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neat

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Everything posted by neat

  1. Boston, hands down. 40k is a lot of debt to emerge with, particularly in a field with pretty slim professional prospects. Receiving that first student loan bill eight years from now after you finish your PhD and are searching for a job would be somewhat less than gratifying. It's also worth saying that BU is not some shady online school- it is rather well regarded, and I think that you could have a very good experience there (plus, Boston is a great place to live). For me, if it was 50% at Chicago or full funding at Joe Schmoe's School of Religion and Theology, it would give me more pause. That's not the case here- BU is a fine institution and in the long run, that offer will give you a much stronger personal financial profile in the years to come.
  2. I think that @y00nsk is largely correct- most people in this forum will tell you that the mainline schools like Yale Divinity or Duke Divinity (or their peer schools) would probably do a better job of preparing you for further academic pursuits (although this too depends on where you want to study afterward- if you want to do a PhD at Harvard, then this is certainly true; if you want to go to Trinity Evangelical or Dallas Theological than you are fine right where you are, as @menge was getting at). Moving from an evangelical school to a mainline institution can certainly be done, but your candidacy depends on your background, your goals, and your credentials. I think that for both the OP and @religiousphilosophy, you would probably get better advice if you could tell us a little bit more about your ambitions: what are you hoping to do with your degree? Further study? Ministry? Something else? Are you hoping to study in a confessional community? What is important to you in your graduate studies?
  3. neat

    Language Prep

    Thanks, all! I appreciate the input!
  4. neat

    Language Prep

    Hi all, I'm weighing the possibility of beginning some language prep in advance of an MDiv program. Specifically, I'm looking at getting some Greek under my belt- I don't have any background there and would like to develop my ability, both because of my academic interests and because having that skill interests me in general. I currently live in an area with a little bit of a dearth of resources in terms of ancient languages; we do have a local private university, but it seems foolish to apply for admission and pay big bucks to take a few hours of Greek (assuming that their offerings are worthwhile anyway...they don't have a religious studies dept.). My inclination is to take a couple classes at the local community college- it's not particularly expensive, and it would provide a bit of structure. My sense is that you would have to be awfully motivated to take on self study, and even then, there aren't many affordable interactive programs....I would probably just have to get a textbook and work through it from there. My question is this: does anyone have recommendations for this beginner on delving in to Biblical Greek? I'm willing to pursue self study if the program was right, but I'm not aware of anything that fits that category. It seems that studying at the local community college makes the most sense, but I don't know if classes at that level would prepare me for language exams at the graduate level. While I want to get a head start and begin building my knowledge base, I don't want to enroll in classes just to learn the alphabet and a couple verb tenses. Perhaps its better to wait and take the requisite language courses in the program I end up in? All thoughts are welcome.
  5. neat

    Duke M.Div Inquiry

    Thanks @jstubbl4! I'm going to send you a PM.
  6. I really need to do a better job of checking this site- sorry to be so late in my reply, @Donstantine10! As usual, @Rabbit Run nailed it. If you already live in Atlanta, you should absolutely do your due diligence on Candler- it's an excellent school, and could be very convenient to your situation (no relocation costs, etc). In terms of BC, they do have pretty strong financial aid and an excellent faculty. Suburban Boston is an expensive place to live, and BC is definitely Catholic, although they do accept Protestants (I'm not up to date, but I remember being surprised at the diversity when I looked up numbers on their site a year or two ago). Worth exploring, at least. But it does very much depend on your goals (teaching, ministry, etc. Keep it in mind when making decisions). My advice: go check out Candler (at Emory), PTS, and Beeson. I think these schools are the best fit for you, based on what you mentioned so far. Yale divinity is an excellent school, but it's expensive (not as expensive as Duke, but the school advertises that the average mDiv grad leaves YDS with something like $52k in debt). If you're interesting in pursuing a life of ministry, you certainly want to be in as strong of a financial position as possible when leaving seminary, so minimizing your debt portfolio will be key. Best of luck to you! Feel free to follow up with other questions you may have.
  7. @Donstantine10 it looks like @tdwightdavis and @Rabbit Run both beat me to it- there is a lot of good info in those two messages. For your specific situation, it sounds like PTS, Duke, or Beeson might be your best bet (with an honorary mention for Candler and Yale divinity). All of these schools have at least an implicit (in some cases explicit) Christian identity, but are typically regarded as good schools for their rigorous academics, too. I have also heard good things about Boston College. If you want to narrow it down solely based on financial aid available, PTS is probably your best bet- it's an inexpensive school to begin with, but their financial aid is excellent across the board (even in the mDiv program). Also, I wouldn't spend too much energy worrying about acceptance rates- even at PTS, which is more selective, their acceptance rate for mDivs hovers around 50%. With Harvard and Chicago, your sense of their place on the theological spectrum is largely correct. As @Rabbit Run mentioned, both schools are pluralistic. Depending on your own faith background and what you're looking for in a seminary, it may not be a great fit. If you are looking for a confessional community, Harvard and Chicago may not be the best places for you.
  8. Duke divinity is a great school, and their mDiv program is pretty well regarded. (I'm not an alum, and so can only speak based on information from friends and my own research.) Unfortunately, everything that I've ever heard is that you would do well to get your degree half funded- they just don't dedicate their resources to the mDiv program. And Duke is significantly more expensive than many of its peer institutions. What are your goals? Ministry? Teaching? Something else?
  9. neat

