The Pierre Menard

I suggest that there is no realistic score that will "get you in."  Aside from being a multi-million dollar industry for testing companies, the GRE is required precisely because it creates a simple and (legally) safe way for schools to accept and reject students.  That's why you'll rarely get a clear from anyone about the "right" score.  Schools use the GRE to manipulate entering cohorts to their liking.  If a program wants to accept a student with low GRE scores, they'll downplay the significance of the GRE.  On the other hand, if the same school does not want to accept a student with high scores, they'll say, "Well, your GRE wasn't quite high enough."  If you have perfect scores, and they don't want to accept you, they'll say something like "Your scores raised some concerning questions with the admissions committee," etc.  The point is that there is a clear reason why all the very competitive programs get really cagey when they're asked about the GRE.  They start walking and talking on banana peels.  
 
Also, if you ever want to have some fun with an admissions committee, ask them about the GRE scores of their own professors with European and Canadian doctorates, especially if such a professor asks you about your GRE score.  None of them took the GRE.  You'll get blank stares and uncomfortable glances, because they're not sure how to respond to the hypocrisy of requiring potential students to earn a certain score on a standardized exam that some of their own professors never took.  When they don't really respond to your question, sum up your point by saying something like, "So, your program hires professors who did not take the GRE, much less score higher than the 90th percentile, yet your program also requires that potential students must earn a certain score to be seriously considered for admission?"  

The interviews at Yale Religious Studies most definitely are selective, at least in NT and Early Christianity. They send out more interviews than they have spots (given that there is usually only one spot for each). 

http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/financial/stipend.html

Yale offers their religious studies doctoral students $27,300 per year for at least five years with that amount potentially going up incrementally year over year (last year it went up around $800, if I remember correctly). If you have a family, they offer full health coverage (no monthly payments, no co-pays, nothing) for every member of your family at no cost to the student. Yale expects you to teach, because they want to train you to become a professor, but you don't get a stipend in exchange for teaching.

http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/financial/stipend.html

Yale offers their religious studies doctoral students $27,300 per year for at least five years with that amount potentially going up incrementally year over year (last year it went up around $800, if I remember correctly). If you have a family, they offer full health coverage (no monthly payments, no co-pays, nothing) for every member of your family at no cost to the student. Yale expects you to teach, because they want to train you to become a professor, but you don't get a stipend in exchange for teaching.

I noticed a few people here are applying to UChicago - I'm there now, so hopefully I can answer any questions you may have...

Difficult, yes but not impossible and not the worst idea in the world. I am two years out of the process by now, but in my own experience, along with a number of others with whom I applied, the best results (i.e. multiple acceptances) were from those who literally restarted each letter for each school. It takes some extra time and feels a bit frustrating, especially if you feel as though you are writing a similar letter for each, but I think each letter ends up sounding a bit more genuine and it eliminates the chance of you accidentally leaving something like "my interests in apocalyptic literature would make Prof. John Collins a perfectly suited advisor" in your SOP for Duke. Once you get past the window dressing of good GREs, GPAs, and LORs your SOP is what will really distinguish you from the 10-15 other candidates that probably have similar "hard" stats. Don't cheat yourself out of a chance at admission because you don't feel like putting in a couple of hours of extra work. The field becomes increasingly competitive every year, and with the inflation of so-called achievements, the hard stats of applications start becoming more of a name on the guest list if you will - the invitation to the VIP lounge comes only with the SOP.

Simple. Don't apply to schools that won't fund you.

Practice as much as possible. I am talking 12-14 hours a day or more. Full tests are better, If you don't feel like doing them then practice with 20 or more questions of any single type in one go. Your scores on the practice tests would be a very good estimate of the actual exam scores. And needless to say, if you want to get as close to perfect as possible on any one section (quantitative, verbal, AW, depends on your program), you should practice more for those section(s). In the case of verbal, I can say with confidence (and experience) that the depth of your vocabulary will be the single most important factor in deciding the overall score.

For Ishmael/constant,

New Haven is a decent place for families. I would go for East Rock, it is both the nicest area, as well as the one with a pretty good number of families. Also, it is served by the Yale Shutte system, which some of the other areas are not. Plus, you have East Rock park right in your backyard, so hikes, play areas, etc. are all easily accessible. East Rock is going to be one of the most expensive areas (for all these reasons), but Wooster Square and Westville are actually more or less similar in price.

