11Q13

Sorry I guess I was being too facetious to make it a good for instance. The way I phrased it in one of my apps that directly asked "...I believe we are witnessing an extraordinary opportunity to utilize the momentum of these emerging trends (talking about Jesus Seminar, Cupitt, Ehrman, New Atheist, etc) to take theology and Biblical studies in new directions. Churches preaching on what, until recently, have been forbidden topics have the potential to respond in ways that will change how the next generation of Christians understand their own faith, its imperatives, its Scriptures, and its relationship to others..." and how I'm eager to be a part of that. all that is to say my motivations for study is what I want to study...help

I know a professor of archeology that did his PhD (and I believe also his MA) in Israel. He landed a job in America but he said the biggest thing was that because he spent all his time over there he wasn't able to network very well over the course of his education. I think the ability to network in a field like religion is probably going to be just as impactful as what country the degree is from when it comes to landing that job.

Thanks for the reply, that makes a lot of sense. What I'm trying to figure out now is what ought to be cut out of my "autobiographical statement" (I'm assuming I shouldn't repeat the same information in both?). Like I say in the first post my "academic interests that motivate me to engage in theological studies" are the areas I want to study, which seem like they should go also in a "plan of study." For "ways the MTS program at Candler School of Theology fits my interests" should I stick to the non-academic stuff like the community in the div school, and the Methodist tradition? Because it certainly fits my interests by having professors that are experts in the fields I want to study, but talking about that seems like it should also go in a "plan of study" as well... For instance I want to study with Luke Timothy Johnson because he focuses on Late Second Temple and because, in more eloquent words, I think the Jesus Seminar dudes are all a bunch of jerks and I want to prove them wrong and give them what for, something he specializes in. Are these my academic interests that motivate me to engage in theological education, or my plan of study?

"a) MTS applicants should submit a two-to-three-page statement detailing their proposed discipline of study, topic of research, and special interests that they plan to pursue and develop at Candler.." So umm, this is the only university I'm applying to that asks for something like this and I'm not sure what it's exactly looking for that isn't in my "autobiographical statement" which asks for: * Significant life experiences that have affected your view of self, God, and the world. Include references to family members and significant others, courses, and experiences in college, church, service-related activities, and employment. * Academic and other interests that motivate you to engage in theological studies. * Ways the MTS program at Candler School of Theology fits your interests. * Your plans following completion of study at Candler School of Theology. How is a proposed plan of study different from the bolded above? Is a proposed plan of study written in a different style from an SOP? Am I supposed to give a semester by semester, year by year outline of classes I want to take? What do I do if I don't know 2-3 pages worth of what I want to study?

I know this seems to be the opposite problem than most people face, but one of my apps is asking a very specific question to be answered in a maximum of one page. I answered it in a couple lines more than half a page... should I try to make it longer because it seems like I don't care to use all the space, or will they appreciate my brevity? Here is the question: a)What goals do you hope to achieve by enrolling in the Master of Theological Studies degree program? (Maximum of one page, typed and double spaced.) I had 3 relatively typical goals which I briefly talked about...

wait is the department of religion different than the divinity school? because im applying for the mts at the latter and i dont remember hearing anything about an interview...

Just to throw a bit more fuel to the fire and address some of the reassurances you guys have given. One of the reasons she is so tempted is because one of her recommenders, while being a professional in the field, hasn't written a grad school recommendation before.

So a friend of mine (not me I promise) just told me a very smart but probably very dishonest way to get the best recommendations. She's doing all her apps by mail. Some of the schools she's applying to require 3 LORs, some require 4. Rather than bothering to figure out which require what number she just requested all the profs to write a rec for all the schools. So she'll have 4 recs for all of them meaning some she won't send. 1 recommender was nice enough to let her read the recommendation, and there is one she is positive wrote her a stellar rec, meaning there's only 2 she doesn't know about for sure. Would it be a one way ticket to hell if she opened the extra recs to see which one she would want to use as her third recommender to the schools that only require 3? I was frankly so impressed that she figured out she could do it that I thought I would pose the question to you guys.

I've done a decent amount of public speaking related to the field of religion given my experience but I was wondering what is worth putting on the CV. Does it depend on the venue? For example I gave a relatively similar speech at three different places, one was to a university living area consisting of about a hundred students, another was to the university board of trustees in a board meeting, another was at conference of Christian colleges held a few hours away. Would any/all of these be added? Similarly I've done Bible studies, homilies, Sunday schools, etc. I've done some in a series and some just one Sunday, some to youth and and some to adults...what counts?

