theophany

Yeah, but Wissenschaft means something different by "science" than English typically does.

My biggest advice for preparing to start a PhD program is enjoy your summer—you won't have too many years left that you don't have to be doing something. This is a chance to refresh a bit, especially if you're coming immediately off an M*. Get back to speed with reading, sure—return to books you already know to help get sea legs back, if you need it. Do some experiments in writing to limber up, including creative writing exercises. But remember that a PhD is a marathon, not a sprint. If you over-prep, you're going to hit December and be burnt out already. Be kind to yourself.

It really depends on the US school you're talking about. At Duke, Yale, Notre Dame, JTS, etc., theological projects are common—if not the expectation—in fields called "theology" or "ethics." In those same fields at UChicago or Harvard, a more historical or social-critical tack is more normal. Part of the upshot of the less stark theology/religious studies divide @marXian was noticing is that there's a huge amount of variation from program to program, from field to field, and advisor to advisor—which can be great for doing your own project with some degree of freedom to explore, but also in unsaid or unclaimed expectations about how "the thing we're all doing" should in fact be done. These can come out in, y'know, one-on-one meetings, committee conversations, or oral exams...

A hearty echo of @sacklunch. Folks mentioning having multiple M*s are right, to an extent, about the "normalcy" of such things. But the order here does matter. There's a difference between having, saying, a couple of MAR/MTSs and or having an MDiv followed by an MAR/MTS. But the order MTS followed by MDiv is somewhat confusing as a choice, unless it is because of ordination requirements (with which schools differ on their comfort). The common shorthand here on gradcafe of just saying "master's degree," with no distinction between the actual pedagogical differences of MDivs vs. MAR/MTS vs. STM/ThM is deceptive. Because, as @sacklunch pointed out in less explicit terms, the MDiv is a generalist degree while the MAR/MTS (except in cases like Duke or Yale's comprehensive MAR) is specialized. The movement from generalist to specialized (MDiv --> MAR/MTS or STM/ThM) or specialized followed by more specialized (MAR/MTS --> MAR/MTS or STM/ThM) makes sense on a trajectory towards the PhD, which is highly specialized. The movement from specialized to generalist (MAR/MTS --> MDiv) does not make as much sense, and will raise questions. If you are applying to a more top-tier school to balance out what you perceive to be a less rigorous conservative seminary*, then you should apply to the MAR/MTS. * Note that this is a common assumption that isn't well-founded. There are a number of PhD students at Yale, Duke, Princeton, Chicago, and other top-tier schools whose M* come from "conservative" institutions. Having a degree from a conservative institution does not disqualify you from admissions from a top-tier program.

Very much agreed on all the above. Before any piling on of extra things to do, do this. I make it a habit to take one entire day off a week, except in the direst of straits. Go to a museum, watch a movie, wander around a park, sleep, work on a puzzle, anything. Sabbath was commanded for a reason, and it's a commendable practice. Academically, make sure to explore outside of your area of study, even if your program doesn't require it. I don't just mean occasionally looking at something closely related but by someone in a slightly different field. I mean totally different. Take a whole class that has (apparently) little to do with what you think you want to do. The deeper you get into a PhD, the greater the pressure to nano-specialize in your field. While this can be good for rigor, I can see my colleagues increasingly incapable of thinking or talking (even casually, socially) outside of their narrow scope. This runs in the face of humanities/liberal arts scholarship, and can actually really make your scholarship suffer by closing yourself off. Coursework is likely the freest you'll be for years to come in being able to do your own exploration, and by the time you're at the dissertation, it could be too late. A final word: work on your writing. The state of academic writing is truly terrible. Prose can be impenetrable. Conference papers bore to tears. Read really great writers, starting with fiction writers especially. And write regularly yourself. Do creative writing exercises. Keep a writing journal. Not for academic writing, but for experiments in writing. I promise, despite the weirdness, it does wonders. And if you're able to communicate your thoughts more beautifully, persuasively, artfully, all the better for your scholarship.