The best advice I can give though is also to be sure you go see the place you are thinking of throughout the day & night. Some places are seem fine during the day, but degrade a bit at night. New Haven is a super-compressed city and you can very literally go from million-dollars homes near the Divinity School to some downright dangerous areas in two blocks. I think East Rock is the best bet to start out with. After you get a feel for the different areas for a year or so you can branch out. As for Dwight/Edgewood area, that is kind of on the border of a nice and not-so-nice area - so I would steer clear unless you went and visited and were fairly sure about the safety of the area. Westville is out to the west of the Yale campus and you'd need a car to live there. Public transit is absolutely awful in New Haven, and the Yale Shuttle doesn't run out there.

The school that constant is talking about is the Worthington Hooker School which is, true to reputation, excellent. However, for this reason, people go to very literally ridiculous lengths to get their children in there. It is very small, and so lots of parents who live within walking distance of the place end up being really disappointed when their kids end up having to go halfway across town to another school. However, they are renovating another school which is also in East Rock (called the East Rock Global Magnet School), and there has been a lot of push by parents in the area who have been unable to get their kids into the Hooker school (yes, they call it that and you'll see bumper stickers that read "Proud Hooker Mom" on cars all over) to make that one the "next" Worthington Hooker.

You can go here: http://www.newhavencrimelog.org/ to check out crime statistics in various areas. The truth of the matter is that in New Haven, because it is so small, and because income disparity swings to wildly from area to area, crimes do happen, even in nice areas. I am a tall, fairly imposing male, but I had one instance of a attempted mugging in which I could tell the person was faking a gun under their shirt (mesh jerseys don't work so well for that). Other than that, which was fairly late at night, my wife and I didn't have too much trouble (one car break-in). Overall, people make NH out to be worse than it is, and a lot of the crime is centered around a few areas and is related to squabbles that wouldn't really ever include you.

So, having lived in NH for 4 years, in a couple of different areas with a family, I have a decent bit of experience. Please PM me if you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to try my best to answer them for you.

As a current student who helped out with grad recruiting this year, I have gotten a few letters that have made me chuckle. Usually it's because the letter writer has unintentionally said something slightly presumptuous. For example, it is not necessary to go out of your way to reassure people that their program is a great one -- we are glad you liked it, but honestly as long as you're not coming it doesn't really matter to us whether you think we are "great." That is for the job market and our general reputation in the field to decide. Also, it is not necessary to imply that we might be upset or offended by your rejection. Of course we wish you had come, but it's not like we're going to take it personally, and it can almost sound like you're fishing for us to reinforce your sense of self-importance: "Indeed this is a dark day for our program! It troubles me deeply to know that YOU will not be coming!" (How else am I supposed to respond to that kind of comment? "Actually, it would have been great if you'd decided to come, but it's really not THAT important to us"?)

I don't mean to poke fun. I'm sure I said some of these things myself last year. I know that these comments are completely well-intentioned, and that declining an offer can be a very emotional experience. However, it is just not as emotional to the programs whose offers you are declining (even if they are truly disappointed you won't be coming), so there's no need to write your letter as though it is. Just thought I would share my perspective, since clearly this is a hard thing to get right when you've only been on the applicant side.

Dear (Lesser Institution, Institution Too God Damn Cheap to Fund Me, Horrible Fit For Me, etc.),
I would like to decline you offer for admission.
Thank you.
Nuff Said.

No one cares, this usually goes to a secretary or admin office. They simply cross your name off the list and move on to the next backup. Don't waste your time and energy trying to tip toe around you not wanting to be there.

Actually, they still can. The Resolution is not legally binding, and the worst that will happen to infractions is a loss of reputation/slap on the wrist from CGS. This assumes that the school is even a signatory of the resolution, not all are. And even if they are, they are in no way "forced" to follow it.

None of this makes pressuring early right (and in the case of the OP, the head of the adcom at the school said it was wrong and shouldn't have been done), but people need to realize that the graduate schoools "can" require you to make an early decision, revoke your offer, etc. It's not right, but there is nothing that prevents them from doing so and accepting the possible consequences. There are certainly no legal prohibitions to doing so.

