[What's your dream degree? Anywhere, anyone...]

I'd love to have been at KUL when a young priest named Karol Wojtyla was teaching philosophy.

[Boston & Cambridge, MA]

I already have a 90 minute commute to work, so a long trip to school isn't exactly a problem.

[Boston & Cambridge, MA]

Yeah, I know BC isn't actually in Boston, but I'm sort of looking everywhere. I'm actually pretty interested in Quincy, but my fiancee doesn't want to live that far outside the city. She's a lifelong New Yorker, and neither of us are drivers, so she wants to stay near an urban center.

[2013-2014 M.A./M.T.S/M.Div Application chitchat]

I also finally got my official BC interview invitation yesterday. I had been informally informed a bit back it was happening, but now I've got a scheduled time.

[2013-2014 M.A./M.T.S/M.Div Application chitchat]

I got my BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University, and did a year of undergrad-level seminary at St. John's University in Queens.

[Summer Language Intensives]

I believe students in any of the BTI schools can take language classes at any other member school, so a student could take year-long intensives at Harvard if they needed to. That's sort of my plan at present.

[2013-2014 M.A./M.T.S/M.Div Application chitchat]

I had that. I ended up needing to find an alternate. which was an adventure unto itself, as he's in his eighties, has Parkinson's, and doesn't use the internet. 

[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

chipotle sauce

[Interviews for Masters or PhD?]

Seriously, what the hell is a POI.

[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

Throw pillow

[Boston & Cambridge, MA]

How the hell do you people afford Boston? I'm doing some preliminary searching to get a feel for the city, and this is worse sticker shock than NYC, where I *already live*. I'm absolutely stunned at the prices I'm seeing. How do people studying in Boston keep off the streets?

[Top 10 Ways to Get Distracted While Waiting on the Religion Gods]

Watching Doctor Who with my fiancee.

[I'm freaking *myself* out]

My UG was a 2.54 after I dragged it kicking and screaming from the mud. SHU has a minimum of 3.0 and they accepted me, so I guess that's negotiable?

[I'm freaking *myself* out]

We're down to the wire. All my apps are in and completed. I have an interview at BC. And I can't stop freaking myself out over my GPA.

 

I've posted about this before, but I can't seem to keep myself from ruminating on it. 

 

I was an absolutely *awful* undergrad for two years. I managed to drag my GPA out of the muck after my academic suspension, and performed pretty well over the following couple of years. After I graduated, I completed a semester at seminary where I scored a 4.0, but withdrew during the second semester because I realizedI wasn't called to ordained ministry (my autism makes that kind of ministry....dubious. I have enough difficulty dealing with a relatively small, close social circle. Dealing with an entire parish would be downright macabre). So, I mean, I got my act together, but when I was 19, 20 years old, I was a huge ****off who skipped class more often than not, didn't do his work, etc. 

Like I said. I pulled myself together. I got my shit straight. My most recent academic work is stunning. My Verbal GRE is a 170, my written a 5.5. I've already been accepted at Seton Hall. But I had to go over my academic transcripts during my application process, and I have succeeded pretty thoroughly in torpedoing my cautious optimism that BC or Fordham might admit me.

[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

Mr. Bean

[2013-2014 M.A./M.T.S/M.Div Application chitchat]

Congrats!

[Denominational Affiliation and Grad School]

I consider myself rather moderate, and I had a pretty rough time at HDS.

 

Between Unitarians (including married women) laughing about their weekend trips to male strip clubs in NYC, Catholics apostatizing themselves (I mean that literally) by holding female run masses in the chapel, Jews surprised by my surprise about their "S&M Haggadah," the Queer Thanksgiving (well, queer everything really), and the official community wide email blast calling for protests against a pro-life speaker coming to Harvard ...this isn't your grandfather's divinity school. 

 

All that said, the faculty, at least the one's I worked with, were all superb and denominational diversity in those context was certainly an asset. 

 

When I was at seminary, I was considered a bomb-throwing communist revolutionary, and that sounds excessive even to me.

[3.0 - 3.5 Masters Applicants?]

My undergrad GPA is crap, but shows regular improvement as I went through, and my seminary work was a 4.0. From what I've gathered, if your overall isn't great, they give your GRE's extra weight, and look to see how you did in courses relevant to your field. I, for instance, cleaned up in my religious studies courses, so while my overall is shite, I have a solid performance everywhere that counts.

 

My GRE's are also really good, so that helps.

[Denominational Affiliation and Grad School]

I'm Catholic, and I applied to Catholic programs for my MTS because I want to be a Catholic theologian, so I figured getting a grounding in my own tradition was probably wise. That being said, I'm considering moving outside Catholic education for my PhD if I go that route.

[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

religious studies

[Program has requested an interview]

I'm thinking we stick with the "wear no pants" thing

[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

nuclear option

[How am I looking for Boston College STM?]

Does anybody know how many slots BC STM has this year? Or how many people they usually admit per year as a percentage of their applicants? I can't find any numbers beyond how many people are in the program total.

[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

fall guy

[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

Mexican taco