YDS vs. HDS

[_Athena_]

2 hours ago, search the scriptures said:

@_Ariadne_, congrats on your acceptances.

Thanks so much! Congratulations to you, too.

[sjca14]

If YDS or Harvard has their own Director or Assistant Director of Student Services that might be a good person to ask. At least at BC that is the person that helps people find jobs after graduating, so she is often told if people are going to doctoral programs. Also, professors in your specialty are a great resource because they probably wrote recommendations for those people and know how it turned out. If you go to accepted students days, asking the students could also give you a sense of it. Admissions probably has information on it, but I would just be cautious because some Admissions team stretch the truth a bit and make it sound like a lot of people for example get into Yale's PhD program when in reality one person has been accepted in the last seven years or something like that.

[_Athena_]

2 hours ago, sjca14 said:

If YDS or Harvard has their own Director or Assistant Director of Student Services that might be a good person to ask. At least at BC that is the person that helps people find jobs after graduating, so she is often told if people are going to doctoral programs. Also, professors in your specialty are a great resource because they probably wrote recommendations for those people and know how it turned out. If you go to accepted students days, asking the students could also give you a sense of it. Admissions probably has information on it, but I would just be cautious because some Admissions team stretch the truth a bit and make it sound like a lot of people for example get into Yale's PhD program when in reality one person has been accepted in the last seven years or something like that.

I think I'll go ahead and do that. Thanks!

[_Athena_]

Also, for anyone curious, Jon Levenson is at least staying until Spring 2019 (his course offerings for the year are listed in the HDS student handbook). 

[MattSolo]

On 3/21/2018 at 8:52 PM, _Ariadne_ said:

Also, for anyone curious, Jon Levenson is at least staying until Spring 2019 (his course offerings for the year are listed in the HDS student handbook). 

I've never found that at my own school, handbooks can be trusted for such issues. lol Sometimes they just don't know whose teaching it and leave the old name from the automatic system if its a regular course offering. But maybe Harvard has their act more together... maybe...

[_Athena_]

52 minutes ago, MattSolo said:

I've never found that at my own school, handbooks can be trusted for such issues. lol Sometimes they just don't know whose teaching it and leave the old name from the automatic system if its a regular course offering. But maybe Harvard has their act more together... maybe...

Blegh. Yeah...it's probably still worth tactfully asking if he's close to retirement. 

[_Athena_]

As an aside, has anyone attended YDS as a non-Christian? If so, do you mind sharing your experience? 

[hullabaloo]

This may be late to the game, but for the record... At YDS, you can take up half of your total course credits downtown, which averages out to 2 downtown/2 divinity classes a semester.  Also, I don't know how HDS is, but at YDS, it's really easy to take downtown classes in other departments- you just have to get a piece of paper signed.  As far as the course plan sheets for the MARc, my experience that it's more of a formality and advisers are pretty good about helping you get what you need for your PhD program of choice

[_Athena_]

On 4/2/2018 at 5:27 PM, hullabaloo said:

This may be late to the game, but for the record... At YDS, you can take up half of your total course credits downtown, which averages out to 2 downtown/2 divinity classes a semester.  Also, I don't know how HDS is, but at YDS, it's really easy to take downtown classes in other departments- you just have to get a piece of paper signed.  As far as the course plan sheets for the MARc, my experience that it's more of a formality and advisers are pretty good about helping you get what you need for your PhD program of choice

That's good to keep in mind. Thanks!

[runningit]

Just for future readers, I wanted to clear up a few things I’ve seen in this thread. (I am a graduating YDS student.)

1) YDS isn’t Christian because of the BDS (or now ANTS) presence. YDS is itself primarily a multidenominational, very progressive Christian seminary. HDS does not have that same Christian identity, nor does it want it. 

2) The Bible MAR requires students to concentrate in either HB or NT. Beginning in the next year, it is being split into two programs (MAR in HB and MAR in NT) to make this clearer to applicants, although this creates no meaningful difference in what you would actually do during the degree.

