demondeac

AW is like "no child left behind"; it is not about writing well or knowing the material, it is ONLY about testing well. I similarly took the GRE after my first Master's degree (where I easily wrote over 200 single spaced pages over 3 years), and did not do as well as I had hoped. Assuming you may want to retake it (which may or may not be true, I found the Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE section to be quite helpful (kaplan was NOT helpful), as well as doing several practice AWs at home. The GRE website actually lists all the possible topics, so skimming through can't hurt. Second time I ended up with the 6.0. I would be reticent to let it slide since the GRE gets used way too much in the application process: as a cut-off, then as a criterion for weeding out candidates, and then sometimes for assigning funding. No one wants to play the "what if" game in April.

When gauging the probability of professors emailing you back, I think it is important to understand that disparate fields will likely have different expectations as well as different responses. In the religious studies field, professors I have emailed responded quite quickly, even within an hour or two. Hard sciences will have different expectations than humanities, so take that into account when contacting/not contacting.

Also, if you are going to dog a program for "hiding" its supposedly non-existent job placement with an error message, you should probably check your link first. The correct link, sans an "s" at the end of "placement", is: http://www.luc.edu/philosophy/recent_jo ... ment.shtml

I second Georgia State. One of my good friends and an acquaintance did their M.A.s in philosophy there, both "TAed and got paid", and loved the program. One of them is in Chapel Hill's PhD program now, which speaks well of their preparation. Not too many continental Masters programs (not sure if DePaul or Fordham have MAs, though they have strong continental programs), but most Master's programs involve funding if you are offered a TA position (like my current program). And this of course brings the fun of teaching Hume to kids that were in high school only a few months before .

I was under the impression that the Chicago program (the AM I believe) is two years in duration, as are most Masters programs. Whether or not having the AM from Chicago helps one to move into the PhD is up for dispute; this year both spots in Philosophy of Religion were filled by students from the AM program, though they claim that this has not always been the case. If you are looking to do another masters, I would suggest doing a Masters in Philosophy (which I am currently completing after an MDiv). In my opinion what separates the really exceptional theologians is their mastery of philosophy in dialogue with their theology, and on the converse there are those people who rattle off "postmodernism" and "deconstructionism" which they learned in a ministry course. So if you have to do another masters, that's a good way to go. As for application numbers, I am of the "shotgun approach" persuasion. While it is best to cater applications to specific programs, the odds are against being accepted even with the most careful treatment at any program. But it could go either way, so maybe your time is better spent in only a few applications. On a side note, who do you want to work with at UVA or Chicago?

You should probably retake it with just a 770 Q 790 V, after all you must have missed at least one question. I don't even need to see the percentile scores to be jealous. Congrats, I retook the test and was not uber-pleased but it should get the job done- 670 V 740 Q (still waiting on AW). That is really odd that your AW was so low, but you could always make the case in your personal statement (given your Q and V scores) that you were just too far above the grader's abilities, which given they are all Graduate students of varying capabilities may indeed be true. I didn't know you could have the AW re-graded, but I would definitely do that if you can afford it; I wouldn't do anything to possibly change those V and Q scores. I know earlier in the thread it asked for how one prepared for the test, so I'll throw that in: I used the Kaplan book of 500 vocab words which was really helpful (and less labor intensive), the Kaplan Verbal Workbook (just for verbal) which was really not that helpful, and the Princeton Review Cracking the Test book, which I thought was even better than the Kaplan with a shorter chapter on each subject. Best of luck to all!

I was trying to finish up applications by the end of summer...ask me how that worked out. I've stalled on most of my online apps because I am also retaking the GRE in a few weeks. The only tricky thing about applying to both the PhD and ThD is the statement of purpose...I can't remember if they want two separate SoPs or just one research proposal that could work equally well in either program. In any case, best of luck!

Harvard's program is a bit unusual; the common perception with most is that a Th.D is somehow less academically rigorous (or not intended for an academic in a teaching position). Harvard's ThD is not at all like this, and is every bit as rigorous as the PhD. Most of the Harvard grads at my religion program had ThD's, not PhDs, so I wouldn't worry about getting a job with either degree. As for the program, I think the primary difference is emphasis: the PhD program is under the auspices of the Committee on Religion (which has more of a comparative religion or comparative theology feel to it), whereas the ThD is given by the Divinity School (if your interests are perhaps less comparative and more traditional in discipline). If I'm not mistaken, the ThD requires an MDiv degree (not required for the PhD) but the ThD has a larger stipend (so that extra year of pastoral care and homiletic WILL actually make you money after all ). I decided the ThD was a better fit for my interests (more of a single discipline= Christian theology) but the PhD would certainly be better if your interests are more comparative, or if you lack the MDiv degree.

My college didn't even have Phi Beta Kappa, so it would seem odd if this were the "make it or break it" criterion of admission. I would assume many of the faculty at the programs to which you are applying might be in the same boat as me (since many times it takes a small liberal-arts college to invest enough time in students for them to want to teach!).

