kjdin06

I would be interested to hear someone from Yale Divinity speak to its strengths and weaknesses, particularly by departments.

I was wondering what other people think about the reputations at these institutions. In particular, what are their various strengths and weaknesses? Obviously, PTS recently completed a $100 million dollar construction project (new library and married housing), but I'm wondering where other school's have them beat on an academic level? I am also wondering how this play out both for Masters and Doctoral students. Are these evaluations correct? Strengths: Princeton Theological Seminary - Post-Liberal Theology (McCormack and Hunsinger), Old Testament (Seow, Laspsley, and Sakenfeld), Medieval Church History, Reformation Church History, U.S. Church History, Pastoral Theology, Youth and Religion. Duke Divinity - Great names like Hauerwas. Probably better than PTS in New Testament and Philosophy. Yale Divinity - A great range of strengths, particularly in Post-Liberal Theology, Philosophy, Liberation Theology, and a stronger focus on female perspectives than either Princeton or Duke provide. Chicago Divinity - A program with strong ties to the social sciences and strengths in philosophy and literature. Any thoughts?

I'm presently in enrolled at PTS in the M.Div. program. And I have a huge suspicion that I know who you are Presbygeek!!! lol. Anyway, it doesn't take too long to hear back from admissions about a decision. I would guess that the average GPA range for students is 3.4-3.8. It depends on your demographic too, i.e. denomination, race, gender, etc. PTS likes diversity a lot so they're more flexible for certain demographics. For example, my undergrad has a tradition of sending grads to PTS because its a Pentecostal school and PTS likes to pick up that diversity even if the average GPA isn't as high as the average Presbyterians. It just depends...

I'm presently in enrolled at PTS in the M.Div. program. I would say you're probably going to get in. Admittance rates fluctuate each year. I've had friends and professors who graduated from PTS going all the way back to the 80's. Admittance rates fluctuate between 15-50%. It's really quite odd and just depends on the year. I'd guess that you have a very good chance of getting in though.

I'm presently in enrolled at PTS in the M.Div. program. I have to ditto what Lux Lex Pax said about the division between students who are headed to parish ministry and those headed on to PhD's. If you want to get in I would emphasize interests in Barth, Bonhoeffer, Tillich, Augustine, or Newbigin in your interview and essays. Those are all pretty popular subjects here on campus. As always each seminary has its strengths. PTS far outweighs Yale and Duke in terms of financial aid and particular resources. When I was applying, Yale was my first choice, but it was going to be immensely more expensive even with one less year so I chose PTS. Our two biggest competitors are Yale and Duke. Each school is the best in particular ways, i.e. academic sub-fields, so your choice may have a lot to do with that. Best regards. And if you have any questions about PTS let me know.