Postbib Yeshuist

Yeah, I know what you mean. Do you mind excerpting the "discouraging" part of the letter? I've never really heard of an acceptance letter that wasn't anything but "you're the best."

I'm wait-listed at SMU and accepted at Iliff. Iliff is likely to offer tuition while SMU could possibly come through with tuition+stipend (if I get off the wait-list, that is). Some insight into how they compare might make my decision a bit easier.

I'm in a similar situation, but with a twist, so please weigh in everyone... The PhD program i'm accepted at is in a great location and I think I will enjoy the students & profs. The problem is that I'm a professional at the moment and will be giving up a $60k/year job and moving my family (wife & toddler) 1,000mi to a school that's only offered 100% tuition (no stipend). It means I'd need to go part-time since there are no jobs for my wife in the area and we'd have to burn through all our savings. The difficult part is that I'm wait-listed at a better school with a better project fit that's only 45 mins away and pays a stipend. It is the proverbial "bird in the hand" scenario...

If so, do you mind sharing your financial offer?

Th.M. should be good enough to adjunct at a community college, provided your school was accredited by ATS, etc. Beyond that, ThM employment prospects will be minimal at best. not to say they're out there, but you'll be competing with ABD's and PhD's. Why would a school hire a "lowly ThM"? (I say this as a "lowly ThM" myself )

APHI224, I'm going to dispense with the pleasantries that so many others have offered you here and say flat out that you do not get it. Of course, you're only at the Master's level, so that's to be expected. If I can get over how angry I am at your naive and condescending responses, I'll reply with the "why" later.

Just finished a visit to Iliff School of Theology. When I asked what their financial packages were, they said they range from 75-100% tuition and the sentence ended there. When I asked about stipends, they said they had two for the top candidates (of which I am one), but that they didn't amount to much more than books. I then asked about TA/RA positions as supplemental income and the response was that those typically come in the 2nd & 3rd years, but that the extra income reduces the tuition scholarship, so that you're never above 100%. Oh yeah, no financial aid whatsoever while working on your dissertation. So... Iliff's best candidates can expect perhaps $3000/year beyond tuition and will be expected to effectively work for free their 2nd and 3rd years. Is this common for top candidates? Seems almost insulting to me.

Thanks for the comments everyone. My wife and I leave tomorrow to head up for a look around. We'll keep in mind the neighborhoods mentioned and I'll post back with any questions that come up while we're there.

In a couple of other threads, I've been mentioning Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) and Evernote (www.evernote.com) as indispensable software items for me. Since they're part of the whole cloud computing "craze," I wonder what other types of this supremely useful technology you all use. I'm always looking for new and clever ways to carry less and still have instant access to information/data.

I forgot to mention that Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) and Evernote (www.evernote.com) are two pieces of software I couldn't live without (both free).

Something else that occurs to me is to look into a Dropbox account (www.dropbox.com). It's basically online storage, but rather advanced (and 2Gb for free). It'll keep all your computers synced if you install the software, but I find it indispensable for grad work for two reasons: (1) It keeps versions of papers up to 30 days, which is great for going back to older revisions, and (2) you can access it from any internet-enabled computer. It basically eliminates the need for a flash drive and you can't lose it, etc. 2Gb might seems small, but there are ways to get it up to 5Gb for free pretty easily. I know, maybe not what you were originally thinking, but I figured there's no harm in putting it out there.

Option 1 imho. More money and a happy S.O. will help a great deal in actually completing the degree. As for changing research, my thought is that it will only make you more competitive when you apply for positions since you'll have two areas of expertise. In the end, you do what you need to, but I really don't see how Options 2 & 3 can even compete with #1, given what you've said.

One thought that comes to mind immediately is resource citation software (Endnote, Bookends, etc). You probably already have one, but worth mentioning just in case. A neat novelty that I love are "Book Darts." Check www.bookdarts.com to see what I'm talking about. They're really pretty amazing for saving the spot for important passages, etc.

I'll preface this by saying I don't know your situation or Claremont's. That being said, 30% is almost insulting. I know Claremont's a great school but 30%? Seriously? I didn't even know Ph.D. programs went that low (I thought 75% was usually the lowest offer). One thing you might be able to do would be to see if Claremont will defer your acceptance to next year. That way you could reapply to the other school but still have Claremont as an option. They might not, but it'd be worth a try. I can't imagine you'd be even remotely satisfied working on a Ph.D. while having to either earn or borrow what will likely be $35k+ per year...

Congratulations!

I reread the original post and realized the Th.D. question was something I didn't address. I've also heard that a Th.D. severely limits your teaching prospects, especially if you're looking at a secular university. I've also heard from more than a few people that the name of the school is not nearly as important as your name, in the sense that if you're been seen/heard in seminars and conferences, or have been published, you can come from a less well-known school and still be quite competitive. Given what it sounds like you wish to do, I think the Ph.D. is the better option. A pre-existing support system can be VERY important in Ph.D. Knowing the people already might better enable you survive the rigors of the program.

So sorry Peppermint. That really sucks. It looks like a lot of department only had funding for a handful of students this year (I've heard some only accepted one). Do you plan to try again next year, or do you have another offer you can accept? @thisistheyear: I would strongly suggest you call at this point.

From what I understand, on-campus daycares often have a waiting list, so signing up early can be critical. I imagine you've already researched your situation, so I'm throwing this out for other visitors to the thread as much as anyone.

Amen. How's the house-selling going? We're in the same boat and I really dread trying to sell a ouse in a down market with 6 months to school starting

Anyone doing this? I know of a few at the school where I'm doing my Th.M., but curious about other stories. How do you do it? Where do you live? Budgeting concerns? etc etc etc. Anything at all will be helpful. (We have an 18 month-old and my wife wants to continue staying home and raising our cooler-by-the-day son while I focus on a Ph.D. )

Kindle seems to have the largest offering of "academic" books (at least in religion), so that's something to think about. The fact that they have software readers for most platforms is an added bonus. On a practical note, I would strongly advise waiting to purchase until the iPad has been out for a few weeks/months. There have been numerous articles about the pressure the iPad will place on dedicated ebook readers, especially the Kindle. Personally, I am waiting on a $150 Kindle 2 refurb and am betting the retail for a new one will be $199 by May.

Wow. That doesn't seem to have any "personal" touch to it at all. My Drew rejection came Saturday. Perhaps a call might be in order if you don't have a letter tomorrow...

Holy cow. I e-mailed them to see what their response was. The inclusion of GPA really strikes me as a big breach of FERPA.

My wife and I (along with our 18-month old son) are driving up up to Denver next week to check out the area and look into housing, etc. Can someone offer any suggestions for where we might look for cheap housing (aside from on-campus). We'll probably be living off just my stipend (assuming I get one) and also have the added difficulty of pets. The closer I can be to the Iliff/DU campus, the better.

Terri, Can I just say (off-topic) that I am oh-so-jealous of your acceptance to UoH-Manoa. I love Hawai'i, and though I had no reason whatsoever to apply there, it always tugs a heart string to hear of acceptances there. Congratulations and, if you go, say hi to the islands for me