Brown is an interesting place indeed...I was attracted primarily to the program on "Religion and Critical Thought" which seemed a nice fit in the realm somewhere between theology and philosophy of religion. I bought (and will hopefully be able to read) Matthew Bagger's "Religious Experience, Justification, and History" since one of my research interests is in the phenomenology of religious experience (and he has an interesting and somewhat critical thesis of its justification). I couldn't really get a good feel ofthe profs from the website (it's not very informative!), so if you have any experience with them I would love to know the "geist" of the program (I see a little continental philosophical interest, but not much...also I can't get a feel for what theologians might be of interest for faculty). Best of luck to you...I certainly know the pain of wading through 10+ applications...

My guess is it is still early for the board to be really active...most people put off applications until November (I know I did last time, hence my starting over the summer). I had pretty much the same thing happen to me with my GRE score; I had heard it was just used as a "cut-off" so I didn't study too incredibly hard. After reading most posts on this board (especially last year's religion board) signed up to take the GRE again in October. From what I could glean, the GRE is used as a cutoff, but also a way of eliminating candidates if the committee is having difficulty paring down the list of comparable students. Additionally, sometimes GRE scores are used to rank financial aid (after the accept a group), giving the most money to the highest scorers and no funding to the lowest scorers. All the more reason to score as highly as possible. As far as the schools to which you are applying, they look like good choices (Yale and Duke as long as you find postliberals and Hauerwausians germane to your studies, if not run like the dickens). Union has fallen on hard economic times, especially sad for being the flagship of liberal academic studies (many of my Div School profs were from Union). Funding may not be as forthcoming, but it is historically a great place to study (though I don't know whom is there now). GTU is not a bad pick; they have a great deal of interdisciplinary focus and depth in all the traditional disciplines. I have a few friends from Div School studying there and they seem to like it, I think the only downside (yet again) is lack of funding. I've heard it's not too difficult to get into, but they don't fund very many (if any!) candidates. I am applying to many of the same schools, though most in a different sub-discipline, so hopefully we won't be competing on too many programs . I am applying to the Vandy theology program (which you certainly have a leg-up on being a graduate), though I would like to know your thoughts on the theology program there. I like John Thatamanil's work (esp. on Tillich and process theology), and have read a little of Armour, but the program doesn't seem as deep without all the recently retired heavyweights (Hodgson, MacFague). Still a good place to study?

I know your pain...I'm going through the same situation with my spouse applying to residencies while I am applying to PhDs in religion, philosophy, and theology. The best part is that match day comes before you'll likely know anything about your application status, let alone when they require the prefs in February. Our plan is to focus our efforts on major cities where we both have multiple options (from top tier to lower tier) and hope that the probabilities work out in our favor. If not you may just have to move to whatever city your spouse matches in and apply again the next year; If that happens to me I plan on taking some courses at the school to get my foot in the door. A lot also depends on how competitive your spouses' residency of choice is; if it's derm or another competitive program, then it may be difficult to match anywhere let alone where you both have good programs available. You'll just have to feel out how competitive the residencies are and how competitive your spouse's board scores and grades are. Come March there will be much jubilation, or weeping and gnashing of teeth old testament style.

y'know, it's amazing, because I did exactly that, and I didn't get in anywhere. I was thinking of waiting in the parking lot for them to get off work this year so they would have to talk to me.

I don't know if emailing him four times with only one response is the best impression to leave with anyone you are trying to network with. My suggestion is to drop the demand to meet in person and talk to him briefly on the phone (which he offered as a quick, available alternative). Do your best to prep for the phone call and sound as professional and easy to work with as possible. As has been discussed elsewhere, I'd probably lay off attaching the CV or any other unsolicited promotional materials....could be misconstrued!

For test anxiety, talk to your doc about prescribing you a beta blocker like propranolol...it suppresses your sympathetic nervous system (i.e. fight or flight). I think it's on Walmart's $4 list. It may sound like overkill, but it may help you focus on doing your absolute best. And rather than taking sleeping pills the night before, just take a good old fashioned benadryl. And for legal purposes, always clear any medication with licensed physician before hand...I am not a doctor.

Hopefully it is an error, otherwise it sounds like the old "bait and switch" gag. If you have it explicitly in writing, then you should be able to get that as your package; it is a legally binding written contract as long as it is offered and you accept. The only other thing I could think of is that the program may pay an "insurance subsidy" in which they knock a few hundred off the overall cost, which is the way they phrased it here at my current program. In any case, payroll departments at large universities make copious, regular errors. I know I signed on to TA an extra class for an extra stipend, and the payroll canceled out my regular paycheck and JUST gave me the extra stipend (which wasn't as much as my regular paycheck). It happens.

Well, the good news is I called them, and they're looking into it. They said the investigation may take up to ten days. Ten days to look in a file where there is the score request I mailed them and see that I am not a woman named karla. The gift that keeps on giving .

