Epaphroditus

I plan on using a school paper, but it won't be the newest thing I've written when I apply. I don't think it's necessary to send a paper that is so close to the max. 12 pages is enough if it is concise but sufficiently makes its case. They may prefer a more concise argument to a long-winded 20 page paper (they're reading hundreds of papers, after all). In terms of editing, I'll probably just remove the title page and put my name on the header so they easily know whose paper it is. I would keep the bibliography. This is what a friend of mine did, at least (he got into a Tier-1 ivy). The question I'm wrestling with is whether to submit what I think is my best paper or to submit a paper which aligns more with my stated research interests in my SOP.

I'm not at either school, but it seems to me from FSU's website that its program doesn't really emphasize the Jewish "background" of the NT; instead, it focuses on the study of ancient Judaism for its own sake and the study of ancient Christianity (not the same as NT) for its own sake. If your primary research interest is something within the NT canon, then Baylor would seem to be a better fit, even if they don't have much backgrounds coursework. They probably have a Classics department where you could take some courses. It really depends on what you want to research and where and what you see yourself teaching after your PhD. If your goal is to primarily teach NT and Christian Origins within its Jewish/Greco-Roman milieu, I would choose Baylor. If your goal is rather to teach something like ancient mediterranean religions, then FSU is the way to go.

Not sure about YDS's deadline, but keep in mind that YDS offers only 50% tuition coverage for the STM. The tuition cost then just matches a place like PTSem where no funding is offered.

My guess is that they simply don't accept students that year for that subfield. This sort of happened this year in NT (no one was accepted), though for different reasons.

Wow! Do you know which sub-fields made offers and which didn't?

A ThM might help for the next time you apply, but if you go that route, I would suggest maybe considering other schools, too. I've found that ThMs at schools like TEDS are often more expensive than at other more prestigious schools. And when you say the ThM would "lead to the PhD," do you mean they would help make that happen? Or just that you could apply again? If the former, then it's worth considering. The thing with ThMs (you'll find many posts on this) is that since they're one-year degrees, it's often hard to get to know the professors well enough to get new LORs and you will just have finished one semester of courses by the time you re-apply. If you're willing to wait two years, you could finish a ThM, then apply the following fall.

What subfield are you? I know the NT applicants were invited to interview a few weeks ago. I think someone mentioned that a few pages back on this post. Not sure about other fields.

The only schools I'm aware of which offer admission in the spring are schools in the UK.

If you attend Yale Divinity School you'll be able to take Greek courses at the university (highly recommended), which will give you a leg up since you'll know Classical and not just Koine. If you go to a school like Gordon-Conwell, you won't have that option. If you're focus is more early Christianity, you can also take Latin courses at the university. Also, many MAR students at YDS do a third year, which would essentially make the program as long as an MDiv.

Thanks @menge. My field is NT. Greek and Hebrew are usually the prerequisite languages, though of course German and French are also important. I know that at least some programs seem to indicate that they strongly suggest applicants have some preparation in German or French before applying.

I think they do provide something like a certificate. If not a certificate, they at least provide some kind of official documentation of your performance.

I have heard repeatedly on these forums that it's important to have a "paper trail" of language courses before applying for PhD programs. I'm interested in taking a German language course offered by the graduate studies center of a nearby university, but it's a "non-credit" course and they don't provide a transcript, although they do provide official documentation of a student's performance upon request. My question is this - is a non-credit course like this worth taking before applying to PhD programs? Since it's non-credit, will schools view this course as no different than my studying German independently? If the latter is the case, I figure I'd rather save myself the tuition cost. I'm not sure how I'd indicate to a prospective program that I took this course, besides mentioning it on my CV or SoP. Or maybe sending them the documentation, though I don't know what the procedure is for sending additional materials not requested by a school. For those who have already applied to programs, what are your thoughts on these kinds of non-credit language courses?

Looks like PTS announced three new faculty hires today: http://ptsem.edu/indexmobile.aspx?id=25769810017 @RD_Paul and @Rabbit Run were right about Mark Smith from NYU, though no word yet on Michael Gorman or a different senior NT hire, which is surprising. The hiring of Mark Smith definitely makes PTS a great place to study OT/HB and somewhat fills the hole left by Seow's departure.

