phoskaialetheia

The whole reason this site exists is to serve as a place where people with insecurities about themselves can come for affirmation as they take on a process that more often than not leads to rejection. Everybody here (myself included), if we're honest, is posting some sort of superficial ping against a sounding board to see where she or he stands. If somebody responds and offers information that you don't like or fails to affirm your chances, you can't take it out on the messenger. It's not like anyone posting information that most people would find useful on this site is trying to single anyone out or exploit their insecurities or vulnerabilities. I don't think its fair to use this site and expect only affirmation. Especially at the PhD level, there should be enough objectivity and circumspection to be able to deal with difficult news. And if you don't want news or information about graduate admissions, gradcafe is likely not the best place to be. Academia is tough, and requires a thick skin. There are so many places where aspirations can derail (each admissions season, qualifications, dissertation, paying for education, the job hunt, seeking tenure track, tenure), I think some realistic expectations are in order. That said, everyone who goes into this racket does so because they believe they have what it takes. The truth is, most probably do, but there is a lot of luck involved, so due sensitivity is involved when people's self-perceptions are involved. Does rejection from a program because your interests don't align with some quota mean anything about your self worth? Absolutely not. Take the information that honestly, in a place like this, is the major object, for what it's worth and wait for something official. And you are right that due sensitivity should be observed in the delivery thereof.

No kidding. I kind of had to punt with my writing sample to make the original deadline. I could have written two full papers from scratch and edited them by the new deadline. I hope they account for the discrepancy a little bit.

Congratulations! That is curiously early, but hopefully you are right in that it should bode well for funding. I'm just hoping they are as fast with the MTS apps!

Congrats!! How long ago did you submit your application?

No, they don't say anything priority consideration. Hence my initial struggle to see the advantage implied by the "priority processing" designation. Even if an adcom member sees an application sooner, they certainly would not pass over a later, better application in favor of the first one on temporal priority alone. Oh well. The apps are all in now. I'm over it.

You're probably smart to do so. Now that the application is out of my hands I've been wondering whether I should have applied to the MARComp first and decide whether to concentrate after a semester or two. I think the competition is a little less fierce for Comp admissions from what I've been told.

I did, to the concentrated MAR in Judaic Studies. Are you applying to the comprehensive program or one of the concentrations?

I suspected as much. The higher odds would have been great, but divinity admissions don't seem to be as much of a raw numbers game as law/medical admissions. So I guess the assurance in Harvard's email that my application "will receive priority processing" just means that I won't have to pay the $25 to get the extra time to polish my app that everyone else is getting. Given the stakes the $25 doesn't seem like a big deal. If I could, I would easily pay it to be able to edit my submitted app for these next two weeks I didn't know I would have.

So Harvard and Yale divinity schools both now have a "priority filing" status (now that Harvard decided to extend its deadline). As far as I can tell, both priority and standard applicants both receive decisions mid-March, and I find it hard to believe that other qualifications would be weighed differently or funding changed based on a couple-week-later application that probably isn't even read until much later anyway. Maybe my assessment is off. Can anyone think of any compelling reasons to aim for priority deadlines?

