Jump to content

neat

Members
  • Posts

    40
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by neat

  1. I attended PTS for the MDiv. When I interviewed in 2016 it was super casual. Dean John White led it in his office, and as xypathos mentioned, it was mostly centered around calling and curiosity. Mostly the questions you'd expect- he wanted to know why I wanted to attend there and why did I think PTS would be helpful for me. He also specifically asked what authors I had been influenced by. 

    Your experience could vary of course, but I never heard of anyone who felt like the interview was challenging. 

  2. Hi all, 

    I'm new to the ed forum on grad cafe, and am looking for a bit of advice from some of the more seasoned folks on this page. I'm currently in a master's program in religion and am interested in teaching at the high school level after graduation. I have a couple years of previous ed experience via AmeriCorps, and will have the appropriate experience to teach something in the vein of religion, humanities, introductory philosophy, etc after completing my current program. 

    I'm interested in M.Ed programs for some more specific coursework in pedagogy and curriculum design, but from my research thus far, it has been difficult to measure the value of this proposition. M.Ed's and their equivalents seem generally expensive, and they don't necessarily offer tangible benefits (I know that it would offer plenty of value in the course work, but I mean in the sense that it doesn't offer a specific credential, etc). All of that to say, do people generally find these degrees to be worthwhile (especially as a second master's degree)? I know that I would enjoy it, but i'm not sure if it's a wise use of time and money. 

  3. Lots of good advice on this thread. (I can personally attest to @Rabbit Run's wealth of knowledge on this subject- he was really helpful to me when I was in the application cycle).

    I'm at PTS for the MDiv right now and it sounds like it would be a good fit for you, at least based on the info you shared. PM me if you wish to speak further about it. Also, if you're interested in the Presbyterian route, Union Pres could be a good fit. There are several students here who visited and loved it there; their funding and faculty have a good reputation. 

  4. It's hard to make assessments based purely on anecdotal evidence, but I can say that I have not heard of or seen anyone working full-time and still maintaining a full course load. The people in my program who work do so primarily in part-time campus positions, etc. My sense is that you would find it quite difficult, if not impossible, at least at the school I am at. 

  5. I always hated hearing this sort of thing when I was in college, but it turns out to be true- the great news is that your interests will continue to evolve according to your life circumstances and experiences, and (God willing), life is long enough that you have time to sort it all out. I'm sure your ESL experience will be a rich and informative one, and may steer you in a way that you can't anticipate right now. It may sound trite, but just take it as it comes, enjoy this moment in time, and read widely- it sounds like you have the skills and intrinsic motivation you need to succeed in the endeavors you mentioned.  Being out of school for a couple years will probably give you an excellent sense of where you want to go next in life.

    I hope this doesn't come off as an encouragement to "just wait for a sign from the universe!" or anything like that. That's not at all my intention. My goal is rather to say that your interests may very well evolve, and it's ok if that takes a few years- my undergrad was in History with a concentration in early America, because I loved those classes and thought I wanted to be an Americanist. I graduated, intended to spend 1-2 years teaching through an AmeriCorps program, and then head to grad school. I got a couple opportunities that I hadn't anticipated through that program, and that quick 1-2 year sojourn turned into a 4 year stop, but I'm so thankful it did. By the time I did get around to applying to grad school, I had a completely different area of focus, and can see how it's a much better fit in the long run.

    All of that to say: focus on enjoying your current opportunities, use your free time well, continue reading, thinking, and wrestling with ideas, and you'll be fine. Cheers.

  6. On 4/8/2017 at 10:49 PM, ypastorpat said:

    Sounds pretty unanimous for Marquette.  Any pros to consider about Wheaton that I should consider first?  I'll probably make my decision on Monday.

    I lived in Wheaton for two years (after college) for a job, and it's an interesting community. I don't know what sort of learning environment you are looking for, but my experience with Wheaton (the town) was that it was a quiet, affluent, mostly conservative evangelical community. (Again, no idea of what you're looking for; that was just my assessment of it while I was there.) It's nice to have direct access to Chicago via the West line, which takes you right downtown. It's an expensive area to live in, unless you are willing to leave in a nearby suburb like Carol Stream or maybe Glendale Heights. The people were very friendly and had often lived there for generations.

    I can't comment at length about the life of the college, other than to say that it plays a prominent role in the community. The Billy Graham museum on campus was a big draw, and so is the Wade Center (C.S. Lewis library). There were often advertisement pinned up at local coffee shops about various lecture series, and it's the kind of town where regular people that are not affiliated with the college are still relatively familiar with some of the more prominent members of the faculty there- I'm thinking of people like Douglas Moo, Alan Jacobs (before he left for Baylor), Tim Larsen, etc.

