LateAntique

Congrats on your score, though!

That was close! Congrats on getting it in.

I have no idea what mine are. I didn't even look, nor do I really care. I just looked at programs that have faculty doing work I want to do and figured, "Hey, I'll apply there." Probably impractical, but then again...my majors are Classics and Religion. I'm not exactly a paragon of practicality.

That doesn't seem terribly radical, though. I can see the evolution. I don't see how I could justify it to an adcomm if I up and decided I wanted to be a Geologist or Evolutionary Anthropologist now, but I'd like to see if someone has done such a thing and what it took.

I'm interested in hearing from those of you who did one thing in their undergrad and are now applying (or have applied and have been accepted) to programs that are either somewhat or totally outside of your undergraduate focus(es). As a Classicist, could I find an MS in Geology program that would be willing to take me (purely hypothetical, I swear)? Or, does one have to pursue another undergraduate degree before they can do such a thing?

I have been prepping for the last two weeks to retake the GRE. I memorized an absolute ton of words (including the 300 most common). I wasn't too worried about my quant as I've already scored well enough for the programs to which I'm applying. I took some practice tests and I was scoring well into the upper 600's. I thought, "This is going to be my night. The last time I took the test it was a fluke." I improved my score a whopping.......30 points. Yep. I'm a pretty well-read guy, I'm very good with Latin and Greek (which usually translates into being able to figure out English words even if I don't know them), but I can't get this verbal score up on the real test. For one, not a single one of the 300 most common words showed up anywhere on the test. Not one. Secondly, there were words on there that not only did I not know them, I had never seen them! I read 3-5 books a week and I had not seen several words on there! I'm happy that I atleast got into the 1100's. Hopefully GPA and letters of rec will put the weight. /rant

I wouldn't list them, but working them in to your SoP is just fine. I mention in my SoP in a paragraph that discusses my language preparation that I'm taking a class next semester where the professor and I are translating Aeschylus' "Agamemnon" (probably one of the most difficult Greek texts). This shows that I'm willing to tackle difficult tasks, I'll work hard, yada yada. I also mention that, because I understand the necessity of modern research languages, I plan to take German next summer.

I could maybe see that, except a lot (most?) of the Ph.D students come from Duke Div's MTS program. Now maybe there's an MTS/Ph.D vs M.Div rivalry I don't know about. The M.Div kids get ALL the money, so the MTS kids are stuck paying their way - though they get a sweet ride in Ph.D land.

Duke's Religion Dept (not Div) is full of professors who are awesome people, and I know very few atheists who actually teach there. I really only know the NT and Early Christian people, but most of them are Christians. I wonder if your friend has students or professors in mind. Either way, most of the NT Ph.D students (if not all) are Christians on some level. I am applying to Classics, but they have close ties with the Religion program and I anticipate taking a seminar in that program every semester (Classics requires their students to take 4 classes a semester, so it won't be hard to get in on a seminar there). For anyone interested in NT/Early Christian Stuff at Duke, here's what I know specifically: Mark Goodacre is awesome. He's pretty brilliant and an exceptionally nice person. He has upset the apple cart with his research on "Q" (or its non-existence) and I always like people who are iconoclasts. Joel Marcus (in the Div school) is the kind of guy you wish all of your professors were like. He does a lot of work with Mark and is just an all-around cool guy. Liz Clark (Religion) is retiring, but if you get in next year you can probably still take a class or two with her. She's in phased retirement. She's a HUGE name in Early Christian studies, has a really wonderful teaching style in seminars, and is again a nice person. J. Warren Smith (Div) is another Early Christian guy. He's a Methodist minister with a love of the early Church and the Fathers. Stanley Hauerwas is not called the "swearing theologian" for nothing, but...he's honestly one of the most Christian people I've ever met. I met him after a roundtable he was involved in. I figured he would blow me off, but he took like 20 minutes to talk to me about Duke's program. This is just a small list of the professors with whom I've had a lot of interaction and they're all really great people.

