sacklunch

Sorry to hear that :'(. At least you KNOW you will get a PhD though, right?!?!

It's true. Def. take advantage of the BTI (I did) while you're at BC. Also, instead of looking at the BTI website look at the actual school's list of courses. There was a class I took at HDS, for instance, that wasn't on the BTI website. For whatever reason the professor didn't have it added to the BTI, but wasn't opposed to outsiders joining in. So I emailed him, he emailed HDS' registrar and they easily added it to the BTI list and it was easy enough for me to register. This will give you access to literally hundreds of courses and truly is the major benefit of attending a BTI school over any other theological school in the country (IMO). A good friend from BC is now at ND and always complains that there (ND) just isn't enough courses available. This is never the case in Boston! cheers

Duke and UNC-CH have folks that offer both, for instance Meyers (Duke) and Magness (CH). And they both work in EC/DSS. cheers

Again it depends on your interests. Since you're not in bible, I wouldn't worry too much about cramming everything in; but still, it remains that most of the applicants to top schools are going to have a lot of language work (even in ethics, I think). I would plan on having both German and French under your belt, and honestly those summer intensive classes are just not enough. I think you would need at least a year of 'intensive' reading in order to actually gain some sort of ability. Sadly most schools only offer a one semester intensive course (except Harvard and Yale, the former offering I think like two full years of intensive reading....jealous). Depending on your area of ethics, you may be required to add other languages, like Latin, Greek, et cetera. cheers

Haha! וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶת־יָד֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֖ח אֶת־הַֽמַּאֲכֶ֑לֶת לִשְׁחֹ֖ט אֶת־בְּנֽוֹ

Depends. If you want to get into a top doctoral program you may want to just begin taking German early. Depending on how important it is for your field, a couple years may be useful (maybe even three years, if you could fit it in).

That is low, but again, with your recent work I would be surprised if you didn't get in. You got an interview and that isn't something they used to do at all (not when I was there at least). Again, I cannot stress enough that the interview is a good thing. If they didn't want you they would have just rejected you. All will be well!

How bad are we talking for UG gpa?? Dude (you are undoubtably male, if you considered the priesthood), you will get into BC. I would be shocked if you didn't. They don't interview people for no reason. They don't interview folks for wait-listing at the masters level. You are almost certainly being interviewed for some sort of scholarship. If I'm wrong, feel free to mail me dog poo or something. You got this. <3 best

I'm curious what you all think (and have done) about adding courses to your CV? I have seen certain people do it, but there doesn't seem to be any real reason, given that they are on your transcripts. Or am I missing something? I see the need to list all your language experience in a concise/easy way for adcoms to give a quick glance, but not necessarily the reason for listing all your graduate courses.

Both of my masters I submitted a part of a longer paper. I basically just cut it at 20pgs and wrote at the top something like "this paper has been cut at 20 pages." I don't think it's a big deal, especially for a masters (and a ThM for that matter, since admission rates are much higher for them, I think).

One of my roommates is in her 4th and final year of that program. If you get in and have questions, let me know and I can forward you along to her.

Hey ya'll, figured I would let you all know that I need new roommates this summer through next year. The ad can be found here: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/roo/3578134847.html

This isn't terribly related, but I know quite a few people that went to college at MSU (I'm from Kansas). If you want information about Springfield I'd be glad to offer it (spent quite a bit of time there off and on because of a close friend that went there).

Depends where you are. At BC, for instance, I would say most were Catholic (surprise, I know), so it might feel "odd" if you are taking a lot of practical courses. Same goes for prot. schools like Duke. Most of the people I have met in the Div. school seem to be ignorant of Catholicism (my experience, take that for what it is). One of my good friends that I went to BC with, who is now doing a second MTS at ND (in early Christianity) has complained to me countless times about how much more conservative the student body is, than say BC. I think it would be a bit more uncomfortable to be a prot. at a place like that. I'm agnostic and had an easy time completely avoiding any theology while I was at BC. I'm not sure if you could do such a thing at ND (from what I hear). But, who knows, don't take my comments too seriously, as my experience is, well, just that. cheers

Found it. Thanks!

Anyone wanna claim the acceptance to Wisconsin-Madison's Hebrew and Semitics PhD?

FYI, I think (s)he is applying for an MTS, not a doctoral program (as it appears you are). cheers

You might be up for some sort of fellowship. When I was there they had a handful of folks that got stipends, I think. Then again, things have changed quite a bit from what I hear, since the department is relatively new. Either way, it's a good thing. Wear a tie with no pants and all will be well.

Congrats!!! So jealous....

The only one that comes to mind is BU, at least in the last two years, offered an introduction to middle Egyptian. And yes, there are not enough folks interested. Here at Duke I think we have like 7-8 in our Syriac course. Aramaic I took at BC had like 6 of us.

I remember in my intermediate Hebrew course my professor said that during Hebrew readings with Levenson (had him as an adviser years ago) would make his students read "OH SHIT" when translating hineh. He has to be a cool guy, right??!

I second Ehrman's intro text (though I didn't want to read any theology).

Depends. At BC, for instance (as well as Duke Div, it seems), a lot of the master's courses are basically more advanced undergraduate courses. Remember that a lot of the people entering seminary do not have any formal training in theology, history, philosophy, ect. For this reason I took a lot of my classes in the Arts and Sciences Theology dept., since they cater more doctoral students. For a regular master's course, expect some reading per class, and either a mix of papers throughout the semester, or a large research paper at the end (ca. 15-20 pgs), or both. This has been corroborated from my friends at YDS, VDS, Candler, and what I was expected while taking courses at HDS.

Great question which I also meant to ask. Since they are all in dialogue with one another (I imagine?), I can't see applying to all separately very productive. Thoughts?

I'm curious, since you were at Harvard, is there any real advantage/disadvantage of applying to say HDS over, for instance, NELC? I see that a lot of the same faculty has appointments in all of these departments....but I'm a bit confused on which one to apply to? I'm mostly interested in working with Saley and Teeter, FWIW. best