Good morning everyone,
New member here who has been a long time lurker. I am a third-year student at a small and little known TRACS accredited Bible college who intends to enter into an MDiv program for ordained ministry (military chaplaincy) in the evangelical tradition. A caveat however, is that I fell in love with scholarship in the first year of my studies and acquired a very strong desire and drive to go into academia after ministry. Thus, at some point I will go for a ThM/STM then a PhD/ThD in Theology, Hebrew Bible or New Testament. After spending a generous amount of time reading threads on here and other places, I have garnered that institutions such as Princeton Theological Seminary, Duke Divinity School and the University of Notre Dame are considered top tier, while evangelical schools trail far behind. I started to recognize some of this in that I was left wanting in many areas from my own school. I am quite confident that an MDiv from PTS (if I were admitted) would be viewed with immense suspicion by the denomination that I intend to serve in. Accordingly, I have sought and have narrowed my choices down to two schools which I believe would give me sufficient ministerial preparation while providing an at least decent academic preparation and yet would not be a roadblock to ordination. They are Fuller Theological Seminary and Beeson Divinity School.
I will be applying to both, but I would like to know, from your point of view and if possible from schools like those mentioned above, which of these two institutions has the better academic reputation? Which will actually better prepare me for the kind of study that I am seeking in the future? Are there any other institutions that I am missing? I considered Gordon-Conwell Theological Semimary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School but I have heard that their commitment to biblical inerrancy is often seen as a hindrance. Also, if you think that I should go to an institution like PTS or YDS, I would like to hear you out on that aswell.
Finances are not an issue as I will be using my GI Bill. Neither is distance since I am willing to move. I am also aware that the professor job market is absolutely horrid. Nevertheless, I want to do high level study because I am so interested in those fields and I enjoy having my beliefs challenged.
Thank you for all of your time and help!