Harvard Mdiv. (What are my chances?) - Aspiring Humanistic Spiritual Care Practitioner

[jmiiller]

Hi!

I was hoping to gauge the strength of my application for some of the more liberal divinity schools (that accept agnostics, atheists, etc.) -- Harvard being the school that is my top choice at the moment. The admissions criteria seem somewhat vague and that has left me feeling unsure of where I stack up currently with regards to admissions. I am interested in Existentialism (e.g. Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Sartre, Camus, Nietzche, etc.), Existential Psychology (e.g. Irvin Yalom, Rollo May, Victor Frankl, Ernst Becker), and I also have my feet in related social psychology (Terror Management Theory and the Meaning Maintenance Model). I also have side interests in Chinese philosophy and Buddhism, and will be taking Mandarin courses before I graduate. My goal is to become a spiritual care practitioner in a palliative setting or another comparable setting. 

- Currently in my third year of Philosophy at a top Canadian university. 

- 4.20/4.33 GPA

- 9 months experience as a research assistant in two psychology labs. (The first does research into Terror Management Theory and the Meaning Maintenance Model. The second was language development research in Infants.)

- 3 years experience as a Residence Advisor (where I provide social, academic, and emotional support to students and refer them to resources on campus.)

- 16 months experience as a software engineer. (I did my first two years of undergrad in Physics and Computer Science and then worked for a year, before deciding I didn't want to go down that path.)

- I will be taking the GRE this summer. 

- I'm planning to have my letters of recommendation come from 1) A Philosophy professor who is a Kierkegaard and philosophy of religion scholar (I expect this to be strong) 2) A Psychology professor who focuses on Cultural Psychology, Terror Management Theory, and the Meaning Maintenance Model 3) Possibly another professor or a supervisor from my time as a Residence Advisor.

I am unsure whether I should apply in my last year of undergrad, or if I should take some time off after undergrad to work full-time and volunteer to strengthen my application further. 

How am I looking right now? Are there any glaring holes that I need to fix to be competitive? How can I strengthen this application?

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read this!

 

Edited March 23, 2018 by jmiiller

[sacklunch]

As I'm sure you are already aware, HDS, like all the top US divinity schools, has relatively high acceptance rates for the MDiv (+/- 50% for MDiv). My guess is that secular/atheist/agnostic applicants are somewhat rare, which may make it even easier for you. Though since HDS is one of the few (only?) US divinity school that explicitly accepts secularists, your odds may be similar to other groups (relatively good odds considering, omg, it's Harvard). Even if you were a more traditional applicant (e.g. a protestant interested in scripture) you would still have a good chance given your academic background. In your application, you should emphasize why HDS is the best fit, since there are really no other options for someone like you. 

My advice on when to apply: apply while in your last year and see what happens. You may be surprised. If you don't get in, the next round will be much easier and your application stronger.

cheers

[jmiiller]

Thanks so much for the tips!

[Averroes MD]

On 3/23/2018 at 4:51 PM, jmiiller said:

Hi!

I was hoping to gauge the strength of my application for some of the more liberal divinity schools (that accept agnostics, atheists, etc.) -- Harvard being the school that is my top choice at the moment. The admissions criteria seem somewhat vague and that has left me feeling unsure of where I stack up currently with regards to admissions. I am interested in Existentialism (e.g. Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Sartre, Camus, Nietzche, etc.), Existential Psychology (e.g. Irvin Yalom, Rollo May, Victor Frankl, Ernst Becker), and I also have my feet in related social psychology (Terror Management Theory and the Meaning Maintenance Model). I also have side interests in Chinese philosophy and Buddhism, and will be taking Mandarin courses before I graduate. My goal is to become a spiritual care practitioner in a palliative setting or another comparable setting. 

- Currently in my third year of Philosophy at a top Canadian university. 

- 4.20/4.33 GPA

- 9 months experience as a research assistant in two psychology labs. (The first does research into Terror Management Theory and the Meaning Maintenance Model. The second was language development research in Infants.)

- 3 years experience as a Residence Advisor (where I provide social, academic, and emotional support to students and refer them to resources on campus.)

- 16 months experience as a software engineer. (I did my first two years of undergrad in Physics and Computer Science and then worked for a year, before deciding I didn't want to go down that path.)

- I will be taking the GRE this summer. 

- I'm planning to have my letters of recommendation come from 1) A Philosophy professor who is a Kierkegaard and philosophy of religion scholar (I expect this to be strong) 2) A Psychology professor who focuses on Cultural Psychology, Terror Management Theory, and the Meaning Maintenance Model 3) Possibly another professor or a supervisor from my time as a Residence Advisor.

I am unsure whether I should apply in my last year of undergrad, or if I should take some time off after undergrad to work full-time and volunteer to strengthen my application further. 

How am I looking right now? Are there any glaring holes that I need to fix to be competitive? How can I strengthen this application?

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read this!

 

Your chances are pretty good. But, I suspect you already knew that.