LateAntique

U Penn awards an MA after comprehensive exams (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/religious_studies/stages.html). I imagine having an MA beforehand is the norm, like most programs.

I would second the suggestion to look also into places like Gordon Conwell or Trinity Evangelical. Both have great records when it comes to placing people into places like ND and Duke. However, why do you want to go to a place like ND, Duke, Yale, etc? I imagine that a Ph.D from Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville holds more currency in those circles than a Yale or ND degree.

You might also want to look at Notre Dame's "Early Christian Studies" MA. We have Joseph Amar, a Syriac scholar, and Robin Darling Young, who also deals in the East. If by "Eastern" you mean Greek, then of course we have Brian Daley who has written quite a lot about the East as well as Blake Leyerle who is an expert on Chrysostom.

Unless your blog is Mark Goodacre's NTWeblog, no.

I don't know about budgets, but I know that the admissions committees are different for each program.

If anyone is interested in the MA in Classics, feel free to message me. I'm in Early Christian Studies, which is run through the Classics dept (along with Theology). There will always be good Patristics courses offered as well as late ancient stuff. This semester I'm taking a course on Thucydides (a pretty standard Classics course) as well as a course on Cicero, Augustine, and Rhetoric (where else are you going to get that?!). It's really a great program with fantastic professors.

My first semester has gone fairly well, but I can only say that because my expectations were so low that any sort of success would be a win. I anticipated them finding out I'm not as smart as they think I am in about two weeks or so. It looks as though I've fooled them for at least a semester. My languages are not where I would like them to be, but oh well. For the most part, all of my peers are very friendly. However, I just recently received a very angry email from a professor because of a miscommunication concerning a meeting time. I took it very personally and I was absolutely sure this was the end of the road for me and that I'd just fail out. We have about two weeks left after Thanksgiving break and I've done fairly well in the class, so I'm not too worried about it, but it still stinks to have a professor angry with you.

It's certainly wise to contact people at the potential schools. You should have valid questions - if not, don't apply. I typically say something like this Hello Professor X, My name is Lateantique and I'm a graduate student at Awesome U working on my (degree) in (field). I'm strongly considering applying to your program for (degree) work. My interests are____________. Based on this short (and I do mean short) sketch, do you think that your program is a place where I could work? What sorts of qualities do your best students possess? What sort of preparation makes for the best candidate? etc etc. Sincerely, Lateantique This is not word-for-word, but it's sort of close to the typical template I follow in my head when contacting potential schools.

I am at ND and I like it quite a lot. It's a great environment. I wish they were offering a Ph.D in Classics as I would jump on that immediately. The ECS Program is a testament to the benefits of doing Early Christianity while taking seriously its socio-historical environment. I had done 3 years of Latin and Greek. In my last semester of undergrad, I was taking two Greeks and two Latins. I can't say what your competition will look like, so I don't know if your language prep will be enough. I do know that we had people come in on my year who had no Greek (they had to make it up the summer before they got here). My suspicion is that you will be fine, but I don't know for sure.

Also, Notre Dame is starting a fully-funded MA in Classics next fall (thus accepting applications this fall). You don't have to write a thesis (though you have the option).

+1.

You want to eat students?! Someone call TFA and tell them not to accept this guy!

This isn't meant to sound mean, but I would suggest searching the forum and reading the countless bits of advice that people have already written. If you have specific questions thereafter, we may be able to help you a little more efficiently.

They're only going to offer an MA starting in 2011. I'm not sure when/if they will ever offer a Ph.D. The website is classics.nd.edu, which does not list the MA in Classics yet. I would check with that and perhaps email the DGS.

Thanks for all of the great advice. I'm going to hit up some Good Wills and stores tomorrow now that I have a good idea of the things I'm looking for. I checked out gilt.com, but it seems like they just take clothes that were 900 dollars (clothes cost that much?!?!) and make them 400. Percentage-wise, I'm sure that's great - but it doesn't really seem like there are any 'deals'.

I'm weeks away from moving up to South Bend to begin my program and I'm very excited. However, when I visited in May, I noticed something I had never seen before: all of the grad students in my program and related departments were dressed up. By 'dressed up' I mean that most were wearing at least nice slacks/khakis, a button-up shirt, and a jacket and/or sweater and sometimes a tie. I'm not sure how to describe the style - it was academic without being too stuffy (you could tell these were humanities people and not finance people, if that makes any sense). I do not own a lot of dress clothes and I realize I'm going to have to buy some, but I need advice on where I can get inexpensive jackets and slacks as I'm on a budget. I know about Good Wills and thrift stores and I'm looking into those. Also, if anyone has any suggestions on how to mix/match things so that I can buy the least amount of stuff but have the most amount of possibilities, that would be great. I spent my entire undergrad going to class in jeans and t-shirts or golf shirts.

I don't think funding is the only or even the primary issue. FSU offered me a full ride with stipend, but that doesn't mean FSU is suddenly a top Religion Program. The top programs are the ones that have the top scholars and are traditionally associated with schools that have an overall prestigious standing in the academy (U of Chicago, Duke, Notre Dame, Yale, Harvard, etc). Their Ph.D students have an easier time securing jobs because they come from those programs and worked under top-ranked scholars. Who writes the books in your field? Who are the movers and shakers at the conferences? No disrespect to the poster above, but I had never even heard of Illif school of theology until I saw the posts on this board. It probably would not be considered 'second tier'. Likewise, while SMU has a promising program, I don't really see it as a major player.

+1 - This is my experience too.

A post-bacc is probably your best option if you want to strengthen your languages, particularly Latin. You will have an incredibly difficult time finding your way into a Classics MA program (at least one with any sort of reputation) with no Latin.

An M.Div from Duke Div will still be very competitive if you're looking to get into a Ph.D program. I have a friend who did his M.Div there, isn't seeking ordination, and is currently in a Ph.D program. You can pretty much tailor your M.Div to be a lot like an MTS and the M.Div has a lot more funding - I think you're in a good spot for whatever future you want to pursue.

I actually think Duke has the superior NT faculty. Richard Hays, Mark Goodacre, Joel Marcus, Doug Campbell, etc - pretty tough crowd to beat. On top of this, the resources at Duke are pretty amazing. If you have any interest in early Christianity, you have J. Warren Smith, Lucas Van Rompay, and Elizabeth Clark. Emory's big early Christian guy (Ayres) moved to Durham (UK). On top of this, you have UNC right down the road. I know people in the Religion program are able to go take classes at UNC, but I'm not sure about the Div school (I don't see why not, though). That opens up classes with Zlatko Plese (Coptic specialist), Bart Ehrman, etc. Durham is also a very affordable place to live with plenty going on. I would go to Duke.

I'm finishing up my BA there right now. Apartment ideas: Don't live at University Manor. The newest complex, the Bellamy, is nice, but is going to be filled with undergrads. It's on the bus route, though. There are a lot of houses/townhouses around campus. You don't want to rent anything beyond 3rd street or you may end up in the hood. Restaurants: Greenville, NC is affectionately known as 'the arm-pit of North Carolina'. You won't find a wide variety of good restaurants. Parker's BBQ is a staple. Ham's is a good place to go. They brew their own beer and have trivia on Wednesday nights. Boli's downtown is good for a late-night slice of pizza on the weekend, and Cook Out is the best 'fast food' burger ever (I have to say that as a native North Carolinian). The good news: You're an hour and a half away from Raleigh, NC, which has a lot of cool stuff. It's a quick drive straight up highway 264. PM me if you want any other info.

Yay. Congrats!