
MBIGrad
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Everything posted by MBIGrad
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Certain Emory profs have told me they don't like to talk to students before the application process has narrowed it down, therefore I am not applying there....trivia.
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I heard the same thing at UT. As for PTS, I think they are mostly $12k with one or two $18ks per year, and they subsidize housing significantly. But yes, I am not talking about PTS and it is in a different category. I am applying to UNC and UT, and hope that if admitted I have a chance at additional funding re: GRE scores; I know that both schools with submit admitted students for university funding. But it is too bad that at programs with such exceptional faculty and resources, stipends preclude concentration on research. But such is life. As for the living penny to penny thing, I don't really mind it, but I would like to not drive pizzas... Concerning BU, how is that? The stipend, I believe, is $19.5k or something, but I was under the impression that Boston was expensive. Also, I don't really know about FSU's funding (website is vague) and UVA is $18k, which seems to me about par for tier 1 funding. By the way, if anyone has any sweet tips on any of the schools on my "Applied" list, feel free to post them here.
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Hey All, I have a question for Ancient Mediterranean Religions PhD program hopefuls: What do you make of programs such as UNC-Chapel Hill and UT-Austin concerning the funding situation? Both programs seem to me to be top 10 programs by any reckoning, yet each has a $15-16k stipend, relatively high cost of living, and at UNC at least, the student fees are several thousand dollars. With programs like this that have phenomenal resources in faculty, facilities, programs, language and archaeology training, and yet at the same time have funding that, for some, would necessitate another source of funding (or PT job), what are your thoughts? I, for one, am hoping to get out of the go to school, work an assistantship, and work part-time jobs on the side phase of quasi-academic life. Love to hear from y'all.
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As long as Segovia is there, your background will likely be very attractive to the program (capitalize on that and 'marginal readings' of the NT in your SOP). Unless you are applying for substantial funding, those stats are fine for any MDiv program.
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A few things for the PhD applicants abroad: 1) What are your thoughts on schools with idyllic programs and relatively small stipends ($15-16k), perhaps with high student fees? Worth it? (One might have to, say, drive pizzas to make ends meet...) 2) How happy are you with your writing sample? Is it publishable? Is it an original essay, history of research, just descriptive, old argument? 3) Post your application milieu in your signature line once you've applied; it's one thing everyone is curious about. 4) For anyone applying to Princeton, Yale, UT Austin, or Harvard in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, I'd love to know your interests, topic of your writing sample, POIs.
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An HB from Trinity Western in CA was admitted to Emory's PhD in the last two or three years too. By the way, the best way to overcome whence you come is to meet people, face to face or by phone, so that they know who you are (if you are from an obscure school).
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One of the profs at Vanderbilt does Early Christian stuff, not that the program will be less competitive.
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UCalgary; U British Columbia; NOT McGill; Devry University (in some cases); University of Phoenix (online adult ed programs are highly funded); UNC-Honolulu; UC-Littlerock; NYU-Toledo.... (The first three were serious; in fact, UBC and Calgary fund the MA students upwards of $15k in most instances)
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Y'all should be studying for the GRE.
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Also, if you decide to apply for a Church History track in a religion department, theologically oriented schools with longstanding strengths in that area include Baylor and Fordham. Yale's Religion PhDs allow for an application for an extra year of funded coursework resulting in an MPhil in Medieval Studies en route. Along with Harrison, I would consider the programs in theology at Harvard and Duke, because they place their theology PhDs in a variety of posts. Also look at Emory.
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Also, University of Calgary just tried to recruit me; apparently they pay $14k to their Master's students. I believe FSU also has fellowship/assistantship programs available to MA students; the same may be true of USF.
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I am meeting with David Frankfurter in a week or two, and think I have considered every American school in this category. I just wanted to know about Duke, since with UNC the dynamic is odd. Thanks, though. BU's program does look sweet.