A reminder for those on waitlists that the first-round admittees have until April 15 at most places to accept or turn down an offer. The schools aren't intentionally messing with you. They have to wait to see where cards fall, and will get to their waitlists when the can. I know it's anxiety-laden, but there's nothing you can do. Go do some physical exertion, read a good novel, get your head elsewhere.

For what it's worth, note that Harvard is on Spring Break this week so there are not classes being held and many faculty are off-campus. The school is closed and buildings are locked on the weekends, so you'd only be able to see the outside.

Lots of people do this, especially those with additional sources of income (i.e. partners). Lots of the cheap housing in the cities of Boston and Brookline themselves (less so in Cambridge and Somerville) are filled almost entirely with undergraduates, which makes living somewhat further out more appealing. If you don't need to be on campus every day, that's definitely more appealing. That said, if you're looking at a suburb where commuting in requires a car (rather than public transit), you'll end up having to deal with traffic, scant parking near campuses, likely parking tickets (which is how a lot of cities get revenue), potentially paying a lot for parking at home, high property tax on automobiles, insurance, gas, etc.

You will be paying likely a lot more in Back Bay/South End than in Dorchester. To the point where I think it's probably not comparable, especially on a grad school budget.

At least in the case of all the theology PhD students I know, it's been almost entirely primary texts. As with everything, it depends. Some faculty are much more invested in comps being about reading all the classics; some are more invested in knowing the "state of the questions," which require more secondary texts.

One emendation on this. The D.D. in the US is an honorary degree, and not an earned one. It is usually conferred by universities on distinguished alumni, on graduation speakers, on major figures in public/academic life in the field of religion, or (for Anglicans and Catholics, at least) on bishops. As for Catholic Pontifical Universities, in theology they offer 3 degrees: the S.T.B. (Bachelor of Sacred Theology), roughly equivalent to an M.Div.; the S.T.L. (Licentiate of...), roughly equivalent to the Th.M./S.T.M., a prerequisite to teach in Pontifical Universities and for admission to the doctorate; and the S.T.D. (Doctor of...) , roughly equivalent to the Ph.D./Th.D. Pontifical Universities have three faculties (philosophy, theology, and canon law), and each has this basic pattern of the "higher" bachelors (Ph.B., J.C.B., S.T.B.), the licentiate (Ph.L., J.C.L., S.T.L.), and doctorate (Ph.D., J.C.D., S.T.D.)—this is a style of degree sequence common outside of North America.

Emory sent out their acceptances awhile back. If you have heard anything yet, odds are not good unfortunately.

Waltham is cheaper than other options, but you're right that it is boring. Lots of Brandeis grad students live in Cambridge or Somerville and take the commuter rail from Porter Sq to Waltham.

Yeah, living in Newton is not ideal budget-wise, and living in Brighton isn't necessarily great for a family of four (though you might find something decent). I might look at some neighboring towns, especially if you'll have a car. Watertown isn't terribly far away and is much more reasonable than other places. Jamaica Plain (in Boston) may also work, but would require a bit more maneuvering.

I would just make sure that the online degree is from an accredited, non-profit institution. If the degree isn't accredited, it isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Also, you might think about contacting admissions folks at schools you're thinking about applying to and getting their takes. Additionally, if you're in Boston (as your location says), Harvard Extension might be worth considering rather than a purely online degree.

CSR acceptances went out today.

I want to echo @sport01, and say that the OP's experience is not generalizable to how everyone experiences a PhD program. Most mornings, I wake up and count my lucky stars that I am able to read, think, write, and talk about things that interest and matter to me deeply. That is the point of doing a PhD. I was told as by a professor as an undergraduate that the point of doing a PhD is to get a PhD, not to get a job. Jobs are not promised you. They never have been. If you think it would be a waste of time to do a PhD if you don't have a job on the other side, then you are likely in it for all the wrong reasons. Those reasons will not tide you over when the going will inevitably get tough. But if there are books that you want to read that haven't yet been read, questions that keep you up at night, conversations that need to be had that are not—those are the things that can get you through. That is not to say that you shouldn't prepare for the job market as you go, that you shouldn't actively pursue opportunities to set you up best for when you do. But don't think that even getting a job is going to suddenly be a utopian existence: assistant professors have teach full loads, meet with students, serve on faculty committees, revise their dissertations for publication, write an entirely new book and get it published (not to mention a major article per year, at least), and so on, in order to even qualify for tenure. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Of course, you need to be in therapy from day 1; if you have a spiritual practice, you should make space for and cultivate it diligently; you should work out—you have to make sure that you maintain yourself as a human. If you don't, academia will grind you down faster than you can blink. But then again, so will the corporate world. If you've done all that and you're still miserable, then you should have the courage to walk away. Part of this is just being a grown-up, and taking accountability over your own life.

