for success.