Kuriakos

Lots of people enter PhD programs with just an MDiv. The decision to get a ThM or not is one you have to make based on how ready you think you are and how good your application currently is. For me, the ThM was an excellent way to get experience in doctoral seminars and gain the confidence to move on to a PhD. Not everyone needs that. As for going to a conservative school, my feeling is that most places won't penalize you if you demonstrate that you have left inerrancy and such behind. You can get a good basic education at a place like TEDS or Wheaton, so as long as you demonstrate you are ready to move on it probably won't matter. Some conservative seminaries have poor academic reputations which might be a problem. Places like Moody or any of the SBC seminaries can really hamper an application. If you went somewhere like that, getting a ThM from Duke, Candler, etc. can act as a palate cleanser of sorts.

P.S. If you have questions about Baylor, feel free to PM me.

Those seem perfectly adequate to me. I think my quant was a little lower than that and it didnt hurt me. I have heard that you should try to get at least a 5 on the Writing, but I doubt that .5 will matter much if the rest of your app is good.

So far, my 100-page ThM thesis will have nothing to do with my dissertation, but it would not be a problem if they were related. It is expected that you will try to expand on research you've already completed. That is part of moving from a masters student to a doctoral student. As long as you realize that you are not actually writing the first one or two chapters of your dissertation and you are open to the fact that doctoral coursework will push you in new directions, then I don't see how this could be an issue.

Those application fees can really add up, too!

I don't think UNC offers a terminal MA

A lot of universities will offer summer intensives in Attic Greek and Latin (and in modern research languages like French, German, Spanish, and Italian), so you could always do some of those even if they did not all end up being applied to your degree.

+1

That is suspiciously specific.

If you have to get another BA to get into a PhD program, you might as well just go into some new field where you can get a job. Get a STEM degree and forget all this.

Was the degree from an accredited institution?

If you want a guaranteed job, don't get a PhD in the Humanities. I know lots of Duke, Harvard, etc. PhDs who have struggled to find employment. Brilliant people, too.

I don't know about all the details, but the University of Toronto is, at least from what I've seen, very highly regarded.

Perhaps it is just the Christianity oriented classes?

I still have nightmares about slogging through Mark Taylor's About Religion.

I have no personal experience, but someone else in my program did their MA at UChicago and described it exactly the way MarXian did.

From what I remember, the advice was generally the same. Get a second master's or do a post-bacc in Classics somewhere.

I laughed, so we can be jerks together. This reminds me of the time I was going to get a form signed by my academic adviser and had to wait outside while she was dealing with another student. I overheard this student seeking advice for getting into PhD programs who had a GPA barely above a 2.0. Yikes.

Are you the same guy who posted on the SBL facebook group?

I would not recommend anyone get a doctorate from Unisa. I'm glad it worked out for your supervisor, but for most people it would be career suicide (is it still career suicide if it is over before it began?). If you are thinking of going the SA doctorate route, then Pretoria or Stellenbosch is a much better option.

I don't know how many people were serious, but I heard a lot of people casually suggest going on to a PhD like it was no big deal. I'd hate to be Fuller faculty during application season.

It's interesting to hear you say that MarXian, because I felt like everyone at Fuller wanted to get into a PhD program.

I think this is why you see so many conservative evangelicals doing UK doctorates focused on grammatical issues or textual criticism. It is especially easy to avoid difficulties.

It is very easy for Americans to get into UK PhD programs. Americans = $$$ (or £££ I suppose)