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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, tqrgx341 said:

What time have the HDS decisions come out in the past? If they don’t release decisions past a certain time, maybe I can be productive afterwards...

also anyone here got into UChicago MDiv’s program? Looking for potential cohort members and input on the dif between UChic/HDS, esp for my concentration (Islamic Studies) and academia potential for each

I'm also eagerly awaiting HDS decisions! I'm thinking they might come out today or tomorrow, as March 12 was a Monday last year ? 

I got into UChicago MDiv!!! I'm leaning more towards Union (and HDS, if accepted), but am still considering UChicago. Hello, potential cohort member!

Edited by muse2019
Posted
21 hours ago, LSiefferman said:

Same to you. I am an artist, and I’m hoping to work in the realm of religion, the arts and social justice. In particular, I am excited to expand my understanding on how the arts can facilitate religious and cultural literacy as a tool for transforming conflict. I currently make pottery to prompt conversation on social issues. I am hoping to further my arts practice with an academic understanding of contemporary relationships between religion, race and neoliberal values, creating artwork to name and challenge narratives of competition, fear and isolation. I’m hoping to become a conflict mediator, but also I hope to continue research on the combined role of the arts and religious literacy in conflict transformation. I’m pursuing my MDiv as I see my vocation as a “secular ministry,” if you will...

I’ve been out of school for a while, working the daily grind life for many years. Fingers crossed. HDS is my first choice. Good luck to you. Would like to hear more about your work as it sounds interesting. 

This is all so fascinating! I've got to run at the moment--just quickly checking this forum in case anyone's heard back from HDS--but would love to talk more in future. So glad to "meet" another person interested in arts and social justice and ministry.

Posted
6 hours ago, muse2019 said:

I'm also eagerly awaiting HDS decisions! I'm thinking they might come out today or tomorrow, as March 12 was a Monday last year ? 

I got into UChicago MDiv!!! I'm leaning more towards Union (and HDS, if accepted), but am still considering UChicago. Hello, potential cohort member!

Haha yay, great to meet you too potential cohort member! ? What’s your focus? Any particular reason why you’re leaning towards Union/HDS more? 

Posted (edited)
On 3/10/2019 at 5:30 PM, LSiefferman said:

Same to you. I am an artist, and I’m hoping to work in the realm of religion, the arts and social justice. In particular, I am excited to expand my understanding on how the arts can facilitate religious and cultural literacy as a tool for transforming conflict. I currently make pottery to prompt conversation on social issues. I am hoping to further my arts practice with an academic understanding of contemporary relationships between religion, race and neoliberal values, creating artwork to name and challenge narratives of competition, fear and isolation. I’m hoping to become a conflict mediator, but also I hope to continue research on the combined role of the arts and religious literacy in conflict transformation. I’m pursuing my MDiv as I see my vocation as a “secular ministry,” if you will...

I’ve been out of school for a while, working the daily grind life for many years. Fingers crossed. HDS is my first choice. Good luck to you. Would like to hear more about your work as it sounds interesting. 

Like you, I'm also interested in pursuing a "secular ministry" of sorts, especially through arts practice! I don't know much about conflict mediation at all, but I imagine that art and conflict mediation go so wonderfully together--both are acts of outreach and of reconciliation! Your work sounds wonderful and so very necessary, and it seems like it fits in very well with ministry. Best of luck with HDS!!!! 

4 hours ago, tqrgx341 said:

Haha yay, great to meet you too potential cohort member! ? What’s your focus? Any particular reason why you’re leaning towards Union/HDS more? 

I'm a writer, and my work mostly revolves around the arts and incarceration. I've designed and taught a novel writing course in juvenile hall and teach theatre in prison. I honestly have no clue yet in what form I'll continue this "spiritual activism" work (especially since I'm coming straight out of undergrad), but that's exactly why I want to study ministry! I feel it will give me the right skills for whatever path I end up pursuing, whether that be a secular or religious one. I'd love to hear about your focus and your work, too! ?

Honestly, it's mostly a location thing for Union/HDS. I'm the biggest Broadway nerd (nearly went into musical theatre writing instead!) and it would be an utter dream come true to study ministry in New York City. It'd be like a way to combine these two callings of mine. And I'm really in love with Union's sharp focus on social justice. As for HDS, I like Harvard and the surrounding area a ton! 

Where else have you heard back from? What's making you lean towards UChicago/HDS? 

Edited by muse2019
Posted (edited)

@muse2019 oh I do hope we cross paths. I used to work with inmates as well. 