Thought this little story might brighten a few days... So I requested my GRE scores sent to 8 schools (at the tune of $160), and they sent all 8 to the correct schools, just with the scores of the WRONG person. And by wrong I mean she is a female, and I am a male, with an entirely different sounding name. Also, her scores are barely cracking the 30th percentile across the board....ouch...I really hope they didn't put my name on them So yes, ETS is still evil.

I'm working on an M.A. in philosophy at South Carolina, which is a mainly analytic program but has a few continental faculty. Good experience nonetheless. I just finished an MDiv at Wake Forest University Divinity School, where I did all my electives in theology. I received a BBA from Mercer University (liberal arts school in ga) in business and Christianity (just what they call the Religion dept). Chicago is certainly high on my list, but I need to figure out which pigeon-hole that I need to hop in (either theology or philosophy of religion...how dare they make me pick! I'm special). As for Ugaritic, I'm pretty sure it's nearly identical to Hebrew but with different characters...you should be able to put that on your CV after about a weekend

Impetri, I share your affinity for a large number of applications. My current interests are somewhere between theology and philosophy of religion, a kind of philosophical theology that uses continental philosophy as an important resource for informing the task of theology. So here's my 'short' list: UChicago (theology or PR) BU (theology or PR) BC (philosophy Harvard (ThD) UVA (Religion) Emory (Theology) Chicago Theological Seminary (theology) Brown (religion) and likely a few others to round it out... It sounds like Harvard might be a good spot for you (Levenson rocks)...I think Hopkins focuses more on Near Eastern literature and myth, an OT prof of mine went there and that is his primary focus...hope your Ugaritic is tip top

We've already decided to stack Chicago and Boston (maybe a little socal), since I can find 3-4 programs of interest and she has at least 4-5 in each city. Maybe the probabilities work out a little better with the "shotgun" approach? I am also a bit unsure as to whether it it is good, bad, or neutral to actual let the programs in question know about my situation, since it means I may have to accept (if I even have an offer!) somewhere in a city that may not be my highest choice because my wife matches there. I certainly don't want to come off like I'm crying on every program's pillow (love the mental image) about how rough it all is . Any thoughts?

In my experience, most PhD programs will at least tentatively accept of a copy of an official transcript, so I would recommend to send them a copy while you try to work something out. Obviously the best case scenario would be if the registrar would release additional transcripts, so I would definitely try to work that out if possible. If not, you may just need to talk to the Graduate Director at each program, and it might be sufficient to allow them to inspect the official transcript (since they just want to see that you're not pasting new grades over old ones and copying ) If you have an irregular (at least to US audiences) academic upbringing, the best place to do a little education for the committee is your personal statement. Most of them want a limited "academic biography", so you can give a line or two of explanation to contextualize your academic history. Be careful not to make the statement all about how different and difficult the system is, since it is primarily about your research and preparation, but it is definitely the place to educate them a little on what your background looks like. I don't know if you've taken the GRE already, but it is always helpful for US programs since it is a way that they can compare disparate intellectual backgrounds. I would assume most PhD history programs probably require it anyway.

The night I discovered gradcafe I read through all of last year's religion application posts...it was like 2:30am before I got finished. Though I am a little anxious I'm certainly a little more reasonable with my expectations... Philmajor, how's Chicago been? It's certainly one of the programs in which I am interested in, though one thing I learned from the forums is that everyone seems to love/hate Chicago, kind of like the hot girl (and/or guy) that everyone wants to ask out but they got rejected. I'd love to hear your experience.

For Div School I would suggest The Divinity School at Wake Forest University (not to be confused with the Baptist Seminary in the town of Wake Forest). I received my MDiv in 07 and had a really great experience. Academically it can be top-notch if you take the meaty courses (and there are easier "ministry" courses for those who don't). Wake is a great nationally recognized university (#30 on US News), but they have a good balance of understanding that the MDiv is still ministry preparation and not a 3 year MA, so chaplaincy would be a possibility. One of the chief of chaplains is a friend of the Divinity School and has visited several times. One of my classmates did a chaplaincy program with the Navy during school, with a commitment when he got out. The school is small by design and post-denominational (ooh a "post" buzzword!), and an interesting blend.

So it's that time of year again.....Most applications go live September 1! So time to: 1. Cue the Rocky Music...because the odds are against us Rocky Theme File: http://www.geocities.com/vienna/strasse/5736/rocky.mid (did you think I was kidding?) 2. Sell your soul (or at least your paycheck) to ETS, the Postal Service, and well, every program that offers a PhD anything close to your interests, even if it's a PhD in the sixteenth-century reception of subversively eroticized wisdom literature. 3. And wait through an agonizingly long period where people who are paid to think about things take quite a bit of time to think about things related to your-- and 300 other people's-- applications. Best of luck to all! Maybe we should start off with the preliminary stuff: 1. Where are you definitely applying / not applying? 2. What discipline(s)? (Religion, Theology, PR) 3. What did you learn from the last round?