Trin

Oh, trust me, I don't have to think about it, I've had the experience, long ago, of financial aid money being delayed long enough to nearly reach the point of eviction in off campus housing. My impression is that Harvard's off campus housing system (properties owned or managed by Harvard) reduces many of these issues, but there are still some of the tradeoffs I've alluded to earlier. I hope your choice works out for you. Brown is one of those places I probably would have enjoyed as an undergrad. :-)

Oh, phenomenologist, I want to have your thought babies. :-) Kuhn! I heart him. And of course, Kuhn tells us that that tenured professors are the standardbearers of the existing paradigm, and shifts come from the graduate students, TA's, and the untenured. :-) Kuhn's ideas have certainly played out in the fields of religious scholarship over the past 200 years.

There's just a lot of stuff I don't want to deal with involved in off campus. For example, I'm not bringing or buying furniture -- I want something furnished. I'm not terribly interested in sharing, unless it's someone I already know or have become really comfortable with. And I'd like pretty much NO commute. I'm not going to come out just to go apartment shopping, because I have too much travel already on my plate for this summer -- Westercon in July, Worldcon in August. I've had more than 25 years of living "off campus" and deaing with all the details associated with it. I'd rather pay a bit more for convenience and fewer things to manage. If I want to spend time living off campus, I'll get enough of that when I'm at home with my SO during the holidays.

Things I won't miss: 1. Having EVERY major course I take be full of non-majors fulfilling breadth requirements, especially when they brag about how little they read/learn/retain in the classes.It's hard when there are only 2 or 3 majors in your department. 2. A two hour commute (each way) to class. 3. Classmates who whine about having to read 15 pages a week for a class. Seriously, you consider 15 pages to be an unreasonably heavy reading load? Wimps. Things I will miss: 1. My SO. 2. Bay area weather. 3. The Pacific Ocean 4. San Francisco style burritos

I appreciated the financial aid office being so candid about it with me and told them so. Let me know what you decide -- I understand being concerned about the financials. I'm hoping to get into on-campus housing so that I will have as many fixed predictable expenses as possible. I certainly agree about taking on too much debt. My daughter is an art student who was admitted to some of the top programs, but with huge financial aid gaps -- 25-30K in parent loans above the full student loans. She ended up choosing a program that was less prestigious but had the best aid package. Of course, she was choosing an undergrad program --it's rough when already have massive debt before you even get to grad school. I will probably be much more concerned about debt for a PhD program, but part of that is just the math of being older, etc.

Yeah, I know what you mean by that! My son went to visit U Chicago after he was admitted to be certain that he was doing the right thing by choosing Reed instead. It was a great visit for that -- he came away 100% certain about his decision instead of 90% certain.

Yeah, I know what you're saying. OTOH, my SO is going to be there with me for move-in no matter what, and it's not that we can go particularly early -- I have a big commitment the week prior, so I'll be there when my housing opens, probably. If I went to admitted student, it would be so that I could look at some of the dorm options I've applied for (particularly the walking distances involved) and to talk to the CSWR residential coordinator. It's also going to be much better sightseeing weather -- that is, it'll be cooler than it will be in late August. My partner is going to lose me to HDS for two years -- I thought it would be nice for him to see the place before we show up for move-in, at least. I'd go at another time, but they have possible travel reimbursements for the admitted student day.

Who all is going to admitted student days, and where? I'm on the fence about HDS. On the one hand, I don't *need* to go, and I really shouldn't spend on it, but I *want* to go. My children were in the same position recently -- they both really wanted to attend the admitted student open houses for the colleges they'd chosen, even though they'd visited before. I ended up letting them, because they were excited and wanted to see other folks planning on going. On the other hand, somewhere else someone said that only a handful of those who attend HDS admitted student are going to actually attend, and that they found the event disappointing. I had *really* wanted to take my SO so that he could see the place, but his ESPP stock is down and he'd rather save the money. *ponder*

That's going to depend more on your field of interest, I'd think. They're also different geographically -- GTU is well-placed in the larger bay area, whereas my impression is that Yale doesn't have the same kind of urban setting. (I mean, it's in a city, but not in the same way, if that makes sense.) You should also look at living expenses -- *everything* is more expensive here in the bay area -- food, gas, taxes are 8.5-10 percent, dining out costs more. I was sort of in shock when I first moved here, because I didn't realize how fast the larger prices could add up. Oh, and of course, Californians are different from east coasters, too -- they're huggy and often more direct. I've lived in the bay area for almost 12 years and hope to attend GTU after HDS, so I may be a bit biased.

Argh! I'm a HDS admit, and I'm older than you both, by a decade. I'm also planning on dorm housing (have applied at Cronkhite), because I'll be living in California with my family during the holidays.

I did immediately after I was admitted. :-) I agree it was and is very helpful as a resource.

I'm glad you've been admitted to your best-fit! I hope the funding is good. :-)

Oh no, Dillskyplayer, that sucks -- I'm very sorry. If you come back to look, I wish you good luck in the future -- let me know if you want to talk about the Decatur/Emory area.

