Postbib Yeshuist

Iliff School of Theology was my only outright acceptance, it looks like I'll be headed there this Fall. Does anyone know any Iliff Ph.D. students I might contact to get a sense for things like campus life, academic rigor, financial questions, etc?

I am very much of the "bird in the hand" school of thought when it comes to Ph.D. apps. Though I might stand a better chance next year (I'd have more time to visit profs and I could use some of the tips I've gotten this year), I might also have hit it "just right." The Ph.D. application process can be VERY fickle and I don't want to be sitting here next year with three waitlists, no rejections but no acceptances either. I'm going now. No sense in taking a chance if I don't have to, imo...

With all the decision letter excitement, this deadline could easily slip by, so I felt a little reminder was in order.

No one has any insight?

I disagree, but it's cool. It seems you actually wrote a self-contradictory sentence, but sometimes the written medium doesn't express what we really mean all that well. It's all good

Only what my Mom & Dad always used to tell me: "consider the source." If he's really what you say he is (arrogant, strange, rude, little), then every time he tries to beat you down, just tell yourself "a strange, arrogant, rude, little man just said <insert comment here>." This will take the immediate sting out of it (and might make you laugh, so be careful) and then you can look through the comment for anything meaningful. The bottom line is that some profs are intimidated by students, for a host of reasons. The only thing they have to "fight back" is the sense of power derived from their position. Once you realize that, you start to pity them instead of fearing them...

My wife, son and I will be moving from Fort Worth, TX to Denver, Co. We are most definitely NOT doing it sight-unseen. We're driving up next week to have a look around, see on-campus housing, shop for apartments, etc. Moving to a completely new region is a stressful task, and doing it without an idea of where you're going only adds to the stress. A visit is always advisable. PS Congratulations on CofC Robin. I did some of my undergrad there and loved it. In fact, I loved it SO much, it's why I did "some" (read "I spent too much time at the beach, walking around Charleston downton or rowing for CofC's crew team, and not enough studying.") The Marine Bio program at CofC is great. Have fun!

Dang, that sucks. How's Brite looking?

OK, I'm on a Mac, so I'm really just interested in Apple software, but I didn't want to deprive you PeeCee's from offering your own insights (plus, a lot of software is cross-platform). So, here are the "rules"... 1. What's your degree "level" (i.e. masters, doctoral, etc) 2. What do you use the software for (be as brief as you want) 3. Free or $? ("$" < $30, "$$" <$50, "$$$" > $50) 4. Heard of anything cool that you haven't tried yet? Software I use (Advanced Masters, soon to be doctoral) The usual (MS Office, iWorks '08) plus... Bookends- Citation software for Mac ($$) Evernote- note organizer, stored online (cross-platform) (Free) MacJournal- Mac journalling software (for notes, etc) ($) Mellel- Word processor (Mac, handles large documents (i.e. 60,70+ pages) better than Word/Pages) ($) Omnifocus- Mac task organizer ($$) Papers- PDF organizer for Mac ($$) Scrivener- Word processor with a creative system for arranging papers & thoughts ($$) World of Warcraft- (How else would I keep my sanity?) I'm interested in DEVONthink, but at a going price of $60, I'm waiting for a Macheist to get me the hookup. I'm also interested in something that's tailor-made for research notes, etc (especially at the dissertation level)

Got word in from Drew: rejected. Final score: One yes, one maybe, one no. I'll take it!

Yes, accepted a week go and won't hear about funding until "early April." All I know is that the head of my advisory committee recommended me for "the top financial aid slot." That sounds great, but it's so amorphous as to be almost meaningless.

Friend of mine got word by e-mail earlier today of her acceptance. Wonder if that means "yes" by e-mail, "no" by snail-mail. Yikes.

That's a fairly big assumption. You need to define what "Christian" means, first, and second, you need to determine whether the difference between the label and a particular faith stance. I know several people from Harvard in years gone by that would immediately take exception to your statement. I think a better response would be to say simply "those at Harvard will be engaged in the study of topics related to the Christian religion." Beyond that, you're more than likely going to be proved wrong. Sorry if this response is off-topic, but I was surprised to see such a sweeping statement in a "graduate religion forum."

Thanks. i wasn't aware that was there.