b Good to hear from you! I noticed your earlier post right after I had already posted this, and am still going through the mondo bizzaro-esque shock of seeing such a strong parallel of interests, especially in this field! We'll have to keep in touch. Yeah, I am interested in working with Mogliano-Tromp in Groningen, but am also looking at Leiden to work with Popovic. I share your interest in the MSt in Judaism in the Greco-Roman World at Oxford (I have a friend who just finished a masters there and really enjoyed working with Martin Goodman). I also like Durham, and when I visited campus over the summer met with Hayward, and have since been in correspondence with Barclay who was on sabbatical, both of whom are extremely genial and interested. As for my undergrad, I'm finishing up my undergrad, which doesn't suffer too much from grade inflation, but a 3.7 (though indicative of a distinct upward pattern) may indeed require some padding. My interest in the Second Temple period arose from the abundance of extant texts in this period and the more solid critical potential of addressing texts from a period about which we have a good amount of context, as well as the potential of tapping pseudepigrapha etc. that have a heck of a lot less written about them than HB or NT pericopes (not to mention the freedom associated with addressing non-canonical texts even in a conservative environment). I studied English and History before I switched to the Ancient Near East program, so I am more interested in working with texts and Sitzen im Leben thereof than anything else. I originally wanted to do Hebrew Bible, but serving a church mission in Greece and Cyprus for a couple years immersed me in Greek sources which really aroused my interest in the confluence of Judaism and Hellenism and the interplay between the modalities thereof, and so I switched to GNT when I got back and have since read a LOT of Gruen, Collins, Barclay, Goodman, etc. So I have decided as of a few days ago to also apply to HDS, necessitating the GRE, partly to cast a wider net for funding, but also because there are faculty at each of the programs I would love to work with. HDS is appealing because in addition to FMC and Levenson, whom you mentioned, Shaye Cohen teaches several divinity courses that I would love to take. I actually met with an HDS admissions officer just a few hours ago at an admissions info session in town, and she said that although the GRE is required as a result of a particular faculty initiative, it means almost nothing and in some ways helps us because the requirement is shrinking the applicant pool. She also said that admission to the relevant MST concentrations isn't much--if any--more competetive than that of the other Masters programs. She was very candid and actually categorically said that every admitted applicant with demonstrated financial need gets at least a 50% funding package, for which as a married student I would be eligible, and many of the students get 75% or full tuition + stipend, which I had heard hinted at, but not explicitly given as a matter of practice. This makes the div schools more attractive all the time, as a funded Masters is so rare now. The only thing that worries me is the complacence of a lackluster GRE and better chances of admission that would weaken the PhD applications. With regard to YDS, I've also been in touch with Collins to some degree, who is supportive. I'll have to see what he says when we meet at the SBL Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Its good to know, however that the GRE doesn't appear to help or hurt the YDS application. Thanks for passing that along, as well as the information Dr. Collins shared with you. I would like to exchange papers, although I am also going to start from scratch and try to do some very solid research. I am thinking either something with 2 Baruch/4 Esdras or perhaps some things that have caught my eye in the Artapanus fragments. Anyway, keep in touch. Maybe we will eventually collaborate in the same program. Good luck with the rest of the application process!

I am applying for the Fall 2011 cycle, and my top choice is the YDS MAR in Second Temple Judaism. However, I have no idea what to expect in terms of funding (nor indeed of admission for that matter, other than that I may stand at least a slim shot at getting in). How competitive is it? Would anyone in the program (or other YDS Masters programs) be willing to share their experiences with admissions, funding packages, and perhaps some vital stats to know where I might stand? YDS is by far my top choice as John Collins is there. I'm also applying to programs in the UK and the Netherlands, as well as Union Theological Seminary. Also, is my approach of applying exclusively to programs which don't require the GRE because I don't have much time to prepare for it somewhat misguided? If it helps anyone to determine whether I might be competitive for admission or funding, here are my vital stats: UGPA: 3.69, 3.76 major GPA (so far. These may go up slightly by the time transcripts are sent) in a Biblical Studies/NT BA Languages: 4 years Greek (attic and koine), 1 year Hebrew, some Aramaic, 1 year Latin, 1 year German, fluent Modern Greek (of course, this is not exactly a useful research language) Publishing: just in student journals Experience: I volunteered for a couple years in Europe as a missionary for my church I haven't taken the GRE as YDS, UTS, and a couple attractive programs in the UK don't require it (is this a mistake? Should I make time to cram for it?) I'm not sure how strong my LoRs will be, as I haven't taken more than a class or two from any one professor, although I will be working on a proposal for a mentored research grant with one this semester. I appreciate any and all advice you may be willing to give