    Sorry that I can't comment more specifically on the school community itself, but seeing Wheaton on this board is rare enough that I had to chime in. 

  7. 17 hours ago, franz said:

    I'm going to wait until I hear from YDS and Notre Dame and visit the programs I get into. At the moment, between Duke and Chicago, I think I'd pick Chicago. I think it's a better fit. I also applied to a FLAS fellowship at Chicago, and the results of that might influence things as well. So, at the moment, I'm waiting to learn more but leaning toward Chicago.

    The choice is clear- I used to live in Chicago, and those winters are an abomination. Take the warm weather offer Duke offer.

    (disclaimer- all advice is offered in jest.)

  8. I'll be attending Princeton Seminary in the fall for an MDiv, and I'm afraid that I'm no help on some of these other schools- since they do rolling admissions, I went through my application deadline stress in the fall, and didn't finish even my app to Duke or Yale once I got the acceptance letter and financial aid offer from PTS, since they were my first choice anyway. Probably a bit lazy of me, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

    To the OP, I can't speak very specifically to your situation, but I've always been told that in the divinity school, the average master's student can expect to get somewhere in the neighborhood of a 30-35% scholarship, and that they do a handful of 50% scholarships per year and full scholarships in rare situations for exceptional applicants. I've also been told that the field placements (in the MDiv) are paid, and that many students rely on that money for whatever other short fall they have in funding. I have no idea how that compares to funding for RS at Duke U, though. It's probably not very pertinent to your situation, since I don't know how that stacks up to the Graduate School at Duke U, but thought I would throw it out there in case funding at the divinity school bears any resemblance. 

  9. Location seems to not matter very much in this instance- couldn't you commute to BU or to Harvard from Brighton/Allston? I'm not an expert, but my fiancee is from the area and my sense is that Cambridge is pretty accessible through the MBTA (although again, I'm not an expert- maybe that's not true). 

    I wrestled with some of the same questions myself as I sorted through where to do my mDiv (starting this fall), and I heard over and over again to take the funding if you are at least reasonably comfortable with the climate of the institution. The sort of positions an mDiv qualifies you for are not particularly lucrative ones, and so minimizing debt throughout your studies will be key. BU is well regarded, and it definitely fits with the liberal/ecumenical vibe that you are looking for. While Harvard would probably offer a bit more breadth in their course listings, and has the name brand, you would have access to the BTI through admission to BU, which would enable you to take classes at Harvard as well as several other excellent institutions in the area. This is not to be discounted; it's a tremendous opportunity to build connections with other students and professors at theological institutions all over Boston. It would also help give you access to some of those classes they may not have at BU. 

    Each person (and situation) is different, so I certainly couldn't say for sure what the right step for you is. With that caveat, it does seem to me that BU offers a lot of what you're looking for and a good funding package, while being close to home and providing access to the BTI (and therefore Harvard or whatever else you're interested in around greater Boston). Fortunately, the choice isn't between Harvard and Joe's Skewl of Theology- BU would, in all likelihood, provide you with a high quality education, and access to other institutions, too. 

  10. Maybe this is an ignorant question, but anecdotally, it often seems that there are lower hurdles to a PhD in religious studies (broadly speaking) in the UK than a top tier program in the U.S. I once spoke with a professor who told me to look across the Atlantic if I ever got the PhD itch; you don't have to spend time stressing about your GRE scores, the length of the program is often shorter, and it's quite possible to find inexpensive programs. He told me that after his Master's program, he had struck out in his first round of applications to doctoral programs in the U.S., so he went over to Manchester for a few years, came back with a PhD, and promptly got a job at an American university. 

    Again, as I said at the beginning, most of the evidence I've heard for UK PhD programs is anecdotal, but it does leave me wondering- are there significant disadvantages to pursuing a PhD in the UK? Just curious based on some of the comments I've seen on this thread and others.

  11. Yes, as long as you feel even reasonably comfortable at the school, take the funding. School counseling is not a lucrative profession (I work in public education), and strengthening your financial profile will be valuable. While I'm not a school counselor myself, it is also my impression from speaking with my colleagues who are that your particular degree program serves essentially as a credential. In other words, it is not imperative that you chase institutional prestige to make your job applications stronger down the line. If you are offered an opportunity to minimize educational debt, my sense is that it would be wise to take it. 