[_Athena_]

11 hours ago, runningit said:

1) YDS isn’t Christian because of the BDS (or now ANTS) presence. YDS is itself primarily a multidenominational, very progressive Christian seminary. HDS does not have that same Christian identity, nor does it want it. 

Thanks for the clarifications. I was much less informed when I wrote that, so my apologies if I misinformed anyone. 

[Tianruo J]

On 3/25/2018 at 5:59 AM, _Athena_ said:

As an aside, has anyone attended YDS as a non-Christian? If so, do you mind sharing your experience? 

I know I came late, but the discussions here are so precious for me! I am also accepted to both the MARc (STJ) at YDS and MTS at HDS, and it's so difficult to choose. My interest lies in the history of the Jewish people and the Jewish religion in the Graeco-Roman period, and rabbinic literature also fascinates me (although I have never been able to read it in its original language). Consequently, I think YDS will better prepare me for a Ph.D. program in these fields.  However, the professors at HDS are also great, and I do not know whether my interests will change. In addition, I am also a non-Christian, and the information in this discussion made me less worried about my religious identity.

If possible, I would really love to know how you made your choice, and how you feel about the program after a year of studying. Many thanks!

[plump_helmet]

@Tianruo J I'm actually in a similar situation—non-Christian, focusing on Christianity and Judaism in the Roman-Hellenistic period, accepted to both YDS MARc and HDS MTS. I'm leaning towards HDS right now due to the ease of interaction with other departments and schools, the greater academic community in Boston, and—though I really don't care for most modern politics in my academia—the diversity at HDS. Yale just felt so WASPy, the div school was a little far from the rest of Yale, and the cost of rent was too high in the area for acceptable housing. Plus New Haven (or the Yale part at least) feels a little like an artificial town. It was so weird to not see any families or kids wandering around. 

Plus, as you said, languages are important. HDS' summer language program (and how it is fully covered except for ~400 dollars) is a huge draw. Even though so many people at the HDS open house were asking questions about getting out of doing languages, it's a huge draw to me to be able to take intensive Hebrew or Syriac for relatively little. 

But I'm not trying to convince you or anything, just working through my own choices in comparison to you. 

[Kunarion]

3 minutes ago, plump_helmet said:

@Tianruo J languages are important. HDS' summer language program (and how it is fully covered except for ~400 dollars) is a huge draw. Even though so many people at the HDS open house were asking questions about getting out of doing languages, it's a huge draw to me to be able to take intensive Hebrew or Syriac for relatively little.

I took intensive Greek at YDS last summer and paid about that much for tuition (6 week course, met daily for 4 hours, equated a full year of Koine). The listed tuition is higher, but if you're a YDS student, your regular financial aid package applies to summer courses, as well.

[plump_helmet]

@ScarecrowBoat You're right, but YDS only covers it up to the percentage of your scholarship. I had to take an intensive Latin class to catch up with the rest of the Classics department in undergrad after my first year, and I'm not interested in paying more than $500 again for an academic language I need/really want. YDS' course would cost me over $1000. Plus YDS only offers Hebrew, Ecclesiastical Latin, and Koine Greek. By the second year, I'd be out of languages to learn over the summer. And since I plan on taking more language courses during the year, the negatives really start to add up. 

[Tianruo J]

@plump_helmet  Thank you for your thoughts! I also think that it's easier to interact with other departments at HDS since the program is less concentrated. The academic community at Boston is definitely a plus. It is a pity that I did not get to attend the Open House and saw the two cities with my own eyes.

[AyoYellow]

In the areas expressed (Judaism in the Graeco-Roman periods and New Testament and Early Christianity), there isn’t really a debate between YDS and HDS on the basis of academics (by which I basically mean faculty): YDS is far more robust at the moment. Other factors will certainly play a role in one’s decision, but anyone with serious desires to do a PhD afterward should take into consideration the faculty disparity between the two schools in these areas.