JonesSJ

Congratulations! One piece of advice, take into account cost of living in each given area. If you are struggling to make ends meet, you won't be able to perform your best. For instance, Boston college is great but make sure you have a plan for crazy rent prices in Boston. That goes for any of the others too. Especially if you have dreams of doing doctoral work in the future, you won't be making any kind of decent money any time soon, if ever. Don't set yourself up for failure in the non academic aspects of your grad school journey. You will be happier for it.

Depends on what you are looking for. Candler is going to offer you a lot of variety and a great, well rounded education with some really cool people. I found myself with equal scholarships between Candler and Perkins (SMU) last year. I will say that I ended up choosing Perkins over Candler partially because Candler was pretty inattentive when I reached out to them for anything, and I'm not the only one at Perkins who ran into that issue. Something to consider, but nothing to detract from the amazing education and I think if I had figured out a higher paying job in Atlanta I might have still gone. Duke is interesting. They are currently playing the balancing act between church and academy and that balance is leaning more heavily towards church at the moment. That is not a bad thing. But that is something to note going in. I have a lot of friends there now. I've heard some really good things, and I've also heard from some who majored in religion/ministry in their undergrad that Duke isn't pushing them a ton because they are gearing moreso towards the church. In my evaluation, and again I don't go there so take this with a grain of salt, Duke is great if you are the type of student Duke is gearing towards, that being someone without a ton of prior religious education who wants a solid education geared specifically towards the church. You have two fantastic options, congratulations on the opportunity! I think between the two the question really comes down to fit. Hopefully some students can offer their personal experience as all my experiences are mediated through friends and are not first hand. I do know though that they are catering towards two different kinds of students. Talk to some people and I think you will figure out which school you more closely align with.

I'm looking at applying for a PhD in Hebrew Bible/Jewish studies in the next year or two. I have several credit hours in Biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek under my belt and I'm trying to add some element of theological German to my proficiencies. However, it might be difficult for me to do German through my school. Has anyone turned to resources outside of their schools to get some experience with research languages before applying to your PhD, and if so, where did you go?