Adcoms generally understand that master's students are assigned advisors that they may not have chosen, and that those relationships may be not so close. As @drivingthoughts said, you want strong letters more than anything else. By strong, that means thorough strong recommendations ideally from people well-known in the field (though this latter bit isn't always possible). If that's not your advisor, eh, not the end of the world. (And you have your statement of purpose to explain who you have actually studied with.) But if your advisor is well-known and in your field, it's a missed opportunity. It is letters and writing sample that make or break applications—the rest is mostly checking off boxes.

Harvard has still not announced, but they're almost ready to. There's a full committee faculty meeting next week, and I imagine they will go out after that.

I would say that everything both you and @EdYouKateOr mentioned are the major perks to Harvard Housing. The downside would be that it's dorm-ish living again, and that Harvard Housing is not exactly competitive price-wise. You can find apartments in Cambridge and Somerville for substantially less than Harvard Housing. It's convenient on the front-end, but you end up paying for it in the long run.

I would also note that committees generally understand that what you write in your SOP is likely *not* what you'll write a dissertation on exactly. A lot can, should, and will change during coursework: that's part of the American PhD model. A school generally isn't going to admit a candidate who has no room to grow; they do, in fact, want to leave their own mark on you. As fides said, writing samples are about your ability to conduct research, make a compelling argument, write it well, and demonstrate your own voice within the context of your field, broadly understood. It is not a dissertation prospectus.

Generally, if they require an M.Div., it's more like "M.Div. or equivalent" which an MAR/MTS fits. For anyone who is reading this who may get the wrong idea, while few programs explicitly say they require a masters degree, it's typically an unwritten requirement for PhDs in religion except in cases of people with outstanding undergraduate careers.

It's not preferable really, it's just a step that some schools do. It's not a separate degree. Same with the MA en route. Well, for one, masters degrees are rarely fully funded, so getting two is going to be a cost question. That's a lot of debt potentially. As for the MA in history, it really depends. Historical theology, as I said, is primarily theology, just in the past. It's not generally concerned with historiography, with as much archival work. If you were going to be doing, say, "history of Christianity" then I might say go with the MA if you're not able to twist the MDiv substantially toward history. But if it's really the theology you're interested in, I wouldn't take the extra time.

Eh, not really. Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia (both of which also award the MPhil en route), and Stanford—just off the top of my head—do MAs en route in religion. But again, religion itself is highly interdisciplinary, and so you have to use masters degree(s) as preparation for the PhD as seems to fit the course of research.

A couple of things, randomly: When you're seeing the MAs and PhDs from the same schools, it's often a case of gaining an MA "en route" to the PhD; schools will often award PhD students an MA after passing comprehensive exams or having the prospectus accepted (the reasons for this date to the historical status of teachers at the university needing to hold an MA). There are occasions that people will do an additional MA/MTS/MAR, especially if they need to learn additional languages. But often when you see someone's degrees listed as "BA, MDiv, MA, PhD," that MA is "en route." The sad reality of the job market is that there are people with degrees from the top-tier who don't have jobs, and people are scrounging for whatever they can get. You should absolutely make decisions on fit, but also, since you have an job endgame in mind, you should be very conscious of what is going to line you up to get a job. You know more about your denomination than I do, but generally, being an alumnus of a particular institution is very low on the list of considerations for hires; they are going to care a lot more about your scholarship and teaching.