sacklunch

It's that time again! Please list where you plan to apply and your subfield.....and later your acceptances, rejections, and waitlists! LET THE FUN BEGIN!!!

I'm not sure if your post belongs in this section. Your GRE score, as you already know, is fine. I have friends in sociology that have told me the quant. is more important for their field, though I imagine your score is more than okay. You may head over to the specific soc. section and ask the folks over there about your specific subfield. Your GRE score matters very little once your application is actually being reviewed.

uhhh....your score is good enough for ANY masters. You're fine.

You have more preparation than 90% of the applicants. Your GRE score is fantastic for a master's applicants, and totally fine/great for doctoral apps even. Apply to the best programs and I'm sure you will get into most of them. I would def. apply to Yale's MARc (2nd Temple). Speak with Collins through email and if you can, you might want to visit. Depending on your interests I would also apply to ND's MTS as well as their ECS program (classics/theology). Don't waste your time with Duke if you are looking for a full ride, plus their MTS requirements seem to be pretty bloated (you may want to apply, just to see what happens...though they are fairly confessional). Throw HDS' MTS in there, too, since they seem to fund a ton of their students. Vandy and Emory, I hear, offer some pretty competitive scholarships, though not as high as the aforementioned (I received around 50% for both 4 years back). So, if I were me I would spend the most time on apps for: YDS' MARc (IMO the best program in 2nd Temple for funding, faculty, and resources), ND's MTS and ECS, HDS' MTS. Good luck!

The assumption is often made that one interested in ancient Judaism/Xian is religious. If you're not, I suspect doing an MDiv wouldn't be terribly helpful. 1. So, do you want a religiously affiliated program/coursework? 2. What language prep have you done? 3. Second Temple is very broad. What specific, if any, subfield? 4. Give us some general info about how competitive you are (GPA, GRE, ect.) cheers <3

For bible related courses, Abrasax is absolutely correct. Though I think it depends on what kind of program/department you're in. When I was at BC, for example, I almost took a doctoral DSS course and after speaking with the professor I decided to not take it, due mostly to the comments above. Reading a lot of unpointed Hebrew with advanced students (many of them had 4-5 years of masters work before beginning their PhD) is....dangerous. On the other hand here at Duke there is less an emphasis on the philology approach, I think, and as a result the students seem a bit less interested (prepared?) for those kinds of courses. Meh, just speak with the professor and they should be able to give you a pretty good idea of the level you need to be at (esp. with language requirements). <3

I wouldn't retake. Your verbal score is surprisingly good for an international student and it seems to be 'common knowledge' that most programs don't care much for the AW.

I have never heard of any discount, but you may ask your new department if they have anything to offer. On the flip side, you may look into Accordance, which will soon be released (finally) for PC (they say within the next month on their website). I have both Bibleworks 8 and Accordance 10 (on my mac). For the price Accordance offers more. It has WAY more upgrades/modules and as a result I think Bibleworks cannot simply compare (for example, I have the Peshitta module for Accordance). cheers

Hell no. Your scores are great. Spend the time on other things.

Spend a lot of time with your SOP and I bet you would get into some of the larger Div schools (MDiv - Emory, Yale, Duke, Vandy). Hell, I remember a couple years ago there was a guy on here who had a 2.5 or something and got into Harvard's MDiv due to a similar situation you were/are in. Honestly the acceptance rate for most of these schools is pretty high for MDiv's (contrary to many other masters), even at Harvard (isn't it like 50% acceptance for MDiv?). Make the case you will be a good fit for the program, perhaps even visit the school, and lay that all out in your SOP and I would wager that you will have pretty good luck.

You should be able to include some of your background (for masters) in your SOP. This should help your chances, I think. I would apply to more MDiv programs, if possible, since they generally have lighter admission requirements.

OP is not native. I think almost every American says "I took the GRE." Another common thing I have heard is "I took the GRE's." It's ONE test right? All is well. But, I too, have no answers. Sorry OP <3.

Perhaps post this in the GRE section?

For MDiv programs I think it's fine.

Any of those schools would be fine places to study. The biggest, more difficult, factor for anyone in bible is getting enough language work in before starting a PhD. That said, you want to find a school/program that will allow you to take enough language courses. I imagine for most competitive PhD programs you are going to need at least two years of Hebrew (so that will take up 12 hours of an MAR/MTS), more Greek (you will eventually need to study Classical; if you haven't started that yet, please start now), and possibly Latin/Aramaic/Coptic/Styriac depending on your interests. Again, this is for 'more competitive' programs that focus on the historical-critical method, so take my comments lightly if you plan to apply to a different type of doctoral program. viel Glück

Tell us a bit more about your interests. There are likely other options (in Texas) in related fields, such as Classics, but you would need the required language prep for such programs.

Second Baylor. Plus it's a religious studies degree which I imagine (?) would allow you more freedom in your coursework.

I think they require advanced standing in one (3 years +) and intermediate in the other (2 years +). I visited ND and sat in on one of their Greek courses and spoke with a few of the students (in the MA). You may consider applying for the ECS program since it requires less language work for admission.

There is no reason to not apply to the top schools, since they usually offer pretty good funding. You may consider applying to an 'open' MDiv like HDS' since it may allow you to do some other coursework related to philosophy.

I use Bibleworks and Accordance quite a bit, but they can be run easily on any old machine.

Speak with some of the current grad students. They will likely help figure out which one is the best fit.

Your scores are fine. I wouldn't take it again.

Since your interests overlap quite a bit with religious studies, I would apply to some of the larger divinity schools MA programs with 'open' coursework. Yale's MARc comes to mind, for example. Such degrees would both offer funding and allow you to take courses in multiple departments. Or you may look into the program I am in (Duke, dept. of Religion, MA - two years, but only one course required, and we can take courses in any dept!). cheers

If you are applying to doctoral programs and get in I have heard a lot of people giving their adviser/recommenders something from the school that accepted you, like a coffee mug, ect.

You would have to ask your professor. I think here at Duke they do something like first year grammar then second year is 'exegesis' which is basically a continuation of grammar, but actually reading the HB. At BC I did first year grammar then second year which was the sort of standard first semester prose, second poetry, though we focused quite heavily on grammar throughout since our professor was into comparative semitics. But I suspect you will be doing something similar with the exegesis course....though you may have some sort of theological aspect since you're at a divinity school.