My thought is that Yale Divinity would be more prestigious as a pre-PhD degree. Don't let that deter you from Gordon Conwell, though. If you're an evangelical, it may be worthwhile to get your first theological degree at a school like Gordon Conwell before maybe getting a second master's somewhere else. Also, people have graduated from GConwell and gone on to teach at prestigious schools. Michal Beth Dinkler at Yale Divinity is one prof who went to Gordon Conwell before getting her ThD at Harvard.

I just found out I got accepted to PTS's ThM program and Yale Div's STM program! I'm excited at either possibility, but have some questions about the faculty. I know that Yale was looking to hire a new NT prof - does anyone here know if they've already made that decision and who that might be? I also heard that PTS was hiring someone for their biblical studies faculty (possibly NT?). I know they recently hired Eric Barreto as an Associate Prof in NT, but I heard they hired an additional NT prof. Is this true? Does anyone know who that is? Any information on either YDS or PTS would help me make my decision. Thanks!

Congrats! Where do you think you'll go between the schools you've been accepted to?

Along those lines, do you think applying to both the ThD and PhD at a school like Duke/Duke Divinity could hurt one's chances of getting into the more competitive PhD program? I could imagine a scenario in which the adcom is deciding between two qualified candidates, one who has applied to both and one who has only applied for the PhD. It might make sense for the adcom in such a situation to admit the former to the ThD and the latter to the PhD if they really want both to be at Duke. I know PhD admissions at a place like Duke can be a crapshoot anyway since it's so competitive.. but I do wonder whether this could make a difference. @Laodiceans did you apply to both?

It depends. If you're going for more semitics/philology leaning programs, then it probably won't affect you at all. If you're going for more Hebrew Bible/ANE programs, it might affect you. It definitely doesn't help you, but I don't know how much it necessarily hurts you, depending on what school you came from. To give an example from last year, an applicant on this forum from an evangelical school got into all the top NT programs (Duke, ND, Yale, Princeton). If you show in your writing sample that you can do quality research that doesn't just affirm your confessional commitments, then I don't think it matters all that much.

How important is #3? I always assumed the main thing they were looking for was your research/writing ability. I never really thought the writing sample had to be related to the research interest stated in your SOP. Have most people here who've gotten accepted submitted a writing sample related to the research interest in your SOP? Or is that what most of you are planning to do?

Yes it does! Thanks.

But don't you run the risk of coming across as unfocused? Unless the department is huge, what are the chances that the different faculty members' interests align so neatly?

I've heard though, that the writing sample and SOP are the two most important parts of your application. I'd assume that most applicants to top programs can put together a coherent argument and handle the various sources. The question then is - what sets you apart from the rest? Given how competitive the applicant pool is, if one wishes to enter a top program, it might not hurt to submit a published article that is above the page limit. I can't imagine that an adcom would be so disturbed by an applicant going over the page limit if the writing sample itself is just that good and unique. But then again, I'm not an expert on this either.

Thanks, Kuriakos. I think my Greek is decent, though demonstrating that to an adcom might be more difficult without courses listed on a syllabus. Just curious, in your experience, do most PhD admits have some Latin? If not, are they generally expected to learn it during their program, or only if it is relevant to their research?

As a current M.Div student interested in applying for NT programs, which is more important and would make me potentially more competitive - Latin or Classical Greek? I've had 3 semesters of Koine Greek in seminary, where we only looked at biblical texts. I've taken additional Greek exegesis courses on top of that. I'm interested in using social-scientific methods to study the NT against the backdrop of the Greco-Roman world. I'm interested in applying for not only traditional NT programs, but also programs in Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (i.e. UT-Austin). I'm considering taking an intensive summer language course at a university like CUNY (http://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Centers-and-Institutes/Latin-Greek-Institute), where I could go through 4 semesters of either Latin or Classical Greek in one summer. I'm leaning towards Latin, even though I have no Classical Greek, because I figure I might be able to pick up Classical Greek on my own since I have a background in Koine. What do you think I should prioritize, given that my interests lie in the Greco-Roman backgrounds of the NT? For those who've been accepted into TT NT programs, did you have Latin before applying? What level of Latin proficiency is expected of NT PhD graduates at top programs?

I'm not an applicant this year, but just wondering for the future - is there usually only one NT spot available at PTS?