one year diploma degree then Mdiv at Yale, Duke or Princeton

[Mikas@]

Hello all! I am planning on pursuing a theological education at a graduate level. I wish I could get into some top divinity schools so that I could pursue a Phd degree later on. Would it be a good idea to attend a one year diploma degree at a Canadian seminary ( such as Regent or Wycliffe College)  first to improve my chances in getting into a top Mdiv program? 

[Pierre de Olivi]

If you're interested in getting an M. Div (as opposed to an MA/MTS/MAR) and have completed an undergraduate degree with reasonably decent grades you may not  need the diploma at all. M. Div programs, even at otherwise selective institutions, tend not to demand a rigerous background in the field. Instead, they focus more on a variety of subjective features that will be reflected in your SOP and, possibly, your discussions with faculty before or during the application process.

Could you go a little more into why you want the one-year diploma, and what your undergraduate background was like?

[xypathos]

Just apply straight for the MDiv programs, they have high acceptance rates. Unless you have very poor grades, there's no real reason to do a PG.Dip. If you're worried about having a foundation, a significant number of your classmates won't have any religious studies/theology background either and from my experience, many of them were better students for it.

[Rabbit Run]

To add to the chorus: If you applied to the Mdiv at each of these schools, the odds are you'd likely get into at least one (barring anything problematic in your previous academic history etc.)

[Mikas@]

On 9/10/2019 at 12:04 AM, Pierre de Olivi said:

If you're interested in getting an M. Div (as opposed to an MA/MTS/MAR) and have completed an undergraduate degree with reasonably decent grades you may not  need the diploma at all. M. Div programs, even at otherwise selective institutions, tend not to demand a rigerous background in the field. Instead, they focus more on a variety of subjective features that will be reflected in your SOP and, possibly, your discussions with faculty before or during the application process.

Could you go a little more into why you want the one-year diploma, and what your undergraduate background was like?

Hi, thank you for you comments. I had a bachelor degree in English literature and didn't really have a competitive GPA. I kinda want to have some experience studying at different seminaries across denominations and countries. More importantly, my church has a conservative evangelical background. My pastor and elders won't agree to write me a pastoral reference if I apply to  mainline seminaries, which they consider those schools as liberal... So I figure that I can apply for Yale, Duke, or Princeton after I had a diploma degree from an evangelical seminary. 

[Mikas@]

On 9/10/2019 at 12:51 AM, xypathos said:

Just apply straight for the MDiv programs, they have high acceptance rates. Unless you have very poor grades, there's no real reason to do a PG.Dip. If you're worried about having a foundation, a significant number of your classmates won't have any religious studies/theology background either and from my experience, many of them were better students for it.

Hi Xypathos, thank you for your advise. I didn't have a very competitive GPA. My church requires me to attend an evangelical seminary but I hope I could eventually get my master from a mainline seminary like Yale.  As a result, a one year diploma degree could be a "stepping stone" in my opinion.