I had many serendipitous moments on my tour at Union, including running into someone who graduated from my very small woman’s college (I saw our school sticker on her laptop)... My brother and cousin live in NYC as well as my best friend from childhood, but my mentor is at HDS and I really want to work on their Arts and Religious Literacy Project as well as their Religion, Race and Nationalism research focus at the Center for the Study of World Religions. The ability to cross register at HGSE and HKS is also very appealing for what I want to do. My mentor did get one of her degrees at Union though and I’m with you on the “sharp SJ focus” there... however! From what alumni and current students have said, it appears that HDS is moving in this direction as well. Either way, it will be interesting... assuming I am even blessed with the luxury of a choice on the matter!! Ugh I’m so nervous. I’ve worked myself into a constant tummy ache ? 

good luck to you. Like I said - I do hope our paths cross at some point so I can learn more about your work. 

Edited by LSiefferman
Posted

Hi all! I got into HDS for the MTS last year and MA at UChicago Div. My stats were 3.95 GPA, 161v/147q, 4.5 GRE, and I studied Philosophy and German, minored in political science. I deferred admission for a year and decided on HDS (to start this fall), but it was very difficult for me to decide between the two. If you have any questions about where you’re thinking of going, feel free to reach out to me here! Good luck! Und herzlichen Glückwünschen for those of you who have already heard back ^_^ 

~the Serious lady 

Posted
5 hours ago, LSiefferman said:

@muse2019 oh I do hope we cross paths. I used to work with inmates as well. 

I had many serendipitous moments on my tour at Union, including running into someone who graduated from my very small woman’s college (I saw our school sticker on her laptop)... My brother and cousin live in NYC as well as my best friend from childhood, but my mentor is at HDS and I really want to work on their Arts and Religious Literacy Project as well as their Religion, Race and Nationalism research focus at the Center for the Study of World Religions. The ability to cross register at HGSE and HKS is also very appealing for what I want to do. My mentor did get one of her degrees at Union though and I’m with you on the “sharp SJ focus” there... however! From what alumni and current students have said, it appears that HDS is moving in this direction as well. Either way, it will be interesting... assuming I am even blessed with the luxury of a choice on the matter!! Ugh I’m so nervous. I’ve worked myself into a constant tummy ache ? 

good luck to you. Like I said - I do hope our paths cross at some point so I can learn more about your work. 

Re: the cross-registering: the fact that HDS is located within a larger university, and thus affords options to also take classes in other fields, is a huge draw for me! Does anyone know if this is possible for Union with Columbia, as well? 

Really good to hear that HDS is also quite committed to social justice--I've read this, too, and I'm super happy to hear that. I haven't heard of the Arts and Religious Literacy Project! It sounds right up my alley. We seem to share a lot of interests and I hope we cross paths! 

Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, tqrgx341 said:

Got into HDS MTS! They're only offering me financial aid, however, while UChicago MDiv is offering a 100% tuition and a full stipend. This is hard...

Congrats. Can you post your stats please?

Edited by rejectedndejected
Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, rejectedndejected said:

Congrats. Can you post your stats please?

168 V/154 Q/5.0 Writing. 3.77 ug gpa, triple major. lots of leadership and activism, which was what my SOP revolved around and probably worked in my favor in terms of intangibles.

Edited by tqrgx341
Posted
11 minutes ago, tqrgx341 said:

Got into HDS MTS! They're only offering me financial aid, however, while UChicago MDiv is offering a 100% tuition and a full stipend. This is hard...

Congratulations!! I'm still waiting to hear from the financial aid office from HDS (is this a bad sign?); UChicago and Union are also offering me 100% tuition, so at this point, I'm really crossing my fingers for an HDS scholarship to justify potentially going there! We shall see!

Posted (edited)
21 minutes ago, tqrgx341 said:

Got into HDS MTS! They're only offering me 75% financial aid, however, while UChicago MDiv is offering a 100% tuition and a full stipend. This is hard...

Also, are you leaning any particular way with regards to MTS vs. MDiv? That's really hard!!! (But a happy problem to have!)

 

Edited by muse2019
Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, muse2019 said:

Congratulations!! I'm still waiting to hear from the financial aid office from HDS (is this a bad sign?); UChicago and Union are also offering me 100% tuition, so at this point, I'm really crossing my fingers for an HDS scholarship to justify potentially going there! We shall see!

Thank you! Immense congratulations to you as well! I just emailed the Office and they confirmed the email I got was need-based, so assuming merit-based pool is out of the question for me at this point. Let me know how it turns out for you!