Having an offer held until April 15th isn't a "right", it's a general courtesy that most schools consistently extend to the applicants. Equating the former with the latter just leads to confusion all around.

The April 15th deadline, though signed by most US schools, is more of a guideline. If a program violates it, all they risk is a rather light slap on the wrist by CGS.

I've heard that about Notre Dame as well. Unfortunately for me, I absolutely fell in love with it when I visited - I'm trying to sound wildly interesting and that ever magical "perfect fit" in my statement, but I guess I'm going to have to prepare for a broken heart.

What's the buzz about Candler? I just had a minister friend give me an admissions waiver for it, and I haven't heard much about it before. Worth applying?

Finally, Dasein, have you applied yet to PTS? They were a last minute addition for me, but when I saw that they had rolling admission starting in October, I panicked because I don't have all my stuff ready yet. What's the dead with rolling admission? How soon should I get it in to be competitive?

I haven't looked at Toronto at all! I'll check them out.

*edit* Another question. I haven't been involved in a church, heavily, since my freshman year of college. I got involved in academia instead (not really a substitute, I know) and in college attended a mini-mega church (just under 1,000 attendees). The pastor knows of me - I stayed involved in small groups, and my dad serves pretty closely with him in ministry - but I've probably had three conversations with him in my life. That's pretty much all I've got for pastoral reference. Anyone here attend a mega church? And will this sink my application?

Received a phone call yesterday that I'm in at Notre Dame for History of Christianity.

I'll claim it - got a phone call yesterday morning!

Here is my opinion, if you care:

It sounds like you might be over-thinking it. You cannot plan the details of your future that far out. No one is that good of a prognosticator, because the world has too many variables. No school will gurantee admission to a PhD program; no one will preclude you either. The name of the school matters, but the quality of your work and your person matters more. Work really hard at what you love—I mean really hard, because the most important thing is your work.

Also, your language about becoming a clergy in the SDA as a sort of "just in case", fall back plan sounds suspect. I predict those on this forum who are religious and those who are not would likely agree that one thing the world does not need is another clergy who became such because they failed at something else and this was there "just in case" plan.

At bottom, go to school at the place where you really want to go to school and study what fascinates you.

Here is my opinion, if you care:

It sounds like you might be over-thinking it. You cannot plan the details of your future that far out. No one is that good of a prognosticator, because the world has too many variables. No school will gurantee admission to a PhD program; no one will preclude you either. The name of the school matters, but the quality of your work and your person matters more. Work really hard at what you love—I mean really hard, because the most important thing is your work.

Also, your language about becoming a clergy in the SDA as a sort of "just in case", fall back plan sounds suspect. I predict those on this forum who are religious and those who are not would likely agree that one thing the world does not need is another clergy who became such because they failed at something else and this was there "just in case" plan.

At bottom, go to school at the place where you really want to go to school and study what fascinates you.

Here is my opinion, if you care:

It sounds like you might be over-thinking it. You cannot plan the details of your future that far out. No one is that good of a prognosticator, because the world has too many variables. No school will gurantee admission to a PhD program; no one will preclude you either. The name of the school matters, but the quality of your work and your person matters more. Work really hard at what you love—I mean really hard, because the most important thing is your work.

Also, your language about becoming a clergy in the SDA as a sort of "just in case", fall back plan sounds suspect. I predict those on this forum who are religious and those who are not would likely agree that one thing the world does not need is another clergy who became such because they failed at something else and this was there "just in case" plan.

At bottom, go to school at the place where you really want to go to school and study what fascinates you.

I just returned from Baylor's preview weekend. I'm not sure that I'll end up there - it's a good fit, but not a perfect one - but I did want to give the program a plug. I was quite impressed with both their faculty and their NT students, and their stipend to cost of living ratio for qualified students is probably better than any other school's (outside of ND's top scholarships). If anyone's scoping out places to apply for NT in the future, definitely give them a look.

Do you know if they already made their decisions for all subfields?

Just found out I was rejected by UNC. Happened to check my status on the online application, never received an email. This was the first decision I have received. I have also yet to hear anything from Duke.

Wow congrats to you guys! Acceptances already!

I also just got an invitation to Baylor's GPR Preview Weekend. Does anyone know when other schools usually do their interview weekend? I know not every school does one, but I thought someone might know some pertinent information.