  12. I echo @menge. When I started looking into the best program for me (I was looking at MDivs, MTSs and MAs in Religion/Religious History for reference), I was told by most people that the only reason you should get an MA in Apologetics is if you are wanting to take some interesting classes and learn things that may benefit you in your ministry or day-to-day life. It is not typically considered a degree that will set you up for much further graduate study (you could probably leverage that degree in pursuing entrance to a D.Min program, but not a PhD). I say that with the caveat that you will always be able to find folks who take a nontraditional route- it is certainly possible that an MA in Apologetics could help set you up for a great PhD program, but I think it's fair to say that would be unorthodox.

    As was mentioned above, that's perfectly fine, depending on what your professional/ministerial goals are- but if you are interested in a career in the academy, you may be better served in looking toward MDivs. Since those programs typically have a large spiritual formation and/or ministerial training component, it may be the case that you can use that time to discern the right path for yourself afterward (while taking languages, etc too). For what it's worth, MDiv programs seem to usually offer the best financial aid (at the Master's level) in Religion/Religious Studies anyway. 

    I think the schools listed above are a good place to start, too (although it depends a great deal on a variety of factors, not the least of which is your theological persuasion. Are you wanting to study in a confessional community? Evangelical? Mainline Protestant? Denominational school? Something else? etc). 

  13. @Bleep_Bloop That's interesting. I visited last fall, and I picked up a little bit of the "small, cute, but a bit insular" vibe. I went to a large-ish public university in the south for college, so it will just be a rather different educational experience (and setting) than my previous one. (Not at all a bad thing, just different!) Living in New Jersey will certainly be different for me, too. My fiance is from New England, so the region will probably be less foreign to her than to me. 

    We do get access to all university libraries, which is great. It does sound as though Princeton is a good place to get work done, since there seems to be a dearth of distractions, for better or worse. Would you say that people typically leave Princeton on the weekends? With urban centers so close, and Princeton being a pretty sleepy place, it sounds like people may be in and out of town as much as possible.

  14. @Bleep_Bloop I appreciate your comment. That's not particularly surprising, but I am curious if you are in a field that would have any similar content with any programs from the Seminary (i.e. humanities, religious studies, ancient languages/history, etc)? I know that students at the Seminary occasionally take classes at the university and vice versa. It's not particularly important, I'm just curious.

    More generally, how is your experience living in Princeton? I've skimmed this forum, but most of the entries discussing the lifestyle there are at least several years old.

  15. Hi everyone! I'll be moving to Princeton next fall for a grad program at Princeton Seminary. Does anyone in this forum have experience there with housing, things to know, etc? I would also be interested to know if there is much overlap at all with the University, either socially or in academic life. I know the Seminary has a reciprocity agreement with the University, and so there may be a bit of interaction there in the occasional class, but was curious to know if anyone has comments on that. 

    Thanks!

  16. Increasingly, I've been hearing about people doing shorter term master's programs, primarily in Europe, and it's a bit puzzling to me. It seems that oftentimes these programs in question seem to offer interesting material, but I can't seem to determine direct application of short programs with no solid training in disciplines like ancient languages, history, etc. Out of curiosity, does anyone have thoughts about the value of these sorts of programs? (I'm thinking primarily of these 1 or 2 year mLitt programs in things like 'Religion, Literature, and Culture,' or 'Bible and the Contemporary World,' etc.) They certainly seem like fun if you have a year or two to hang out in Europe (and some money to play with), but I can't figure out the value- do people do these programs just to have an adventure, or to get their grades up before applying for another master's program, or something else? 

    May be a complete coincidence that I've been hearing a bit more about these sort of things lately, but was just curious if anyone had experience or insight on this sort of thing.

  17. For the Master's programs at PTS, admissions are rolling until their February deadline, and decisions come out 2-4 weeks after your complete application packet is submitted (your materials won't be reviewed until they have everything they have requested, including the background check, all transcripts and recs, etc). If you are applying for a doctoral program, I can't say for sure. I would echo @fuzzylogician- just ask the interviewer when you can expect to hear from them. 

  18. I wouldn't stress too much. While I can't speak to the dual degree program specifically, your GPA and resume (always glad to see another AmeriCorps alum on here!) sound like they would be perfectly acceptable for the seminaries you listed (although I'm certainly not an admissions committee and can't guarantee it- just saying that according to those couple general specs, you sound like you may be able to put together a compelling application, broadly speaking).