Woot! Woot! Yay! I hope we get lots of admissions!

I want a *like* button for this, because I totally could have rocked that. Also, I'd use Kaplan to study -- Aryeh Kaplan. *laugh*

I can't help but be positive, given how lucky I am right now. :-) If I were a different sort of writer, I'd be talking about divine grace right about now. Anyway, YES, BTI. You have Prothero at BU, and I heart him too, especially his work on respecting pluralistic differences. :-) He's the kind of religious communicator that I appreciate, aside from my other scholarly interests.

OMG, GRE math. I hadn't had any math coursework since 1985 when I took it! I did study a little bit, but not as much as I should, so I had a 660 or 680 or something like that. My friends joked with me constantly about the uses for calculus in religious studies -- counting the change in angels on pin heads over time, etc.

Yup. In email this morning, they let me know that 1/2 tuition is the largest need-based grant they offer. All other grants are merit-based and are final offers. :-) I have no problem with that -- I know that there are folks with higher GPAs who are more competitive candidates and got merit money. Besides, it gives me even more reason to kick a$$ in my first year there. :-)

I agree, and I hope it didn't sound as if I was suggesting that others didn't do something right. And I certainly agree, it's a very small sample size.

I really appreciate you saying this. It's something that came up in my essays and SOP for HDS, too. One of the biggest themes of my app was my commitment to making sure that marginalized voices are part of the theological conversation. In my case, I spent several years doing theology in that academic context. I remember once asking my major advisor if we could include some of the "new" feminist theological scholarship in my coursework. He told me, "Well, we could offer that Women of the Bible class again, how would that be?" *smile* It simply wasn't in the realm of that department to include that "other" scholarship back then. In academic contets, I'm the person asking who isn't being represented, who isn't being heard, and which experiences aren't acknowledged. I think you can have rigorous scholarship that is also inclusive. That's not about fundraising or endowments or being a good media story -- but it *is* very much in line with HDS's official vision and mission statements.

Wow. *smile* I mentioned to my SO last night that there was a whole thread that could be summed up as "How did *she* get admitted?" and then read him the thread and responses. I realize that I'm not the only person you're referencing, but I think we can both be honest that I'm probably one of the admits that confuses people. I'd like to respond generally with this: http://www.hds.harvard.edu/about_hds/mission_vision.html. It's HDS's mission statement. There's also this interview with the HDS dean: http://www.rahimkanani.com/2010/11/22/an-in-depth-interview-with-william-graham-dean-of-harvard-divinity-school-hds-on-the-schools-evolution-teaching-and-scholarship-extremism-and-the-media-and-the-need-to-understand-religion-as/ . Togther, they represent a roadmap, a kind of summation of what HDS imagines itself to be and (more importantly for admissions) what kind of students they envision admitting and producing. You'll notice that especially in the Dean's statement, there's some very clear information about what HDS has been and would like to be. In some ways, it's similar to your ideas about it -- but it's explicit. There's no secret agenda. I think what I would take issue with is that idea that such a focus has to involve "very untraditional students," or that the students that you think of that way actually *are* as unusual as you think. In my case, my academic chops go back more than 20 years, and include a firm foundation in Biblical Studies and theology, complete with coursework in Biblical Hebrew and Latin. My transcript is thick with the mainstays of comparative studies, and my most recent work is a pretty traditional grounding in world religions. Yes, I'm an older student, but I would say that most "unusual" thing about me is my willingness to combine elements in my scholarship that aren't normally on the same page, so to speak. Even that, though, is becoming an increasing part of the discipline, or at least of comparative studies. I don't think that I was admitted to HDS because I'd make a good media story, or an element of some reframing of the institution as a "beacon of social justice". I think I was admitted because I sifted through the HDS website and writings of professors I admire there -- Diana Eck and Leila Ahmed, for example -- and then made sure that my application represented a clear narrative that answered the question, "Why are you a good fit for HDS?" If I had been applying to Yale or Chicago or Union, my SOP, essays, and recommendations would have looked different, because they'd have been tailored for that narrative instead.

Dillskyplayer, that's my area, sort of -- I went to school there when I was younger, and have friends who lived in the area for many years. When I get a chance, I will write you up a longer response. As for city/suburb, it would help me if I knew what cities you were more familar with, so I could give you points of comparison. Emory is part of the "inner suburbs", sort of, which means it's not in the high rise area of Atlanta, but is what many folks living in the 'burbs would call "in town". Anyway, will write more later in the day or evening -- I have one last performance and have to get ready for that.

I got into the one program I applied to, but the funding is low, so I'm going to have to work to get them to up it and to find other sources. This is my celebration song today -- with a hint of bittersweet and a lot of determination. Mary Chapin Carpenter -- The Hard Way

Yup! Well, time to start beating the bushes for more money! I've already written HDS Financial aid asking them to look more closely at my situation. :-)

Well, to be fair, I have a 3.996 or something in everything I've done since I returned to school, but my previous work is a 1.5, so I have worked to get straight A's in order to compensate for that.