RedDoor

Excellent advice thus far. I must echo the recommendation of going to a secular or Catholic university. In my experience, the conservative seminaries are behind the curve (sometimes embarrassingly so) in so far as philosophy of religion (and sometimes just philosophy proper) goes. This is especially true of the more reformed schools; David Wells is still writing about Postmodernism for goodness sake. That being said, I don't know much about Catholic schools, but I know BC has a wonderful program. Talbot has somewhat of a reputation nowadays thanks in large part to James K.A. Smith who coined the term "Talbot school" when referring to Christian conservative thought on continental philosophy, but that reputation is most likely only within the reformed evangelical circles (which are quite large in the US, but not outside of it). Good luck!

If anyone is applying to Gordon-Conwell, send me a PM!

Have you checked out St. Andrews? They offer a PhD in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts (link). Sounds like it's right up your alley.

Thanks besixdouze. After two weeks, I resent the email and heard back the next day. He was very warm, but expressed he may not be able to take on more students this year. Still, he encouraged me to apply for the degree and, if there is time to meet when he is in the states next month, he would like to chat. I'm cautiously optimistic, but I am also looking elsewhere just in case.

Historically, the ThM/STM is useful for two reasons: (1) to write a thesis on a subject that you would like to keep pursuing in your dissertation and (2) fill in gaps that you may have missed in your MDiv/MA program. I opted to do a ThM for the latter reason and have become far more competitive than if I would have applied directed from my MDiv. I have found it incredibly helpful to catch me up on recent research, pick up a research language, decide on a dissertation topic (as I was not ready), and continue networking with scholars who can push me in the right directions. After beefing up on any language requirements you may have, I say go for it.

Along this line, I was recently approved to write a book review for a journal, but the review will not be published (or reviewed) until after I apply to my PhD program. What terminology should I use on my application to reflect this?

For American schools, it is quite alright to apply without contacting the professors there as they have varying amount of input on the admissions side (little to none typically). For the UK uni, it is highly recommended that you contact them before applying since your proposal is what matters most. The strength of your proposal gets you in the door there.

How long should I wait for a response before either resending an email or moving to another POI?

Looks good to me and is very similar to what I'm sending out. You may want to ask if they are going to SBL/AAR this year. Even if you are not, tell them you look forward to meeting them in the future and potentially chatting with them soon (for coffee/tea). As others have said, brevity is appreciated, but you need to be able to explain how you fit in to their stream of research and how you can contribute. This is less important for American schools since you will have limited interaction with them for a few years, and professors have varying levels of admissions input. UK it is especially important to put your best foot forward in the initial proposal. PM me if you need any help with that. EDIT: Be sure to address them with the title that is listed on the website. Professor and Dr. mean different things in different countries.

Thanks for the help! In regards to the GRE, I'm still dreading it. I have no idea when I'll squeeze it in at this point, so I'm a bit anxious about it. However, when I spoke to my professors, they gave me a bit of advice. Admissions committees are looking for people who can prove they are scholars already either by independent research or recommendations. They are not looking for people that they have to make into scholars, i.e. great students but not great scholars. Granted, this may be from a UK PhD point of view (the prof went to Aberdeen and is a bit biased towards the UK), but he was very reassuring about my GPA (since it is lower than I would like it to be). So chin up!

Thanks everyone for your input. I really appreciate it! After talking to a few new students at various institutions and my current profs, I'm focusing my UK schools down to St. Andrews. In the US, the only other school I might be interested in aside from BC and Emory would be Baylor. EDIT: Have M.Div, current Th.M. student. Any other recommendations would be great. I'm honestly okay with 2nd tier or even lower schools mainly because I'm looking to teach at a collegiate level for now or even as an educational minister for a church/denomination. I love the academy, but I love the application of academia more. No offense to the research lovers here! I'll buy your future books!

Thanks for this. What tier would you consider SMCU?

Thanks for the advice. Honestly, I'd much rather do a 3 year program vs. a 5 year program, but I definitely don't want $100K+ of debt on top of my already impressive amount of debt. I'm polishing up my proposals for the UK programs, but after that I'll hit the GRE books.

After about a year of lurking, I finally decided to join the Cafe. Feels like a minor accomplishment! I'm finishing a Th.M this year (May 2014 completion), but I hope to begin applying this semester for Ph.D. programs. My focus in on NT, particularly the gospel of Luke. Any advice will be appreciated! (I'm dreading the GRE) I'll be applying (budget allowing) to all of these schools. First choices: St. Andrew's (Wright, Hafemann, etc), Cambridge (Gathercole), Emory (Johnson, Holladay). Second Choices: Boston College, Boston U, Princeton. Vanderbilt was one of my first choices, but they are not accepting NT Ph.D. applications. Bummer.