Had a friend who applied and heard back (rejection) several weeks ago. Doesn't necessarily mean much, but it could be a sign of positive news to NOT have heard yet...

Thanks for the updates. Drew is the last school I need to hear from before I can "really" decide

So I know my advisory committee now, but have had contact with only one of the three profs. I'm trying to figure out how to make the first contact with them. One obvious approach (though I can't imagine this being the "right" one) would be to wait until Fall. What seems like a better choice is to try e-mail contact and begin a conversation. I'll actually be on campus week after next, so I wonder if I should say "Yo, heard you're on my committee. You gonna be around?" The only problem is, it's their Spring Break too, so I don't want to be asking them to be around for a short meeting when they probably want to leave school behind for a week. Thoughts? Is there a preferred process for things like this? It's only my first Ph.D., so I'm new to all this PS One of my advisors seems completely random given her speciality. Is this common? The other two make sense, but the third's field is Hindu religion, while I'm doing Empire & Abrahamic Religions.

Thanks for the response thumbnail. Yeah, I was similarly impressed by Dr. Wodd. Such a calm, collected fellow. Congratulations on your acceptance. I'm beginning to think they may have decided to use the money for Systematic applicants and us "Religion & Culture" apps got left to the side (they said they still weren't sure where the program was going). I would encourage you to to do something with Jeorg Reiger if possible. He's an absolute genius on the empire & theology front, if that's your cup of tea.

The answer to your title is an absolute, unequivocal "yes." I can't think of any way in which a ThM/STM would hurt your chances unless it's that the year you applied for THM was the year you should have applied to PHD (the timing is often as important as anything else). I can't comment much on an STM, but a THM shows advanced coursework, often at the PHD course level and is an excellent way to (1) show your commitment to advanced study and (2) further hone your knowledge of the subject area. Obviously apply for both, but if you are not accepted to Ph.D. but do get into Th.M. (and can afford it) accept. The bottom line is that this is a VERY tight time for PhD applicants because of decreased funding from the economic fallout, and the smallest thing can be the difference between being accepted and waitlisted/rejected (or being accepted at 75% tuition vs 100% & stipend). Between two comparable candidates, all other things being equal*, the student with an advanced masters is likely to "win out" every single time. Again, this is not to say you need a ThM/STM to get into PhD, but it most certainly increases your competitiveness in tight situations. *There are thousands of factors that could "be equal" of course

Thanks. And yeah, I saw that comment too. I'd just like to have an up or down so I can mentally prepare for one "destiny" or the other. As for being an international student, I'm certainly not any acceptance committees, but I would agree that it does put you at a bit of an advantage. We here in the US tend to be a bit too... isolationist, so schools like Drew are aware of the need for voices from outside the US. The diversity of the faculty speaks to that, I believe. One of my profs in Th.M. is a Drew graduate and she hails from S. Korea, so I definitely think you've got a fighting chance there.

I went Theo & Philo, which is interesting to me, since I went for "and social change" at Iliff and "and Culture" at SMU. Ariarajah and Keller were strong draws, though. Whether that will bode well for me is unclear. I more or less applied to Drew blind, and didn't contact the profs (I'm finishing a TH.M. this year, in addition to working full-time and raising a 1 year-old, so just completing three apps was nothing short of a miracle).

A friend of mine and I both applied for Drew and, when he called them, I believe he was told they were aiming to send out letters on/around March 1. Please don't hold me to that, since I wasn't the one on the phone, but that would jive with the early/mid-March hypothesis as well as the comment on their site that letters are usually sent early March...

Thumbnail, is that Dr. Wood? Also, what program did you apply for? I was wait-listed for the "religion and Culture" program, even after fairly positive, in-person contacts with Wood and Reiger in the Fall.

I got a phone call on Friday from a program letting me know I'd been accepted and that a letter would be in the mail this week. However, a friend who also applied has heard nothing. I've seen several comments here by people who got phone calls, so I wonder what the normal process is for notifying an applicant that he/she got in. Those of you have been accepted, was it by phone or letter?

Don't sweat that. The schools to which you're applying won't care. Heck, few schools are likely to unless they're on the conservative side. Most understand that ordination is a personal choice and may or may not be a logical choice for M.Divs... I have an M.Div., Th.M. and just got accepted to Ph.D. I have to have anyone so much as raise an eyebrow at my unordainedness...