artandrelig

well, i did a google search "harvard divinity versus yale divinity" in my desperation. i got the wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Divinity_School under hte "History" section, this is written: "Today [Harvard's] students and faculty come from a variety of religious backgrounds, Christian (all denominations), Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, etc. Its academic programs attempt to balance theology and religious studies, that is, the "believer's" perspective on religion with the "secular" perspective on religion. This is in contrast to many other divinity schools where one or the other is given primacy (Yale Divinity School, for example, emphasizes its ministry program, while the University of Chicago Divinity School sees the majority of students enroll in its "religious studies" Master of Arts program)." this is, of course, wikipedia. so. maybe a uchicago or yale student wrote that part, or maybe dean graham did

craigslist would probably not be bad. also if you go on campus there will probably be flyers posted by landlords who often rent to the brown community. from what i know about living off-campus, which i did senior year undergrad, the landlords aren't great in terms of keeping the place neat and tidy, but you can definitely find good deals on college hill as long as you make sure to hold your landlord accountable - ie, my former roommate did the end-of-the-lease walkthough with them to make sure they didn't try to take more of our security deposit for "damage" than they should have.

thanks all. turns out when i went to school B, i still didn't have an epiphany moment, but i did have a "you know...yes." moment. which, frankly, is just as good. i'm finally realizing that i wasn't going to make the WRONG choice, and both are right, so to amend my thread-topic question, i now say, "is there more than one right choice?" and the answer to that is probably yes.

let's talk harvard-yale-chicago divinity (for entirely selfish reasons). what have you heard about these programs? similarities-differences-problems-challenges etc? wikipedia (hah) suggests that yale is the most ministry-oriented, then harvard, and lastly chicago. to reverse that, it suggests that chicago is the most academic, then harvard, then yale. thoughts?

hm. i mean, i'm pretty sure i want to go to grad school; nothing is quite as exciting to me as academia! :wink: ugh i think i'm just having bad ennui. it's rainy today too. i guess i'm just wondering if anyone else feels the lack of LOVE for a place, but has overcome that? i have a feeling i'm being a bit silly about it, but i'd love to hear outside proof of that

anyone else feel like there is no right choice? i got into some really great schools, and was SO EXCITED. then...i visited, and none of them wowed me. i don't know if i just have unrealistic expectations, or if this is just wrong for me. OR if visiting days aren't the best measure of things. everywhere the students were nice, the professors were nice, the campus was nice, but i just couldn't SEE myself there. this could just be me being crazy. i was wondering today if i perhaps have just built this up too much, and the only thing for me to feel would be slightly let down. i was definitely expecting an epiphany at a campus, as i experienced when choosing an undergraduate institution, and i guess it's just so UNEXPECTED to be trying to make this choice purely based on empirical comparisons rather than what a place made me FEEL like. siiigh. any support/help/commiseration appreciated!

thanks! congrats to you too! maybe i'll see you visiting day (it should be funny to see how many people known about gradcafe!)

anyone received their real-mail version of acceptance w/funding and visiting day info? i'm trying to plan the trip! (also, the visiting day is tuesday, april 7, not the 8 as the online version mistakenly said - i checked w/the admissions office)

don't know if this helps anyone, but i'm 90% sure i will not be going to UVA for an MA in Theology, Ethics, and Culture. also, chicago is not currently my first choice for MA - history of xianity, ox, but that may change w/visiting.

visit forthcoming (april), but still obsessing over it currently. i seriously don't know what i'm going to do with myself come april 16! i'll be in anxiety withdrawal! well, maybe that's overstating things. i'll probably immediately start to freak out about moving cities.

so here's my thing. program size. as i was applying, i sort of got excited at the prospect of applying to larger schools (in my case, divinity schools w/in larger universities), as i was looking forward to working with a larger group. i figured, hey, i have my phd years to do with only 3 or fewer other people in my life. but then, i got into this really great (and tiny and specialized) program that fits my interests extraordinarily well, but now i'm feeling so ANXIOUS [forum buzzword] about the tiny size. i can't really put my finger on why, i just do. thoughts? of course, people in small programs benefit from more time w/advisors, etc, but i just fear that i would lose the constant exchange of ideas that always got me excited about school since i was 4....

to be "safe" on the subway, you really just need to use common sense. namely, don't get on an empty/almost empty car late at night. the subway car can be its own little world so it's often better to have several different groups of people along with you if you're traveling alone. if you're feeling especially paranoid, get in the car with the conductor/mta official - each train will have at least two (the driver at the front, and another guy somewhere in middle). you'll see what car this second guy is in because his head'll be poking out the window. if need be, you can knock on his door and at least you'll have "official" back up. try not to fall asleep on the subway! hah, that might sound OBVIOUS, but you never really want to go past your stop, for convenience's sake. if someone starts bothering you, get off at the next stop. ignoring them is the best option. if they're REALLY freaky, look for a police officer at the station; they're usually not hard to find.

i'm likely yale-bound! when are you guys moving up/down/over there? are you planning to be on or off-campus? also, any ideas about cross-departmental socializing? like, is there a central hanging-out spot for the grad crowd?

fyi, small envelope does NOT necessarily mean bad news! i got into UVA w/a standard size envelope and a one page letter from the department head....

i'm in the same boat- i thought i would perhaps send a letter along with the decline form, just saying thank you so much but i have received an offer with considerable funding elsewhere, i look forward to one day meeting you as I'm sure our paths will cross, etc. anyone have any thoughts on this? is email a better tactic?