MaryHildegard

Hi,
Sorry to jump in and recommend a school you didn't mention, but I have to recommend the Boston University School of Theology (which, disclaimer, I graduated from in May). They have a faith and ecological justice certificate and a center for practical theology, and they hired a new professor last fall who teaches queer theology. They also offer great financial aid -- I know Unitarians who turned down HDS because BU gave them more money! I got full tuition with a 3.4 from my BA in economics, and lots of people get stipends. Feel free to ask me anything about it. I feel really confident you would get in. 
I would encourage you to look at the course list for Harvard Divinity (it's publicly available) and think: are they offering what I want to take? HDS is a great school, but it's not a school where their primary goal is preparing people for Protestant pulpit ministry. This isn't to say there aren't students there with that as their aim, but their course offerings aren't primarily geared toward that demo the way they might be at, say, Duke. It's also a lot more religiously diverse; this is neither a bad thing nor a good thing, of course, but it isn't a school where nearly all of the other MDivs are going to be some flavor of Protestant. 
I think the Princeton Farminary (https://www.ptsem.edu/academics/departments/farminary) is really cool, and Yale Divinity offers a joint degree with the environmental science department, so if ecotheology is your main interest I think you should direct your app focus toward them. 

Hey,
I graduated from Boston University's school of theology in 2023 with an MTS. I would highly recommend checking out BU! They have a great chaplaincy program, and I think someone with your background (had some personal struggles, but clear demonstrated ability to do well in an academic environment) would be well received by the adcom. 
I also dreamed of HDS and YDS when applying (3.4 UGPA) and saw all the posts saying 'oh, it's easier to get in there', and I did not get in, and was disappointed. However, after taking one class at HDS and presenting at a conference at YDS, I realized BU was the right place for me all along. 
It's not a super in your face Christian school relative to an evangelical one (and chapel isn't required), but it is definitely a school where you know it exists to train Methodist clergy. However, there's a decent number of UU students and a handful of people from totally unrelated faith traditions, and a lot of students with non-standard spiritual paths. The faculty are Christian but pretty diverse in their denominations, and you'd also have opportunities to take classes at the dept. of religion, as well as at other Boston-area divinity schools, including Harvard. 
Academically, I personally did not think it was crazy hard, although some people definitely disagreed! I graduated with a 3.8 (alas, got a C+ in medieval theology at Boston College). I have a BA in economics, and a lot of the students have BAs in unrelated disciplines, so don't worry if that's you. The main skills you need to succeed are good time management and being able to write well, which is going to be true for every program. Students generally take four classes per semester, but you can do summer classes if you need to space things out more. 

Hi,
Sorry to jump in and recommend a school you didn't mention, but I have to recommend the Boston University School of Theology (which, disclaimer, I graduated from in May). They have a faith and ecological justice certificate and a center for practical theology, and they hired a new professor last fall who teaches queer theology. They also offer great financial aid -- I know Unitarians who turned down HDS because BU gave them more money! I got full tuition with a 3.4 from my BA in economics, and lots of people get stipends. Feel free to ask me anything about it. I feel really confident you would get in. 
I would encourage you to look at the course list for Harvard Divinity (it's publicly available) and think: are they offering what I want to take? HDS is a great school, but it's not a school where their primary goal is preparing people for Protestant pulpit ministry. This isn't to say there aren't students there with that as their aim, but their course offerings aren't primarily geared toward that demo the way they might be at, say, Duke. It's also a lot more religiously diverse; this is neither a bad thing nor a good thing, of course, but it isn't a school where nearly all of the other MDivs are going to be some flavor of Protestant. 
I think the Princeton Farminary (https://www.ptsem.edu/academics/departments/farminary) is really cool, and Yale Divinity offers a joint degree with the environmental science department, so if ecotheology is your main interest I think you should direct your app focus toward them. 