I took a class when I was a senior in high school at a small local community college to get an idea of the college environment. It really had nothing to do with anything, I think it was even called “Personal and Social Growth” or something equally pointless sounding. I emailed the schools I'm applying to months ago and a few said they still wanted a transcript for it if I received credit, which is fine. I ran into trouble though when I went to request the transcript from the school however; I guess I had forgotten how small it was. They literally printed out 3 copies of each transcript and wrote pink, yellow, and white across the top for their triplicate, said it would probably take at least a month to even send my transcript, and that they had no student copies and no rush service… There’s no way this transcript will get t some of the schools on time. If I don’t get into Harvard because my transcript for “Personal and Social Growth” in 2001 arrives late I’ll check myself into a sanitarium. Before you all say I should have had them sent earlier I have been in the Middle East for a year and went to order them literally a day after I landed in America. Any advice about what I should do?

Wow somehow I missed this post. Thanks, it's very helpful!

....so back on topic. Anyone here an alumni, attending, or have at least visited Duke, Emory, Harvard, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, or Yale that can give some insight?

Excuse my ignorance on the subject. I live in Jerusalem/Bethlehem so I'm going off the customs here. The religious lifestyle of Diaspora Jewry is foreign to me. I'm certainly a bit more cynical on the definition of a Jew based in heritage.

I'm applying to master of theology programs, and prefer the sound of 'theologian' to 'scholar of religion,' though the latter may be more apt for me since I'll probably spend as much time as an exegete. I will however be forever envious of those who can call themselves 'masters of divinity.' Master of the Divine...has a superhero feel to it doesn't it?

I'm well aware of the trend, and even the expectation to be challenged and 'changed' over the course of the program. It's in large part because I'm well aware of that fact that I'm asking this question. I entered university a fairly vanilla American nondenominational Protestant and after a whirlwind of coursework and experience emerged as described above. The nuance that you are perhaps not picking up on is that I believe the state of an individual's faith when they finish said program is influenced by their professors and the presumptions upon which their teaching relies, especially their personal faith commitments. ...or, maybe it's just me and I'm weak minded and easily persuaded and prone to despair? At any rate, I'm hoping the program that I attend will be one that edifies my faith, not because I don't want it to be challenged, but because it has been constantly challenged by antagonists for years now and I could use some positive reinforcement. I'm trying to get a sense of if and how that would be possible at these schools, using the religiosity of the programs and their professors as my primary criterion. I don't want to get too off topic. I know there are merits and deficiencies in doing it this way, etc, etc. Here is my best attempt to piece together some info, as tenuous as it may be: I have heard, mostly from people here, that Duke is more or less constituted of Christian theists. All the people I've contacted who study/ied at Harvard are Christian, but again its difficult for me to reconcile this with their graduates who seem to find teaching positions... I have also visited the university and the Divinity School and did my best to pretend the Protestant iconoclasm (I mean, ironically, the removal of crosses from seemingly every historic university edifice not considered a chapel) didn't hurt me in some way, and the Divinity School's emphasis on pluralism makes me all the more curious. To take a specific professor as an example, Jon Levinson does work in Jewish-Christian dialog, however he doesn't wear a kippa from what I've seen, which implies he's not religious... He essentially heads up the Jewish Studies program so I feel like I should be entitled to know that information? Aren't I? I visited Yale as well, and the admissions people, as well as the students I spoke with all seemed to be perfectly normal Christians whom I would presume hold less atypical beliefs than my own. This was a bit of a surprise to be honest, because I had been reading some work of John J Collins and his thoughts on the Old Testament (together with his wife on the NT). Honestly some of the most painfully grim criticism I have encountered. Naturally, I expected since he taught there I would find a student body of like thinkers; or at least people that looked like they had just been told the rug has been pulled out from under the authority of the entire pre-Davidic Old Testament thanks to Dr. Collins. But this wasn't the case... so what's the deal with Dr. Collins? and of course any students or alumni please share!

