MBIGrad

I can tell that some don't appreciate this metaphor; please don't feel obligated to make use of it. What I had in mind was this: 1. As with a date, you are trying to explore a closer relationship between a person (people), perhaps someone you don't know very well, or at all. 2. You are trying to put your best foot forward. You emphasize your strengths, and hide your weaknesses (although they will eventually emerge). 3. You are asking questions, questions like "Have I called/emailed too much? Or not enough? What did they mean when they said that?" Perhaps you even hear rumors (perhaps on GradCafe). 4. You are unsure, on some level, about yourself, but known you must muster the confidence to be bold and proactive; at the same time, you don't want to smother. 5. You talk to people who know said date/POI to see what they like, what they don't, what they're like. While I appreciate the thoroughly insightful criticism, my metaphor was not designed to imply a simple, or obvious, answer to the question. However, I think that metaphor gives a good (or at least a different) perspective. The "point of pithy" is succinct apposition.

If you've been on a date, "good fit" should make sense.

Applying: Yale (Ancient Christianity), Princeton (CJA), Harvard (CJA), Duke (NT), UNC (Qumran/NT), FSU (RWA), UT Austin (RWA), Emory (NT), Baylor (NT). With a relatively weak possibility of an application to UVirginia (NT/Second Temple). Maybe Vanderbilt MA (Classics). Almost applied to ND, Brown, UChicago. And can I bust out some non-PhD-applicant-appropriate language and say that it is "lame-sauce" that all the California schools have stopped doing Ancient Christianity/Biblical Studies.

As far as newer stuff, Jonathan Armstrong's translation of Eusebius' Isaiah Commentary either just came out or soon will, and it is the first translation of this work. Early Church History is too broad a field, however. Joe Kelly's books are fun to read, and Margaret Mitchell, Elizabeth Clark and Stephen Davis and worth checking out.

You might wait until you get to know your advisor(s), if you're game for it. When I was admitted in my MA program, my advisor gave me an older version of her BibleWorks on disc for free. Many faculty members will have older versions of references works like this, the Chicago Manual, even BDAG and lexicons sometimes. Of course, vying for these things might be tricky.

Do a bunch of push ups.

The onion is right about the way to approach doctoral study per money, etc.... I do think the "real problem," though, is that there are simply 100-200 PhDs for every tenure track job that opens up, and that cannot change until jobs increase and/or PhDs decrease. A recent opening in Wright State's religion dept. capped the applicants at 180; my undergrad, a place that doesn't even do tenure (!) and is a tiny and obscure place to work rejected hoards of Harvard, ND, etc... PhDs. I think Sarah's idea is sound as well, though; it's Hollywood. I have a cousin in Hollywood right now who is paying for his own horseback lessons, etc..., so that he might be considered for action roles which require certain skills. Happy hunting!

Unusual as Modern Hebrew may be, I heard tell that this year during an interview at UT Austin, an HB applicant had his interview conducted in Modern Hebrew, as they wanted him/her to be able to teach a beginner's course at the university. Food for thought.

11Q13 is right on this one, I believe. For all those planning on entering the academy via the humanities, I think it would does us all well to plan on not getting a job and not being able to pay anything back. Seriously. Any type of college debt, undergrad or graduate, is one of the worst among many viable options for us. There are a number of things that can be done other than school for a year. I applied to 15 Master's program (all of which had the possibility for full funding), got into 11 or 12, and only got 1 with full funding. I am not at Duke, but neither am I in debt. This has to be balanced against the probability that those getting anything like decent jobs upon dissertation will be attending the top 20 schools. Look at the schools that wil pay for your grad school and get you valuable experience. People should not be paying for graduate school. It is bad statistics, bad business, questionable decision making. These remarks sound cynical and arrogant, yes; but the truth is we all would do well to remember these things and take them to heart.

The advice for reading a chapter a day thing works well. Since I have time constraints, I do a chapter of either Greek/Hebrew daily (roughly) and work on Latin and German as I am able (at least once every other day or so). And learning Classic Greek if you only know Koine is a great idea and actually quite easy. The only drawback to this system, esp. w/ languages like Hebrew that allow a fairly easy read without doing active parsing in your head, is that you forget all 100 million ways to parse those stupid root consonants. AbrasaxEos, suggestions?

Despite all of what is stated above, no school has a "requirement" for GRE and they state it time and again. Most top tier schools don't look at apps under 90-91% and end up admitting 94-99%ers. This is in reference to PhD programs. Partially funded Master's programs of any type will admit anyone who seems like they can halfway "hack" it, because these students are a revenue source (in any academic department, this applies).

And doulos, Please post the answer to his last questions there publicly if you would; it would be quite helpful. Thanks, CMB

The funding is 16-18k + medical for five years, and there are some annual university fellowships that go above this. Their program is up and coming and, unlike some other public schools w/ this area of study, won't be losing their big guns within the next few years. Their newest, Dr. Kaplan, is supposed to be the cat's pajamas in OT/Second Temple. In addition, they will be doing more hiring in the program within the next little while. -CMB

I just let Duke know I would not be enrolling in the MTS, so I hope that opens a spot for one of ya'll.

Hey NC, Having spent my college career living off campus and working full time (single and married), I would say even in the most expensive places (La Mirada or around LA) $17k would be more than doable; this would be especially true if you were able to do $150-200 monthly for food (on which you can eat very healthily) and not have a car payment (which is also quite easy to do). Also, I have lived in Eugene, OR and, in reference to that U of O waitlist, if you get accepted there the cost of living could be extremely low. Hope it helps Carson