MattDest

Even if it was titled "Philosophy of Religion and Ethics", it would still be pretty radical. If it was "Christian perspectives on Philosophy of Religion and Ethics", then I could understand. But most of these courses barely qualify as philosophy. Talbot is fairly conservative as far as seminaries go (Biblical inerrancy is one of their commitments), so that's why I say radical.

I just looked at Talbot's MA program curriculum, and I have to say I'm rather astounded. I can't be the only one who thinks this sort of thing is not good for philosophy as a discipline. The course descriptions read like adult education classes at the local church. Here is a description of one of the courses for the MA ("Spiritual Direction"): "A personal experience is required in Spiritual Direction at the Center for Spiritual Renewal at ISF. Course provides students the opportunity to explore their life of prayer and growth with a trained mentor or spiritual director from the Institute for Spiritual Formation." Uh, OK. Here's another (Phil. Anthropology and Phil Mind): "A study and defense of the existence and nature of the soul, the reality of disembodied existence, the nature of human action, and issues in personal identity. Various models of human nature will be investigated (dualism, behaviorism, functionalism, the identity thesis, eliminative materialism), as well as their implications or ethics." I can't imagine going to a graduate level seminar that identified its purpose as defending the nature and existence of the soul. This sounds like apologetics 101. I'm roughly familiar with Talbot because William Lane Craig (not a fan), but I didn't expect the MA program to be quite so radical.

I really had no idea that this was a possibility. I always assumed that the offers they gave were mandated by the graduate school and they had very little say in changing them. When I was visiting Arizona, I was able to get a semester fellowship with no teaching responsibilities. For those who have played schools off each other - is that what you were able to get? Or were you actually able to secure more funding?

What are you basing the "order of magnitude" better on? From my perspective, depending on one's interests, there isn't much difference between a Michigan and a Harvard, for example. As for MA placement records, I know that UMSL's MA program has placed people in Arizona (me) and Marquette. AFAIK, we were the only two people that applied to PhD programs (which makes us 2/2, but a terrible sample size). We also placed people into a few different law programs.

Did they really say "extra choosy"? Haha, that's something an adorable four year old would say.

I hate to see bad information be spread, so I'll just chime in. I don't know where you're getting this from, but this hasn't happened at UMSL in the past few years. Here is the placement record for our program.

Doesn't "taking over the world" qualify as industry?

We DON'T?! I don't think people here are worried about the "impropriety" of doing these things - just about whether or not it would be worthwhile. I just don't see the point in e-mailing the faculty before receiving official word.

I don't see what you stand to gain by reaching out to them via e-mail before your acceptance. It seems like it could only work against you. I would just wait until you hear more news, and keep your contact limited to the DGS for now.

Plato. I mean, c'mon bro - do you even science?

A friend designed mine for me, but I would recommend Google Sites, Weebly, and Wordpress. Each of them have a ton of free themes that you can build a nice looking site out of for free. If you don't want to shell out for your own domain name (10$ a year or so), you probably can get your current university to host it. I don't really know how to ask about that, but perhaps Takeruk would know. Here is mine, in case anyone is interested.

I'm guessing a mod pinned it.

I'll be direct either way.

I tailored my personal statements to each school (well, one paragraph), and you can see my stats. If I had to apply again, I'd probably do it the same way. I don't see why you wouldn't tailor a paragraph to each school. The only gamble - to me - seems to be whether or not to name people you would be interested in working with.

Congrats!

Run DMC, silly goose. Yes it is bad.

Congrats!!

Congrats!

Very cool - sorry to pry, but it's fascinating to see someone with your options go through the decision process.

I see you've narrowed down your prospects a lot! Any ideas where you will end up?

Does this mean you have to pay out of pocket for Tufts? I didn't know they admitted students without aid. Tufts places their students into excellent PhD programs, so I don't think it's that big of a risk. I would still definitely consider going to a PhD program and then perhaps applying out from there. The positives of this plan are that you aren't losing money on an MA, and you have long term security in case the application season doesn't go your way.

Waitlisted (and removed) from University of Illinois-Chicago.

Why do you think you would be happier in Austin than in Madison? Have you been to each city before? I love Madison.

Weak! Tell us all.

I threw it into virtual reality, hope it lands in your lap.