Although I said earlier I'm enjoying my classes (and I am), I realized this weekend I've been pretty myopic and only focused on grad school stuff. I have two major papers I need to work on and a whole ton of stuff for an online class that is due in a few weeks. I'm not in total freak out mode yet considering I've still got some time (which is a pretty dangerous thing for a procrastinator to tell himself), but it hit me I need to get working on this soon!

I won't name names, but I had a professor who just sat reclined behind his desk with this smug, uninterested look on his face. He checked his watch every 2 minutes. Complex questions were met with simple, half-hearted answers that didn't even really answer my question. I see you're applying to the div school there, so it will probably be different. I have a professor who is an alum and he said that it was too "touchy-feely" for him, so maybe they're actually nice over there. There was no witty response - just "What a bunch of douches. I'm applying to Duke."

If it's near their name, it's Mr/s., Dr., Rev., whatever. If it's near institutional details, it's Chair and Professor, Professor, Asst. Prof, Assoc. Prof, etc.

I'm applying to 7 programs: 3 Ph.D, 4 MA. I'd like to jump right into a Ph.D, but it's pretty rare on the Religion side of things, though not on the Classics side of things.

I've only been able to visit one of the schools (Duke) and they were exceptionally nice. I only live a few hours away, so I pop in for guest lectures from time to time. When I was going to apply to Harvard, I went up there to visit with some professors. I've never been made to feel more stupid in my life.

Yes, you can send the application materials in any order. So, you could have sent your GRE scores in before you submit your transcripts. Admissions offices are used to getting things out of order. I'm not sure, but I think you will have to pay 20 bucks for each school now since you didn't use your four free ones during the test.

I hate it for all of you people who are going through this. I see my LoR writers almost every day, so there's no escaping me. Plus, they're all just really nice guys who know how important this is to me.

I went through this exact same thing a few weeks ago. I decided a hasty submission would be a terrible idea. Once you submit it, it's out of your editorial control. I say go watch a movie or go run or something. Get your mind off of the essay and come back to it with fresh eyes.

Of course! Well done on raising your score. I'm taking the GRE for the second time this Wednesday just to boost my verbal a bit, so hopefully your success will come my way.

Welcome - what are your interests and where are you applying?

I've already contacted most of the places and they've all said they would take an unofficial copy until I can get this resolved. The issue is not that I'm worried I won't get it resolved, but rather that I won't get it resolved in time for applications. I know this is a mistake (there's no way I left the school with a 0 balance and have somehow mysteriously charged up over 1000 dollars in rent and tuition...). For one, they sent my transcripts to this school in Fall 2008 when I came here and there was no charge then. One guy at an admissions today said, "Oh yeah, I've worked for a seminary.....I'm so sorry." I don't really have any friends there anymore - it was a small campus and becoming Catholic in Southern Baptist circles is just about the worst thing you can do.

I don't think it's appropriate nor would it help. You obviously want to go there, you're applying. I don't think saying they're your top choice would help your chances, so there's probably no reason to mention it.

Here's how I did it: I like the idea that this is a one-sided conversation. I mention the books here as casually as I would if I were discussing my senior thesis in person with the professors.

I would be shocked if I ended up at Princeton because I'm not applying there. Maybe there will be so few Classicists they'll just fight for us.

I'm actually less worried about it now that I've contacted people at the schools to which I'm applying. Most have said, "If you can't get them, just let us know why and don't worry about it." The most important transcripts are my current ones and those went out yesterday.

I'm not sure questioning their Christianity would be the best route to go right now! ha. The situation sucks, but it has sucked with them since I left. There is always something. I have no idea where the charges came from. I worked full time my entire time there so that I didn't go into debt. I paid my tuition and rent via a payment plan and they never stopped taking money from my account, so I'm sure I paid everything. This school has gotten into trouble before with financial scandals (they fired one of my favorite professors after he uncovered one), but I'm hoping this is nothing more than a simple accounting error. A loan isn't an option. I'm the first to go to college and my family isn't exactly well to do. I did three years there and left in the summer going into my senior year. I've done two years here at my current school. About 60 hours transferred (and will show up on my current transcript) from my former school.