Hey,
I graduated from Boston University's school of theology in 2023 with an MTS. I would highly recommend checking out BU! They have a great chaplaincy program, and I think someone with your background (had some personal struggles, but clear demonstrated ability to do well in an academic environment) would be well received by the adcom. 
I also dreamed of HDS and YDS when applying (3.4 UGPA) and saw all the posts saying 'oh, it's easier to get in there', and I did not get in, and was disappointed. However, after taking one class at HDS and presenting at a conference at YDS, I realized BU was the right place for me all along. 
It's not a super in your face Christian school relative to an evangelical one (and chapel isn't required), but it is definitely a school where you know it exists to train Methodist clergy. However, there's a decent number of UU students and a handful of people from totally unrelated faith traditions, and a lot of students with non-standard spiritual paths. The faculty are Christian but pretty diverse in their denominations, and you'd also have opportunities to take classes at the dept. of religion, as well as at other Boston-area divinity schools, including Harvard. 
Academically, I personally did not think it was crazy hard, although some people definitely disagreed! I graduated with a 3.8 (alas, got a C+ in medieval theology at Boston College). I have a BA in economics, and a lot of the students have BAs in unrelated disciplines, so don't worry if that's you. The main skills you need to succeed are good time management and being able to write well, which is going to be true for every program. Students generally take four classes per semester, but you can do summer classes if you need to space things out more. 

Hi everyone!
Applying to Yale and Notre Dame, as well as Boston University and Princeton Theological for Theology. Applying for sociology of religion! My interest is the rise of extremist traditional Catholics as it relates to the rise of general white Christian nationalism in the US and also how it's mediated by the internet. 
I'm currently getting a Masters in Theological Studies at BU, and I also have a bachelor's in Economics from UMass Amherst. I'm hoping econ + theology = successful soc of religion application. 

Hi everyone!
Applying to Yale and Notre Dame, as well as Boston University and Princeton Theological for Theology. Applying for sociology of religion! My interest is the rise of extremist traditional Catholics as it relates to the rise of general white Christian nationalism in the US and also how it's mediated by the internet. 
I'm currently getting a Masters in Theological Studies at BU, and I also have a bachelor's in Economics from UMass Amherst. I'm hoping econ + theology = successful soc of religion application. 

If you live in Brighton: you’re gonna have to figure out how to get a resident parking permit. If you live in Brookline: overnight street parking is not allowed, so keep that in mind when looking for apartments. 
Boston College is on the Green Line, which goes into Downtown Boston. You can switch at Park Street to take the Red Line to Cambridge. So downtown is easier to get to since you don’t have to switch trains. (I would not recommend driving downtown if you can avoid it). 

It’s the end of our first semester, so I wanted to ask how’s everyone doing? 
I got all As and I got a research assistantship! There’s been some challenging parts but I think overall it’s going okay. 
Next semester I’m taking New Testament, Church history from the English reformation to now, medieval church history, medieval theology, and piano. 

I’m a big fan of free. I don’t think religion is a field where I can justify more debt for prestige. I already have about 24k of undergrad debt and I would like to avoid adding more. 
I haven’t yet accepted my offer, but I don’t think I can realistically expect full tuition at HDS or YDS. 

You will be able to get the vaccine here, as long as you have an MA address to put down. You don’t need an American insurance card either. April 19th is when it’s open to everyone who lives here and I imagine by August they’ll be doing walk in clinics, which is already the case in some states. 

You will be able to get the vaccine here, as long as you have an MA address to put down. You don’t need an American insurance card either. April 19th is when it’s open to everyone who lives here and I imagine by August they’ll be doing walk in clinics, which is already the case in some states. 

I appreciate the encouragement and information provided by everybody here. To follow-up, I’ve decided to accept Yale’s offer and begin their MARc this fall. Best wishes to all still making their decisions and/or waiting for results!

I don’t have specific numbers for you, but Duke is known for not giving good aid. There’s people in the 2021 MTS thread who were accepted into great programs with stipends and then only got 25% from Duke. 
 
https://divinity.duke.edu/admissions/financial-aid/tuition Here’s how much the divinity school costs pre scholarships. 

Closing the loop on this, I've accepted Notre Dame's offer and will be heading to South Bend. Best of luck to everyone and keep in touch.

Got rejected from HDS :/. 

I got a full tuition scholarship at BU! I’m so excited. Still going to wait and see if I hear from HDS and YDS, but honestly if I got in without full tuition I think I’ll pick BU. 
Also, @Chicago Guy, I realized I didn’t say congratulations, so congratulations! I know ND is a super hard program to get in to, way to go. 

