Applying to both the Phd and Thd programs at Duke.

[Simbbo]

It seems there is not much difference between the Phd and Thd programs at Duke.

Do you think applying to both the programs is a good idea? 
My concern is that the admission committee may see applying to both the programs as a sign of uncertainty. 

of course, it will not be a problem if there is no overlap between the Phd and Thd admission committees. 

Any thought? 

[Pierre de Olivi]

(Disclaimer: I am still an undergraduate and have not applied to any schools yet)

On the face of it, it sounds like this should be fine, unless there is somewhere on the departmental website explicitly discouraging applying for both. If you feel that both are truly relevant to what you want to do, you should be able to write strong SOPs for each, and with a good SOP the committees probably won't see applying to both as a sign of uncertainty (if they even notice).

May I ask what your proposed area of interest or research topic is? That may affect which one of the programs is a better fit.

[Rabbit Run]

would be curious to get the perspective of a Duke student, but I applied to both and was told by a professor that it didn't matter; of course, this was just one professor's take.

[exegete]

I was talking this week to a friend who did a ThM at Duke. He made it sound like the faculty there actually encourages applying to both programs.

However, I've also been told that you'd want to submit a significantly different SOP for the ThD as compared to the PhD. The reason for this is that they're really looking for ThD applicants to be interested in interdisciplinary work. So if that seems like a good fit, it probably doesn't hurt to apply to both.

[JDHomie]

I was accepted into Duke PhD in Religion (HB/OT). This is my first semester. When I applied I was actually directed by my faculty contact to apply to both—it ups your chances and they do not look down on it. One of my classmates who was denied for the PhD (NT) actually got in the ThD; needless to say he is happy. As for mechanics: my SOPs were largely the same but I did do some tweaking of the language. I didn't have all the same letter-writers for both degrees either, which meant that they got to see more than just the 3 required.

Edited September 25, 2018 by JDHomie

[Simbbo]

3 hours ago, JDHomie said:

I was accepted into Duke PhD in Religion (HB/OT). This is my first semester. When I applied I was actually directed by my faculty contact to apply to both—it ups your chances and they do not look down on it. One of my classmates who was denied for the PhD (NT) actually got in the ThD; needless to say he is happy. As for mechanics: my SOPs were largely the same but I did do some tweaking of the language. I didn't have all the same letter-writers for both degrees either, which meant that they got to see more than just the 3 required.

Thank you! This settles the discussion. 

[Kuriakos]

When I was a ThM student at Duke, they encouraged people to apply to both. I did not because at that time the ThD stipend was far far lower than the PhD stipend. Not sure how it is today. I'd also say having a ThD instead of a PhD hurts your marketability when applying for jobs.