    It has been said in other threads on this forum- acceptance rates for even those seminaries you listed may be as high as 40 or 50% for MDiv programs in some years. If it helps assuage your fears, I can tell you that I was recently accepted to a Master's program at one of those very seminaries you listed with a lower overall GPA than yours. During a visit to that seminary several months ago, my interviewer told me to remember as I put together my application that each component matters to the committee- your recommendations, your writing sample, your goals, and yes- your grades. Your grades sound fine; I would just try to make sure that you feel confident in the other elements of your apps. 

  19. On 10/21/2016 at 0:22 PM, Neist said:

    it is apparently much easier to obtain a position if you study something desirable and not overly common. Anecdotally, I hear Asianists have a little bit easier go at jobs.

    I can't substantiate this claim with any data, but my experience while researching was similar. Several professors even acknowledged as much- one particular professor I spoke with had entered grad school hoping to do Renaissance Europe, but after surveying his professional prospects, switched to a different field. For those who desperately want a career in academic history and aren't married to a particular field, perhaps the opportunities are a bit better. 

  20. Toward the end of my undergrad program (in History), I really wanted to pursue further study. Like many people in this forum, I dreamed of some nice tenure track job in a pleasant little college town, writing and teaching my days away. Before applying to grad programs, I dove into the research on careers in academic history, job prospects, etc, and was horrified. The reality was (and is), that even for those with the right academic pedigree, there simply are no jobs out there. I ran to (well, set up a couple appointments with) my favorite professors in the department and shared my angst with them, hoping against hope that they would disabuse me of this idea (that it was not a realistic option). I remember in particular a conversation with an early Americanist that I particularly admired. He was the star of the department: Ivy league PhD, a host of articles and 2 books out already at the age of 40, etc. He told me in no uncertain terms that it was a staggeringly steep hill to climb, and that he couldn't in good conscience recommend that path to me. He mentioned that there had been over 200 applications for his position, and that he had lucked into being hired by virtue of having a bit of experience in a particular subfield the dept. was interested in.

    As I sat there talking to this distinguished scholar of American history with a sterling resume, my heart sank- here's a guy that has worked his tail off, has a sterling pedigree, and he's still lucky to get a job at State U in the middle of the country. The sad reality was that I felt it unwise to pursue that path. 

    Disclaimer: My particular story is anecdotal, of course, but it squares pretty well with what the current literature says, too. With the changing nature of how universities are delivering content to students (online, etc) there are more adjuncts and part time lecturers than ever. Best of luck to the brave souls who do choose to embark on that journey, but you should certainly know the risks involved.

     

  21. Hi all, 

    I know that people often get on this site hoping to find info on program rankings in religious studies/theology/Bible/any number of other fields and subfields. To that end, I wanted to offer up this article that I stumbled across today, which may be of interest to some of the people that frequent this message board. I don't know anything at all about the website on which the ranking appears, but Yale Divinity linked to it on their official facebook page this morning and I thought it was interesting enough.

    Disclaimer: This article is only speaking to mainline seminaries specifically (I believe they link to a similar list of evangelical seminaries near the top of the article, too), and the article itself acknowledges that the ranking of theological institutions is subjective according to its very nature, for obvious reasons. The article is not definitive; it might be said that it is only an orientation to the conversation about graduate theological education in America, etc etc etc.

    Happy reading!

  22. 1 hour ago, AbrasaxEos said:

    I don't actually regret my time in a PhD program, it was fun and interesting.  What I regret is more who I became as part of the process, and the clever excuses I employed for myself and to others as part of the process.  So, I don't blame my program, or my advisors, or that reified thing we call 'academia' because I don't thing blame is really what anyone needs.  What I advocate is something far more positive, which is just the courage on the part of anyone considering this route to be ok with saying no to the whole narrative at any point in the process.

    Your point makes sense, but I wonder if you might expand a bit on what that meant in your own situation. When you say you changed, what did that mean for you? And furthermore, what do you perceive "the whole narrative" to be? I haven't entered a PhD program myself, although it's appealing, and so some of the comments in this thread that keep alluding to this idea of a false narrative, or casual comments about doctoral studies being completely different than expected are really intriguing. I'm not trying to push back, but I'm curious to hear more about how the experience could be so disappointing/frustrating/disillusioning that people would leave their program or advise others to not pursue this field. It's one thing to advise someone about pursuing a career sector with really slim professional prospects, or to warn someone of the work that it will take to excel, but the way that I'm seeing it, this is an entirely different line of argument. 

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use