Haha honestly this plays into the larger struggle I was having between activism/academia! UChic MDiv would be an amazing place to pursue the former, HDS MTS the latter...hopefully an MDiv won't bar me from a PhD but def would be a dif path than an HDS MTS. Split rn haha, will have to figure which path is the best for me. Part of me wishes I had applied to an HDS MDiv instead (I heard they give more funding), but at the end of the day everything is for the best! This way at least the repercussions of the decision is clearer.

Edited by tqrgx341
Posted (edited)
18 minutes ago, tqrgx341 said:

Thank you! Immense congratulations to you as well! I just emailed the Office and they confirmed the email I got was need-based, so assuming merit-based pool is out of the question for me at this point. Let me know how it turns out for you!

Haha honestly this plays into the larger struggle I was having between activism/academia! UChic MDiv would be an amazing place to pursue the former, HDS MTS the latter...hopefully an MDiv won't bar me from a PhD but def would be a dif path than an HDS MTS. Split rn haha, will have to figure which path is the best for me. Part of me wishes I had applied to an HDS MDiv instead (I heard they give more funding), but at the end of the day everything is for the best! This way at least the repercussions of the decision is clearer.

Ohhh, gotcha! Yep, the activism/acedemia struggle is so real. Chicago as a city seems like an incredible place for activism, not to mention the MDiv program itself. And it goes without saying that Harvard is probably excellent for any academic pursuits! Best of luck deciding and keep us posted!!! Even if you end up switching paths, I can see them feeding really well into each other: real-world ministry experience could really enrich academic work and bring philosophy down to earth, and deep study could be excellent prep/underpinnings for activism ?

Also, I think I read on this thread that it's possible (and not at all uncommon) for HDS students to switch between MTS and MDiv? That might be a future option for you!

Edited by muse2019
Posted (edited)

Absolutely thrilled - got into the MTS program this morning with full tuition + 8k/year stipend! Never thought I'd make it this far, but it appears GRE scores are not everything!

Edited by fordlandia
typo
Posted (edited)
1 minute ago, fordlandia said:

Absolutely thrilled - got in this morning with full tuition + 8k/year stipend! Never thought I'd make it this far, but it appears GRE scores are not everything!

That's incredible!!!!!!! Huge congratulations!!! (And I'm also very relieved about GRE scores not being everything LOL!) 

Edited by muse2019
Posted
8 minutes ago, fordlandia said:

Absolutely thrilled - got into the MTS program this morning with full tuition + 8k/year stipend! Never thought I'd make it this far, but it appears GRE scores are not everything!

Congrats Fordlandia and Muse.  I wish I got in also.  If you don't mind me asking, what were your GRE scores that you were worried weren't competitive?  Were they above HDS medians?  Sorry to ask for so much, just trying to assess why I got dinged.  How was your language prep?

Posted
11 minutes ago, fordlandia said:

Absolutely thrilled - got into the MTS program this morning with full tuition + 8k/year stipend! Never thought I'd make it this far, but it appears GRE scores are not everything!

Wow, congratulations! Could you share your stats please? 

Posted
Just now, rejectedndejected said:

Congrats Fordlandia and Muse.  I wish I got in also.  If you don't mind me asking, what were your GRE scores that you were worried weren't competitive?  Were they above HDS medians?  Sorry to ask for so much, just trying to assess why I got dinged.  How was your language prep?

@rejectedndejected my GRE scores were reasonably low for the MTS program, 159Verbal, 154Quant, 4.5AW.  Not even sure they were above the median, and as for language training, I am an intermediate reader, writer, and speaker for the language I needed for study. Despite this, after looking at HDS sample language exam, I would probably need further schooling.

Honestly, I think it was my writing sample, personal statement, and recommendation letters that got me over. I went to a small liberal arts school for undergrad and had very involved mentors who could write strong letters.

Posted
22 minutes ago, fordlandia said:

@rejectedndejected my GRE scores were reasonably low for the MTS program, 159Verbal, 154Quant, 4.5AW.  Not even sure they were above the median, and as for language training, I am an intermediate reader, writer, and speaker for the language I needed for study. Despite this, after looking at HDS sample language exam, I would probably need further schooling.

Honestly, I think it was my writing sample, personal statement, and recommendation letters that got me over. I went to a small liberal arts school for undergrad and had very involved mentors who could write strong letters.

I thought HDS did not allow writing samples? (I am applying only next year, so please correct me if I am wrong) 

Posted
Just now, Plotinus said:

I thought HDS did not allow writing samples? (I am applying only next year, so please correct me if I am wrong) 

Sorry @Plotinus , I meant the personal essay about a problem in ministry, scholarship or the world that you hope to help solve.

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