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Yes, that helps. In regard to the first sentence of your paragraph two, my concern is that top programs get a dozen or two applications about which they are generally quite enthusiastic (from a senior prof at a top program). It was my understanding that the best fit will usually be the applicant whose interests and proposed project(s) (are we talking project or projects in the SOP?) the department is best able to facilitate. Thus, with your example, would you want to suggest a project on Mormonism, or would you want to suggest something in their area which crosses into yours, placing as heavy an emphasis as possible on their methodological and/or topical interests? Thanks. Doctoral students, keep the advice coming.
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I just sat in on a seminar for Princeton's Program in the Ancient World; it may be among the best examples of the type of program after which you are inquiring.
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This question is being asked of current PhD students, those who have been admitted into a program and therefore have written a "successful" letter of intent/statement of purpose. For those of us about to apply (said in the gladiatorial mode of "we who are about to die, salute you!"), it would be very helpful to know how to parse the influx of input we receive about what one wants to concentrate upon in his or her statement. Among the items heralded as holding "first importance" in this document (which apparently really is of first importance), the following arise often: -Intellectual evolution -Areas of interest -Fit with program -Coursework/prep/language faculty (I guess a recounting of "stats") -Personality/characteristics (ambitious/assiduous/collegial/intellectual/sycophantic) -Persons of Interest -Attraction to program -Past scholarships/potential to attract funding -Networking (I suppose these could be "hints" or explicit name-dropping) -Achievements Some of these categories are redundant or overlap significantly, and refining the categories would likely not contribute to the discussion. My question would be, rather, which among these would you rank and "very important" and why? What has your experience been? I have been told that establishing through research areas and project interests a good "fit" with the faculty is the most important piece of this document. Any extrapolation of this or any other insight would be most appreciated.
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If anyone knows, I would be grateful to know whether and how often students admitted to Duke's NT program do focused work in non-canonical areas such as Valentinianism, Nag Hammadi & Oxyrhyncus papyri, Greco-Roman "Paganism" and the imperial cult, social and anthropological theory, or ritual and magic analysis. Their faculty is broad, but the program is strictly NT. Also, has anyone worked with Van Rompay down there, and does he or she know if he will be teaching for the foreseeable future? (And to precede one response, I know that UNC is better for these things, but Marcus, Goodacre, and the Div School faculty are considerable, and the stipend is better)
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Know that UVA is losing Harry Gamble and Judith Kovacs.
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You can always do a phone call; several POIs have suggested as much to me. Out of 12 schools, I am only visiting 4-6. I don't think the name-to-face is as important as the ability to, in your letter of intent, describe at least one project that is an exact fit for the school. This is made much easier by a visit, I am finding. But a phone call could do the same thing, provided you played your cards right. Where are you applying?
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Indeed
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I am not talking about distinct programs. The question is not about statement of intent, but about which option seems best and why, and whether anyone knows how much pull a related prof might have. Or even an unrelated field: Say you are applying to do NT at Harvard and a recommender of yours knows Shaye Cohen or Jon Levenson quite well; would that even affect your application and, if so, how much?
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Here's a theoretical question for y'all, just for fun: If you were interested in both Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism, and were applying to programs concentrated on one or the other but involving both, to which would you apply if: 1) at a certain school, the Second Temple Judaism concentration received fewer applications (and thus was less competitive) and held real interest for you, 2) but one of your recommenders was very well known by the Hebrew Bible faculty and not so much, perhaps (you don't know), by the STJ faculty? I would be especially interested in PhD students familiar with how much faculty from related concentrations weigh in on the applications of students applying to cognate areas (eg, do NT faculty at X University factor heavily, lightly, or not at all on admitting students applying to Ancient Christianity?)
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You can always ask a question about a professor's research, which you ought to be interacting with in your writing anyway; then simply tack on "By the way, insert questions"?
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And yet, I must tell that girl how I feel! I must have her!
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University of Helsinki has a funded PhD position as well. People there study GThomas and socio-cognitive approaches. 2,400 pounds a month. Big faculty. Finnish is a cool language, too (program is English).
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If your German Grammar is optional and/or returnable, I leave you this gem: http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rfburger/language/German%20for%20Reading/ (Sandberg's Grammar online) Happy Birthday