Gus

I also am considering the feasibility of a commute. Depending upon where my husband is able to find a job, I will be looking between a 1 hour and 3 hour commute. There is the possibility for some or all of the commute to be via train (thus allowing reading time) and/or for me to rent a space in a commuter apartment on campus. I appreciate hearing from both sides of the spectrum. It sounds like the bottom line is - how committed are you to both living where you are / completing the program? For me, there's no way my husband could get a job in the cities where my program offers are, so I'm going to take the risk. I feel pretty confident about the 1-2 hour thing. If we went 3 hours it would potentially put us much closer to family / baby sitters, but would it be nuts for me? My hope is to only need to be on campus 2-3 days a week if the commute is much more than an hour each way.

Origenes - Just my two cents after taking a day to reflect from the initial disappointment of my last rejection. Don't compromise to the point that your work would be pointless, but if you can network outside the school and work with the faculty and within their course offerings to meet your interests, then I think I'm going to echo the "bird in the hand" opinion. The major question I guess is whether or not you think YOU can pull off the work that you want to accomplish at your current school.

Thanks for the thoughts and responses. I've spent some time praying about and reading lots more about the two schools in question. They are both exciting to me in their own ways. Not the least of which are the consortia of which they are each a part. Family concerns also make the seminary option more appealing, although the ThD is still enticing to me. I'm actually not currently in my MDiv program so both would require a move. Right now, I'm feeling confident about accepting either program depending upon my husband's employment situation.

I also got the same letter from Vandy - I thought it odd considering the post here that the NT spot is already filled. Do you think there will ever be an official rejection letter, or do they hold their waitlist into the summer in case anything falls through with accepted applicants?

Now that many of the results are out, I suspect that there are others in my position of making tough decisions. Anyone else want to weigh in on your decision dillemmas? Mine is this... I got into 2 of 8 schools that I applied to. I may not be headed anywhere this year due to my spouse's employment concerns, but if that can be worked out the major decision is this... PhD at the seminary that I hold my MDiv from. Not a "ranked" school, but in the Chicago consortium. I'd enjoy the school and it's close to family, but I'm worried about job prospects coming out. ThD from Bost Univ - what's exciting about this is also what's scary. I've never visited the campus but am pretty sure I'd really enjoy the school and the faculty. My interests are primarily in teaching at a small undergrad institution, but I am also interested in making connections with the church. From what I've read a ThD may make it near impossible to teach in an undergrad setting (though Im not sure if it would make it more or less difficult than the PhD mentioned above), but it would open other more practical opportunities within church related fields that I may also enjoy (although these also are hard to come by). Wait another year, work on my app and apply again. This was my first round of applications and I learned a few things. I could probably improve my GRE score and fine tune my writing samples at the very least. I was waitlisted at Vandy and got the generic "your app was fine but there were too many applicants this year" letter from pretty much everywhere else. Of course, that doesnt mean much since it seems like Vandy's list is quite long and I would imagine there are always "too many applicants". The other consideration, as I'm sure many of you can relate, is that it feels a little daunting and exhausting to consider doing this all again. But, I don't want to accept a program that won't accomplish my ultimate goals naively either. Any thoughts or similar experiences would be most appreciated!

Well, I got my rejection letter today. It stated that my requirements were "acceptable" but that there were too many qualified applicants.

JulesM, I apologize - I originally missed the BU part of your previous question. I heard from BU's ThD program at the beginning of Feb with a letter of acceptance. Maybe no word means you're on a waitlist at BU. Any thoughts on what's exciting to you about this program would be interesting - I'm very excited about a ThD but still trying to weigh the merits given the competitive academic atmosphere.

Many thanks. I can imagination those comments would be much more helpful if they named the areas that need to be strengthened, but such is the fate of generic letters. The nail biting continues. Good luck to you with your studies at SLU!

I've seen a couple responses for Marquette posted. I guess I'll be waiting over the weekend for my letter to reach the East Coast - any info people are willing to share would help calm my weekend nerves. Acceptances - did you hear about funding? Rejections - any word on the number of applicants, strength of the pool, etc? I'm feeling pretty pessimistic since it seems to be a tough year all around, but would appreciate hearing any more details relating to Marquette (this is my last application still out). Thanks much! Best of luck to everyone!

Thank you for sharing and congratulations to you both! I applied to Biblical Studies & Early Christianity and will be anxiously watching my mail tomorrow.

Those who were admitted, would you mind sharing your areas of study? Does anyone know how many admits Drew will be taking this year?