Enki Knows

Hi Samuau.  Are you interested in Hebrew Bible or New Testament?  I am a first year PhD student at a top-tier school in HB/ANE.  I can tell you that the most important aspects of your application are going to be your statement of purpose, your writing sample, and letters of rec.  GRE's are probably the least important - you just basically don't want them to raise any red flags.  In my opinion, for a humanities person, this means breaking 163 on Verbal (that gets you in the 90s percentile-wise), 150 on Math, and a 5 on the essay.  I'm basing those numbers simply on conversations with people and my own experience, so don't take them by any means as hard and fast rules - I just think they are probably decent guidelines.  As far as languages are concerned, after the SOP, writing sample, and recs, I would say that demonstrating strength in your primary language of study is the next most important aspect of your application - so for HB this would be Hebrew, and for NT, Greek.  As far as other ancient languages, this would depend on what your focus is.  Given my focus, it was helpful that I had one year of Akkadian already upon entering my PhD program.  Your modern language requirements will also vary depending upon your program, but most will want you to pass exams in French and German at some point.  Having prior experience with these languages is certainly a plus, but more because it will make your life easier - if you have a strong application, I highly doubt any school would reject you on the basis of lack of experience with French or German.  If you do HB, some schools will also want you to pass an exam in Modern Hebrew, but again, you are not expected to enter having this knowledge already.  Hope this information is helpful.  Let me know if you have any further questions.    

Hi Samuau.  Are you interested in Hebrew Bible or New Testament?  I am a first year PhD student at a top-tier school in HB/ANE.  I can tell you that the most important aspects of your application are going to be your statement of purpose, your writing sample, and letters of rec.  GRE's are probably the least important - you just basically don't want them to raise any red flags.  In my opinion, for a humanities person, this means breaking 163 on Verbal (that gets you in the 90s percentile-wise), 150 on Math, and a 5 on the essay.  I'm basing those numbers simply on conversations with people and my own experience, so don't take them by any means as hard and fast rules - I just think they are probably decent guidelines.  As far as languages are concerned, after the SOP, writing sample, and recs, I would say that demonstrating strength in your primary language of study is the next most important aspect of your application - so for HB this would be Hebrew, and for NT, Greek.  As far as other ancient languages, this would depend on what your focus is.  Given my focus, it was helpful that I had one year of Akkadian already upon entering my PhD program.  Your modern language requirements will also vary depending upon your program, but most will want you to pass exams in French and German at some point.  Having prior experience with these languages is certainly a plus, but more because it will make your life easier - if you have a strong application, I highly doubt any school would reject you on the basis of lack of experience with French or German.  If you do HB, some schools will also want you to pass an exam in Modern Hebrew, but again, you are not expected to enter having this knowledge already.  Hope this information is helpful.  Let me know if you have any further questions.    

Re: your writing sample - as someone above said, whether the length is an issue or not, really depends on the temperament of the committee.  You may want to consider simply sending part of your article.  You can include in a note that what you are submitting is a selection from your article which was published in xxx.  That way, its not too long, they see your best work, and they know you were published.

Hi Samuau.  Are you interested in Hebrew Bible or New Testament?  I am a first year PhD student at a top-tier school in HB/ANE.  I can tell you that the most important aspects of your application are going to be your statement of purpose, your writing sample, and letters of rec.  GRE's are probably the least important - you just basically don't want them to raise any red flags.  In my opinion, for a humanities person, this means breaking 163 on Verbal (that gets you in the 90s percentile-wise), 150 on Math, and a 5 on the essay.  I'm basing those numbers simply on conversations with people and my own experience, so don't take them by any means as hard and fast rules - I just think they are probably decent guidelines.  As far as languages are concerned, after the SOP, writing sample, and recs, I would say that demonstrating strength in your primary language of study is the next most important aspect of your application - so for HB this would be Hebrew, and for NT, Greek.  As far as other ancient languages, this would depend on what your focus is.  Given my focus, it was helpful that I had one year of Akkadian already upon entering my PhD program.  Your modern language requirements will also vary depending upon your program, but most will want you to pass exams in French and German at some point.  Having prior experience with these languages is certainly a plus, but more because it will make your life easier - if you have a strong application, I highly doubt any school would reject you on the basis of lack of experience with French or German.  If you do HB, some schools will also want you to pass an exam in Modern Hebrew, but again, you are not expected to enter having this knowledge already.  Hope this information is helpful.  Let me know if you have any further questions.    

Hi Samuau.  Are you interested in Hebrew Bible or New Testament?  I am a first year PhD student at a top-tier school in HB/ANE.  I can tell you that the most important aspects of your application are going to be your statement of purpose, your writing sample, and letters of rec.  GRE's are probably the least important - you just basically don't want them to raise any red flags.  In my opinion, for a humanities person, this means breaking 163 on Verbal (that gets you in the 90s percentile-wise), 150 on Math, and a 5 on the essay.  I'm basing those numbers simply on conversations with people and my own experience, so don't take them by any means as hard and fast rules - I just think they are probably decent guidelines.  As far as languages are concerned, after the SOP, writing sample, and recs, I would say that demonstrating strength in your primary language of study is the next most important aspect of your application - so for HB this would be Hebrew, and for NT, Greek.  As far as other ancient languages, this would depend on what your focus is.  Given my focus, it was helpful that I had one year of Akkadian already upon entering my PhD program.  Your modern language requirements will also vary depending upon your program, but most will want you to pass exams in French and German at some point.  Having prior experience with these languages is certainly a plus, but more because it will make your life easier - if you have a strong application, I highly doubt any school would reject you on the basis of lack of experience with French or German.  If you do HB, some schools will also want you to pass an exam in Modern Hebrew, but again, you are not expected to enter having this knowledge already.  Hope this information is helpful.  Let me know if you have any further questions.    

My experience is from the professional, non-academic world but I think it still applies.  When you go on a job interview, you are expected to send a thank you email.  If you don't, it's usually looked down upon.  That said, the recipients almost never respond to this email.  For every job I've ever gotten (in my past life, prior to returning to academia), I sent a thank you email, and I don't think anyone has ever responded.  But they hired me! That's what counts!

My experience is from the professional, non-academic world but I think it still applies.  When you go on a job interview, you are expected to send a thank you email.  If you don't, it's usually looked down upon.  That said, the recipients almost never respond to this email.  For every job I've ever gotten (in my past life, prior to returning to academia), I sent a thank you email, and I don't think anyone has ever responded.  But they hired me! That's what counts!