Don’t have an answer for KungFuKenny, but how’s everyone else planning on handling finances?
I have 8300 saved right now, and I expect to have at least 13000 by the end of the summer. I’m really hoping I can live on campus for the first year, which would be about 7600 for the year. I’m thinking I might get the cheapest meal plan so I could occasionally eat on campus, which would be about 1500. I’m also hoping I can get a part time job, which would be about 120 a week (and if it’s work study, I can get SNAP), and doing some freelance writing for 45/50 an article. And then I hope I can get a job for next summer to help save up money for rent (likely 800/month) for the following year. I have 3k set aside to pay for undergrad loans, but since you can defer those while in grad school, I might do that and use that money to help cover rent. Does this seem doable? I’d really like to avoid more student loans. My one expense is a private student loan that’s 50 a month. I have 600 set aside for that for July 2021 - July 2022 already, so I’ll have to make sure I put money aside for 2022 - 2023. 

Generous should mean free, at a minimum. Seriously, do not pay for grad school. I have a 3.4 undergrad GPA and a totally unrelated major and I didn’t take a single religion class and *I’m* not paying tuition. 
And yes, NYC is expensive. If you’ll need loans for this don’t do it. I love to go on forums like r/StudentLoans and there are SO many people with so much regret over having 70k+ in debt from grad school. The Columbia name is not worth it.

Don’t have an answer for KungFuKenny, but how’s everyone else planning on handling finances?
I have 8300 saved right now, and I expect to have at least 13000 by the end of the summer. I’m really hoping I can live on campus for the first year, which would be about 7600 for the year. I’m thinking I might get the cheapest meal plan so I could occasionally eat on campus, which would be about 1500. I’m also hoping I can get a part time job, which would be about 120 a week (and if it’s work study, I can get SNAP), and doing some freelance writing for 45/50 an article. And then I hope I can get a job for next summer to help save up money for rent (likely 800/month) for the following year. I have 3k set aside to pay for undergrad loans, but since you can defer those while in grad school, I might do that and use that money to help cover rent. Does this seem doable? I’d really like to avoid more student loans. My one expense is a private student loan that’s 50 a month. I have 600 set aside for that for July 2021 - July 2022 already, so I’ll have to make sure I put money aside for 2022 - 2023. 

Just received an admissions offer from Candler school of Theology (Emory) with 75% tuition funding! This was the only MTS program I applied to along with 4 PhD apps. I didn’t get into any of the PhD programs so this is a welcome sight!

Rejected from Yale, but I didn’t want to go there, so I’m fine with it.
I have zero interest in attending Catholic University but come on, give me a decision already. 
 

There was a BU accepted students day today and I know if it had been in person everyone else would go have lunch with their friends and partners and I’d be at the Comm ave Subway/convenience store being sad as hell and sitting on a bench eating by myself and then taking the trolley home and being sad. I hope I get rejected from Yale because I know if I got in I’d feel obligated to go there for prestige reasons but then I’d have to come home every weekend so I wouldn’t be lonely, and Amtrak tickets aren’t cheap. I’m just worried everyone else is already going to have friends and I’m going to be spending thirty minutes on the train to hang out with people I met when I was 15.

Just accepted my offer from HDS and will decline the offer from Chicago tomorrow. I feel a little sick to my stomach about declining a really great school that gave me a fantastic offer. I also have a paranoid fear that Harvard suddenly will inform me that a mistake was made and that I was not really admitted, as part of some really strange moral lesson from the universe. Anyway, I hope that this can help someone get admitted to Chicago or get increased funding!

Now I have to share the "what your seminary says about you" joke list: https://rockthatcollar.com/2020/06/27/what-your-seminary-says-about-you/ (the entry for Chicago is "you are exploring your call toward getting an unemployable PhD")
@Deep Fried Angst, when do you expect to be on the job market? 

Yes, international students, expect to bring vaccine paperwork — not only for COVID but for everything else. One of my undergrad friends who was Malaysian had to get a whole bunch of vaccines.