achowa00

Congrats demondeac!! I was accepted to Drew (80% funding) and Harvard's Th.M. and waitlisted FOUR other places. So things are unclear to say the least at this point. On the other hand, if anyone was accepted to Theology at Fordham, BC, or Duke (Th.D.) and not going, kindly let me know. We should start a thread on where everyone is going soon, no?

Hi all, I was accepted to the Th.M. program at HDS and set up a visit before I got the packet in the mail with the information for the admitted students' day. I'm trying to decide whether to stick with my visit or go on April 7 (I'm very close by so it's easy either way). Sadly, the Th.M. program isn't funded by Harvard, so I'm not sure whether or not I will actually be attending in the fall (I was also accepted to a Ph.D. program, although without full funding), but I am looking forward to visiting the campus and meeting some of the faculty. Congrats to all those accepted!

I just got word that I was accepted to Drew and I'm thrilled. Congratulations to the others who posted acceptances! To the other person who was accepted in Theo/Phil Studies--who were you hoping to work with at Drew? Are you likely accepting the offer or no?

dev35869, I earned my M.Div. at VDS two years ago and am happy to answer whatever questions you might have--just send me a PM. I loved it there, but I would also say it definitely depends on your background and interests! Congrats on your acceptance and impressive funding!

I don't know if I'm more or less nervous knowing that we should know something soon... What areas of study did you apply to at Drew? I applied to Theological & Philosophical Studies and have heard that their selectivity has increased markedly in the last couple of years...yikes. Good luck!

rollofthedice, I'm very jealous that you're getting accepted into all of my top choices, with BC & Fordham! Congratulations on all of your acceptances thus far. Now I'm hoping you'll decline one so that I can get in off of the wait list (well at least at BC--haven't heard a peep out of Fordham yet).

Congrats to all of those accepted to Harvard, Marquette, and Emory! I saw that someone posted an acceptance from Fordham....details anyone?

I haven't heard anyone talking about Union Seminary, Drew, or Fordham...is anyone else waiting to hear from any of these schools??

Finally got an email from BC last night.....waitlisted in Systematics. That's two replies, both waitlists. ARGH.

Congratulations to all of those who were accepted to BC! Looks like I might be rejected by default... theostudent, I would think SLU would be a good springboard in the Catholic world, as it's a solid Jesuit school. If you're interested in Catholic theology or ministry, then SLU is a recognized name and would feed into a PhD program like Notre Dame, potentially. I can't speak for non-Catholic schools (well, even for Catholic schools I'm just conjecturing), but I had a good experience when I applied to SLU several years ago. I was accepted into the MA program and then upon a chance visit (not official, just visiting a friend), I met the chair of the Theology department who offered me full funding. I ended up elsewhere, but they were very nice. Again, I think it depends on your specific interests.

rollofthedice, congrats!! That's very exciting and must be a huge relief. I applied to Systematics and haven't heard anything...

etylerbc, Where did you hear that? Are you a student there? I hope you're right!

No clue. I've heard that funding is more of an issue there than anything. It's probably my last choice as far as fit is concerned, but I'm pretty sure I already secured a solid rejection from them, re: forgetting to edit an important detail of my statement of purpose. Ah well.

I got the exact same email this morning. HOW OBNOXIOUS is that? Here's an update: we have no update for you at all.

Got an email from Duke Divinity today... I was wait-listed for the Th.D. program. Haven't heard anyone else talking about this program, but thought I would post just in case.

All this hating on the Boston crowd hurts a bit...although I am from the south and living in the northeast and finding myself acting more like a New Englander every day. Eye contact? No thanks. Demondeac, congrats on the acceptance! Very exciting! Berkeley would be a fantastic ($$) place to live and study.

Someone also posted on the results search an invitation to interview at ND for theology on Feb. 27-28. Good luck!!

I also applied to BC (albeit in Systematics) and have not heard anything yet. They do have that status check website though and you should be able to see when your decision letter is mailed, even if they won't tell you what it says.

I'm assuming all of the talk about Duke refers to the Graduate Division of Religion and the Ph.D. Yes? I applied for the Th.D. through the Divinity School and the deadline was only Jan. 15 so I can't imagine I'll hear anything from them for quite some time.

I'm jealous of those of you who are already hearing things...I'm being teased mercilessly by all of my schools. Saturday, I received a giant packet from Drew that turned out to be a simple acknowledgment of my application and a catalog. Yesterday, I get emails from both Fordham (only a survey) and BC, inviting me to log into their online status check system. No info. And then yesterday, I came home to find a slim, letter-sized envelope from Drew. My heart sank. But, it turned out only to be yet another letter thanking me for my application. Argh--everytime I see ANYTHING from these places, I'm reminded of how long I still have to wait.

All of my applications are in, sans the one-year Master's programs I'm applying to that wouldn't require moving. Those are due Feb. 1 and I just can't bring myself to do anything until right before the deadline, although after shelling out for overnight mailing on other app's, I should have learned better. I'm not too nervous yet, as I've been too busy with the holidays and work to think TOO much about it, but I'm starting to spend more time on here which says something for the anticipation that's building. Eek. Are people applying for outside funding? Other fellowships, etc? Is now the time to do that?

Thank you for this advice...this has BY FAR been the most nerve-racking part of the process for me. I always feel like I'm about to throw up when the phone rings. :oops: letsjustgo, I had emailed profs at every school I was applying to, telling them who I was and what I was interested in working on and asking if they thought University X would be a good fit, as well as if they were taking on new students next year. I also expressed interest in talking with them further via email or phone. Everyone wrote back and a few also suggested times for phone calls. I had no idea what to expect and still suspect that every prof is a little different, but I find the phone WAY more intimidating that in-person. On the first call, I had an experience simlar to mims where I picked up the phone and it was clear that this was my time to ask questions. But it worked out (I think).

I feel like you're all basically WAYYY ahead of me in submitting app's, even though my earliest deadline is Jan. 1. I have a phone call with a prof from Drew today and then will hopefully finish my statement for them and send that on it's way--assuming my references all arrive by then...I'm missing one professor's rec letters and am super worried because this is one person who I STRUGGLED to get to reply to email. AND I'm leaving town next week so if they don't arrive before I leave, I'm up a creek. Let the super-stressed-out-I-can't-even-think-about-Christmas time begin!

I did an undergraduate degree at a small liberal arts college in English and Religion and then after a year in Americorps, went on to do an MDiv. The year away brought new perspective and energy to my divinity school experience and that combined with the field education I did while there had a huge impact on how I do theology and who I feel accountable to when I preach, write, speak, etc. I'm in my second year working in campus ministry at an Ivy and am applying to Ph.D., Th.D., and two one-year, post-MDiv. programs as backups should Ph.D.'s not work out this time around. The one year programs I chose are both at great schools with amazing faculty and happen to be right in my backyard, so I wouldn't be dragging my family somewhere else for only a year. I wasn't sure either about the usefulness of another Master's but in talking with faculty at those institutions, they offered helpful advice about spending a year to focus and get my remaining language requirement out the way to give me a leg up on re-appyling next year. Money aside, that prospect is more and more appealing, but I think it might come down to funding. I think a lot of people on the religion board around here are more on the philosophy of religion side of things, but the idea of an entire master's program in philosophy makes me want to run for the hills. I see the value in it certainly, but I think I'll take the bare bones of continental to get me through...

This may or may not be helpful, but I was told by a professor that places like Chicago and Columbia have an unwritten cutoff of around 730 Verbal GRE...eek.