mystic rose

The standard stipend at Notre Dame is $17,000 a year for 4 years. Additional summer funding is available. Also, ND provides health insurance and the standard arrangement asks student to pay 50% of the premium.

I think it depends on the focus of the specific religious studies department. Religious studies departments can encompass classes on scripture, systematic theology, philosophy of religion, religious ethics, religious history, religious literature, comparative religions, sociology of religion, etc. Some lean more towards a historical and biblical approach, while others are more focused on religion and its influence on culture.

I second that it probably depends on the program. Also, I think it depends on what you want to study. If you're interested in quantitative research, then it would definitely be a good idea to take a class in basic statistics. If you're interested in qualitative research, then you should take a qualitative methods class. That way you hopefully won't have to take these basic courses as a PhD student (I say hopefully because schools can be picky about what classes from other programs they will count). In my case, I have a BA in religion (Christian ethics focus) and political science and a MA in religion (Christian ethics focus). I applied to 3 religion PhD programs for sociology of religion, and one sociology PhD program with an emphasis in sociology of religion. My application cycle has gone pretty well, and it didn't seem to matter to the schools that I don't have a sociology background. However, at the recruitment weekends I've attended, the professors I talked to did mention that it was good that I had experience in the social sciences as an undergrad political science major. So, I'm inclined to think that having a few courses in stats/theory/methods helps.

I'm curious, what was the Emory interview weekend like? What kind of questions do they ask?

What are schools were you considering? And what made you choose UVA?

I'm making an effort to pray more, and am saying the night prayer of the divine office before bedtime.

I have seen the First Things article. But really, Catholic University over Harvard and Yale? Nothing against CUA, but I don't buy that. I think the author ranks programs more according to theological conservatism than strength of program (resources available to current students, funding, number of graduates in tenure track jobs, etc.).

I understand that US News doesn't rank religion or theology programs like it does other fields. However, I'm curious as to people's thoughts on which schools are at the top and which would be tier 2 of 3 schools. I came across this list http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/M ... ograms.htm , but it's clearly old. Btw, I do realize that religion PhD programs are not in as clear cut of tiers as law schools are, but I do understand that some are better than others (the better presumably Harvard, Yale, UChicago).

Northwestern's religion department already made its first decisions. The prospective students weekend just happened (Feb 20-21st).