    Duke M.Div Inquiry

    Thanks for reaching out, MarXian. One of the reasons that I am interested in an MDiv is because I have a fairly wide variety of interests, and do not have my heart set on a specific path (or an academic field). I have served in ministry (in a lay capacity) and have found much of the work to be a great fit for me. I would love to serve in a professional capacity. However, I am currently an educator in a public high school and am interested in religion (particularly religious history) and theology as academic disciplines, too. I have an undergraduate degree in history and philosophy, and am drawn to fields like church history, ecumenics, practical theology, and philosophy of religion. I love teaching. From the research that I have done online and through conversation, an MDiv is an excellent introductory graduate degree (in that regard) and provides an opportunity to explore some of these fields as areas of further study. My heart is not set on a PhD- I would be interested in pursuing a ThD or something similar, too. I would love to teach at the university level, but I understand the commitment involved (and the job prospects in the field). Frankly, I don't believe that I have enough experience in these fields to know if they would prove to be a suitable landing spot for me over the long term. It seems to me that pursuing other degrees (certain MA's, MAR's, MTS, etc) feel more "focused" than an MDiv- I am very much interested in a degree that will allow me to engage in multiple fields, multiple areas of thought, etc. Quite frankly, I would like to be able to explore a bit more before selecting about a specific career path- and from my understanding, an MDiv is a pretty standard "introductory" degree, whether you end up pursuing ministry or the academy (in related fields, of course). Although it is not the only institution that I am looking at, I think that one of the reasons that Duke appeals to me in particular is because of the makeup of their faculty and the culture of the institution. They seem to be more progressive and academically rigorous than many evangelical seminaries, but more conservative than the so called "mainline" divinity schools like HDS and YDS. However, I recognize that research (about an institution) can only get you so far- and I would love to hear personal accounts from others of their experience (either at Duke or more broadly, in an MDiv program). I am a nondenominational Christian and am fairly progressive- I am less interested in attending an evangelical seminary (many that I have known have felt that these seminaries don't have much interest in engaging with other faith traditions or philosophies- although, to be fair, this is a generalization), but conversely, one of the mainline Divinity schools like HDS or YDS are perhaps a bit less appealing to me- I think that studying in a confessional community is still important to me. All comments or thoughts on this line of thinking are welcome.
  10. I am planning to pursue an mDiv program in Fall 2016, and am still in the "put together my list of institutions to apply to" phase of things. For various reasons, I am thinking of Duke divinity to be one of the most attractive potential landing spots- I wanted to reach out and see if anyone had any comments on their own experience there (or has heard things from someone who has attended, etc). I see positive reviews pretty consistently (here and elsewhere), but thought that it might be worth reaching out more directly for information. In addition, if anyone else has thoughts on things to know/remember, comments from their own mDiv experience, etc it is more than welcome.
  11. How about MTS degrees in general? Is this sort of program typically not a good one to set up (possible) PhD studies in the future? I recognize that the ThM is recognized as the more rigorous one in the field, and I would not at all be opposed to pursuing a second Master's degree later on if I found the right fit. My language background is weak, to be honest- I have some rudimentary Latin and a bit of French but not much else. I had been thinking that an MTS program would perhaps help me shape what field I'm interested in before pursuing more intensive graduate degrees.
  12. I'm in the process of researching various graduate theological degrees, and would like to pursue a distance program (I'm currently working in urban education and feel called to continue working here at this time). My undergraduate background was in History and Philosophy, and I'm interested in pursuing Theology and perhaps further training in Church History down the road. From the research that I've done, I think an MTS program is probably the best fit for me. I have been looking at a couple different programs, and wondered if anyone had any input. For instance, I saw that Tyndale Seminary offers an online Master of Theological Studies (and so does UDallas if I was interested in attending a Catholic university). Does anyone have input on doing this type of degree program from a distance or modular perspective?
  13. Hey guys! I'm in the process of researching and applying to grad programs in Philosophy of Religion and Apologetics and am really agonizing about the process. I'm interested in a multifaceted program, something that will touch on various fields like philosophy and theology. I have an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree (Civil and Social Structures) that focused on history, philosophy, and political science from the University of Oklahoma, and am currently working for an AmeriCorps education program. I am not yet completely sure what I want to pursue professionally- in an ideal world, I would love to write, but I am aware of the many hurdles to becoming a full time writer. I love academia and would perhaps be interested in teaching at the university or seminary level, but am hesitant about diving in to pursue that career path. I mention all this because I am looking for advice on any particular universities or programs that may be academically rigorous but perhaps general enough that it won't be professionally limiting. This may be a tall order, but I wanted to see if anyone had any input. I know the divinity schools tend to get a lot of love in these threads, but don't know much about them myself. I am relatively familiar with evangelical seminaries and have also researched non-seminary options like Houston Baptist University or the Talbot School, but wanted to know if anyone out there had any other advice for me. Thanks!
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