Tried applying this year to six doctoral programs in Christian Ethics/Moral Theology, but it looks like I won't be getting accepted, or even waitlisted, at all. I would like to try applying to doctoral programs again next year, and so I'm currently discerning what to do in the coming year.
I am considering a ThM since it's only one year and could be done at my current school, but it would be ~23,000 USD in loans at my school after what little funding they offer. Though I don't think that price is outrageous, and seems to be rather low from what I remember of other programs, twenty-three thousand dollars is still quite the sum to borrow.
My current GPA is 3.45 in an MDiv, and my GRE scores are Verbal 158, Quantitative 150, and Writing 5.0. I also did rather well in my undergrad, but I'm not sure if any work from that is even considered (worked in a psychophysiology lab for a prof, presented two neuroscience professors, summa cum laude, and tutored).
Would a ThM do anything 'significant' to boost the strength of my application, given its cost?