plump_helmet

@ScarecrowBoat You're right, but YDS only covers it up to the percentage of your scholarship. I had to take an intensive Latin class to catch up with the rest of the Classics department in undergrad after my first year, and I'm not interested in paying more than $500 again for an academic language I need/really want. YDS' course would cost me over $1000. Plus YDS only offers Hebrew, Ecclesiastical Latin, and Koine Greek. By the second year, I'd be out of languages to learn over the summer. And since I plan on taking more language courses during the year, the negatives really start to add up.

Maybe this is too specific, but are increases in funding related to how much they initially give you? For example, are they more likely to up an admit with 25% funding to 50% rather than an admit with 75% funding to ~100%? I've heard that 100% scholarships are usually only given to URM candidates (though I still think it's weird that Jews aren't counted as a minority...), which is why I ask. Also, if anyone could speak to means for obtaining free housing/more money at HDS/YDS (even in the second year/second semester), like being an RA or a TA or something, I would extremely appreciate it.

@Tianruo J I'm actually in a similar situation—non-Christian, focusing on Christianity and Judaism in the Roman-Hellenistic period, accepted to both YDS MARc and HDS MTS. I'm leaning towards HDS right now due to the ease of interaction with other departments and schools, the greater academic community in Boston, and—though I really don't care for most modern politics in my academia—the diversity at HDS. Yale just felt so WASPy, the div school was a little far from the rest of Yale, and the cost of rent was too high in the area for acceptable housing. Plus New Haven (or the Yale part at least) feels a little like an artificial town. It was so weird to not see any families or kids wandering around. Plus, as you said, languages are important. HDS' summer language program (and how it is fully covered except for ~400 dollars) is a huge draw. Even though so many people at the HDS open house were asking questions about getting out of doing languages, it's a huge draw to me to be able to take intensive Hebrew or Syriac for relatively little. But I'm not trying to convince you or anything, just working through my own choices in comparison to you.

@Boolakanaka Well YLS has the only manuscript of the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals on the east coast so, if anything, I would try and use that to link my work at YDS to YLS. But that's in the future. At the moment, I really just want to try and get as much money as I can from YDS or HDS, to cover tuition at least.

This seemed like the way to do it. You think it's worth asking for stipend/housing help at VDS on the flipside? Really? I've always thought that YDS is much better for academics (though I understand how small that gulf is in the grand scheme of education in America). I'm considering JD afterwards, if that makes a difference. And even if it's less expensive to go to Yale or Harvard, I'll have to make up at least 10k in tuition per year.

I'm in the same boat as above. MTS to Harvard and MARc at Yale, both with ~20k funding + work study + loans. But I also have a full ride to VDS. How should I broach more funding with HDS and YDS? Anyone had any success with this?