Almaqah Thwn

Procodile: Congrats! I just recently got a room in the Fall Creek neighborhood as well! I hope to see you around there. Also, how many of you have been besieged with "Hey, have you ever heard of The Office?" when you tell people that you're headed to Cornell? I find it's somewhat epidemic when I tell people around my age.

As a mainliner attending an evangelical seminary, the evangelical seminary list they provide seems to lean more on popularity and influence more than academic rigor. For instance, why is Liberty in the top 10? They get flak even among evangelicals.

I applied for on-campus graduate housing, but apparently they've cut 50% of their graduating housing this year so that most likely will not happen. When this current semester is over, I intend on finding somewhere off-campus, though.

I similarly had to decline an offer from someone who had been very helpful. I used something along the lines of "I was provided a more financially viable option elsewhere" in my decline email. I ran it by my current professor and he said it sounded fine.

Hello everyone. I will be doing an MA in archaeology in the fall. As a native Louisianian where less than an inch of snow shuts down all the schools (and sometimes the power), I have no idea into what I am getting myself.

It did! And almost all the news was pretty bad. I ended up getting into Cornell's archaeology MA with funding!

Nice, I'll shoot you a PM! I'm unfamiliar with Jawad Ali, unfortunately. My main experience has been in Southwestern Arabia with Minaic and Sabaic texts, but the goal is to use the archaeology to explore the illiterate societies within the peninsula. But, that's exciting. I was not expecting another student interested in pre-Islamic Arabia in any of the programs to which I applied, haha.

Thank you! And yes, the name is from the Arabian god, as I'm interested in doing comparative study of ancient Israel and early pre-Islamic Arabia. Dr. Monroe there is the only professor within the country who is published on such subject. What region are you particularly interested in studying?

Hello everyone, I've just accepted an offer to Cornell's CIAMS MA program. I'm still a bit addled as I'm coming in from an M Div, but I'm none the less excited to start and meet some of you.

Ah, thank you for letting me know. I'll be keeping an eye on my mailbox these next few days. Also, what have you found out about CUA's scholarships? I am a lurker and I care.

If you don't mind me asking, does the application website reflect that you've been rejected from them or does it still say that your application is "submitted"?

Mounce is actually designed very well for self study; I've known a couple of guys who have done so with a good amount of success. The advice I give newbies at the seminary who are looking to get ahead on a language is to learn the alphabet and the vocabulary. Knowing all the words beforehand (or at least 200-300) will save you many headaches. This is especially important for our seminary, as we do intensive Greek. But, even if Greek is stretched out over a full term, knowing the vocabulary would still be good.

Brandeis is posting decisions online on the application page.

So on my Brandeis application stage, the top now reads "Welcome (name)... Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (M.A.) / M.A." I had applied to the PhD program and have not previously noticed an "M.A." on the application page before, so I'm guessing they've probably rejected my PhD app but moved my application to the MA program, as they've done with other applicants in the past. For those of you waiting on Brandeis, it might be worth checking your application page to see if it reads "M.A." at the top.

Thank you, I appreciate it. I wish your programs go well as well! I had sunk the most time into applying to UT Austin by virtue of its proximity, but I guess that is how these things go sometimes. Anyway, I also have applications out at JHU, Brandeis, Chicago, and Cornell (but for an Archaeology MA). I'm most hopeful about Brandeis and Cornell at this point, but the former doesn't respond usually until March so I'll be on edge for a while.

For those who are lurking, UT Austin has posted application decisions on their website. Sadly, I did not make it in.

UT as in UT Austin, not Toronto.

Welp, denial as well. That leaves three programs left.

Hey pmajor, I'm in another branch of the same institution in which you are studying, who also just happened to apply to three of the same programs that you did. Just a heads up: Chicago's NELC apparently sent out invitations for qualified applications to attach a three minute video to their resume (However, I do not know if this was for all NELC students). I haven't heard anything from Johns Hopkins or UT Austin, though. Best of luck!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but apparently Chicago's NELC department already has a shortlist of qualified applicants to whom they have sent requests around January 13th for an additional three minute video. While I'm not too familiar with their recruitment process, I'm banking that it is not a good sign if you did not receive such request...

Haha, I know that I've had that desire a few times this year. Also, in what languages were you looking to focus, Englishmuffin? I know UT Austin's Hebrew Bible program has great faculty for doing comparative semitic work as well. Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee at the Comparative Semitics program in Chicago actually studied under John Huehnergard, if I recall correctly. Furthermore, Hackett and Pat-el are also excellent, the latter of whom has a focus in Arabic.

Hello EnglishMuffin, I'm in the same boat (although, I'm not applying for Comparative Semitics, rather Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East). Those in NELC are very quiet this year for some reason.

Would it be possible for you to include NELC in the topic title, Arm457? Historically, the forum has blended the two into one topic.

Thanks everyone, that is very helpful. It's good to know that even though they'll try to trick me on the answers, it won't be with a/an. And EMPOWERgrRichC, it was the very first question on one of the verbal sections in the 2 free practice tests within Princeton's 2015 version of Cracking the GRE (sorry about being a little round-a-bout, I do not have the book on me).

Hello all, I was doing a GRE practice test and came across a fill in the blank question that said: "... is not likely to become a ________ procedure." Out of the three answer choices provided, the one that made the most sense also began with a vowel. However, that would normally require "an" instead of "a." So, I selected a different answer choice, and as it turns out, the answer beginning with a vowel was correct and I missed the question. So my question is: for those of you who have taken the GRE, was there ever a question wherein the blank started with "a" but the correct answer began with a vowel, or the blank started with an "an" but the correct answer started with a consonant (aside from the whole "an hour" vs. "a hour" thing)?