I'll start by saying that I very much consider myself a Christian, but a bit of a odd duck. I have a relatively low view of Scriptural authority, a very very high esteem for Jesus, and a belief in God that seems to hinge on the life and work of Jesus being authentic (how else could miracles be if God isn't real, I mean). I feel like I'm always striving to gain more orthodoxy, I attend church at least once a week, and am very active in ministry and social justice movements, but at the same time I am always hoping but always skeptical that my prayers ascend beyond the ceiling, and that I will someday understand why Jude is inspired but Shepherd of Hermas isn't. I say this because I am a bit paranoid that if I should attend a certain institution where professors have a certain bend I will emerge from my education there having lost my faith entirely, and that the opposite would be true, meaning a strongly edified faith, if I should attend another university. this is scary. My main question or topic I guess I'm trying to understand better is the place of personal faith in these academic institutions including the personal faith investments of the professors. The impression I've gotten is that people are generally very charitable and open about their beliefs in these programs because it is typically such a greater investment than people make into say a MBA or engineering degree, but I haven't seen this extended into the professorship itself. Is it off limits to ask? Is this thread taboo? How do you research something like this? I've discovered the perils of making assumptions of an author's personal faith based on their work but certain positions I've read seem to necessarily preclude any religious commitment at all from professors I'd be interested to study under. If I try to guess at institutions by what comes out of them is this a better method? Harvard, for example, presently supplies the entirety of the full professorships at Claremont which is completely secular, and probably a majority of the notorious Jesus Seminar members come out of Harvard. I also know they are very welcoming to atheists (and every religious commitment) into their MTS program. Should I therefor presume the majority of their professors are nonreligious? If people with inside knowledge could help me break it down by institution or even by professor that would be ideal. If others are interested in other universities to which they're applying feel free to add them. The ones I'm interested in are Duke, Emory, Harvard, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, and Yale. Cliff's notes: what are the faith commitments, as specifically as possible, of the professors at the schools I'm applying to, and what difference does it make in your opinion?

~$100 transcripts ~$250 GRE and score reports ~$450 application fees ~$800 in out of pocket, not including emotional and mental costs...

Thanks for the help guys, I was just told by my church that they would get me a rental car! I was a bit shocked, but problem solved!

I am relying on the collective genius of this forum to help get me out of this terrible pickle I've gotten myself into. I've been working in the Middle East for the last year and I'm flying home for Christmas, the cheapest ticket home I could find allowed me an indefinite layover in NYC for the same price, so I figured I would give myself a few days to see some universities and NYC. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into...can you guys help me sort out the easiest way to get to Yale, Harvard, and back to NYC as cheap as possible? I arrive in NYC this Sunday (12/13) at JFK, and plan to stay that night in Brooklyn, my flight out is at 4:45pm on the 16th. Everything in between is fair game. Like I mentioned, I've never been to the East Coast so anything that would allow me to look around and enjoy the visit would be great. Specific bus/train times, prices, numbers, etc would really help. So far it seems like my only options are to pay a ridiculous price for a rental car, or spend all day changing buses and trains to get from place to place in cities I've never been to in freezing weather. Some facts: I have people to stay with in Brooklyn and in Fairview, CT (apparently just a ways outside New Haven), no one in the Harvard area. I am 24 which means I have to pay a penalty to rent a car (the cheapest I've seen for only 2 days is like $170) I'm from LA so I'm not very public transportation savvy I'm from LA and have been in the Middle East for a year so I'm not really cut out for temperature highs in the 30's... I am at least as poor as you. Help!

A thank you card...I thought that was the standard choice.

sounds like an interesting spreadsheet. don't suppose youd be willing to share it with us would you? it could be a great thing for the community to contribute to for a nationwide survery

Pretty much each school I'm applying to has a different SOP requirement, but I think I've settled on my Harvard SOP (1,000 words) as the standard rubric I'm going to use. Anyone with a background in religious studies willing to give me feedback on it, and swear to God they won't steal it?

it isnt difficult to spin in your favor. i started university at 16 and worked that into mine. if youre worried they might think youre immature just make sure your writing ability in the SOP and writing sample prove otherwise.

I've skimmed most of this thread and haven't run across this question directly. How much is it to BUY a small house/condo in the Cambridge area, as in the down payment and monthly mortgage. While I don't have a substantial monthly income I have a fair share of savings that could serve as a down payment, and building equity is far more ideal in the long run than flushing 1k+ down the tube every month renting, especially since it seems like there is no shortage of renters when/if I were to relocate after graduating. Anyone have experience with this?

I couldn't think of where else to ask this. Among my friends it seems I'm always the trailblazer, the first to accomplish things, take the next step, etc. (also the first to make mistakes they learn from). It's been frustrating because I don't really know what to expect from grad school. Can someone give me a breakdown of the general differences? I'm applying to programs in Religion, which should be similar to most humanities. What is the feel, the atmosphere? what is the workload like compared to undergrad, what sort of work is it, more reading focused, more writing focused? Quantify it for me, like should I expect to read 10 books a week, and 2 10 page papers? What surprises were there? What questions should I be asking that I'm not?