anonymoususername

I have attended Duke in the past for an MTS and I am back this year for the ThM. The hybrid MDiv is not similar to the residential MDiv. The HMDiv course offerings are going to be extremely limited compared to the residential offerings. It is aimed I think more at pastors or other working professionals who want to continue their education than people looking for a route to doctoral programs. These courses are generally pretty large (35 students) survey courses with a practical application for those in ministry. The residential courses meet only an hour or so a week online after the intensive week, so you do not have nearly the same opportunities to build relationships with the faculty who would decide on your doctoral application decisions. A good number of the faculty who teach in the HMDiv are also not regular faculty, which is to say not people who sit on the doctoral committees. If you are committed to doctoral applications, I would avoid hybrid/online programs. If you are interested in doctoral work, an MTS (or similar two-year academic program) at a competitive school makes the most sense for your time and money. You need to be in a program that will allow you take doctoral seminars during the master's to show what you can do to people who will actually make the decision about your admittance to the PhD. There is nothing wrong with doing a hybrid MDiv, but it does not sound like it would be a very efficient use of your time. Feel free to message me if you have any further questions about Duke.

Physical letters? Does this mean I have to start checking my mailbox? I typically only do that like 0.5 times a semester lol.

Re: ND admissions process. I can confirm that how it goes is that each area reviews its own applicants and chooses who they want. There is a separate PhD committee that rubber stamps the choices after the area subcommittees have made their selections. The number of people accepted to each area varies. I can confirm that this year HC is getting 2. Can't say for the other areas. They invite roughly double the amount of people to interview as there are spots available. Re: BC admissions process. I interviewed with them. It was with three faculty members over Google Meet and only 20 mins. Kind of a weird way to do it instead of flying out the top applicants, but whatever... They said I would hear in a few weeks. Also, I heard that Duke's PhD received the lowest number of applicants in like 15 years and that most of the applicants were for OT. So it does seem like application numbers are down all around this year.

ND is currently reviewing apps. I would expect interview notifications to be within the first few days of February, plus or minus a few days.