S.T.M. to improve chances?

[ddsdevil]

Hello,

I'm a current M.Div student who has aspirations to do a PhD eventually. I'm curious of your thoughts about if a post-M.Div (S.T.M.) would improve my chances of acceptance. I'm probably going to graduate with no better than a 3.50 GPA with my M.Div. at Duke and thinking about options to improve my chances. My focus will likely be liturgics and I would focus on that with the STM. If I did well there, would that help with overcoming the weaker M.Div GPA? Anyone with experience with this?

Thanks!

[redreverend]

I think an STM would improve your chances depending on where you do the degree. If you go to somewhere like Yale Divinity then yes. If it's a smaller less well known school, then probably not. I have seen several students with STM from YDS who are now at top PhD progams. Good luck!

[ddsdevil]

Redreverend,

Thanks for the response. Yale is exactly where I'm interested in going (for liturgics). However, I wonder if those people that you know who got into top PhD programs had a strong M.Div gpa.?

[redreverend]

Redreverend,

Thanks for the response. Yale is exactly where I'm interested in going (for liturgics). However, I wonder if those people that you know who got into top PhD programs had a strong M.Div gpa.?

ddsdevil,

I'm not sure of specific gpa's but remember that your gpa is not the only thing they will be looking for. The most important part of your application will be explaining and demonstrating how well you "fit" with the current program and the work of the current professors. Your gpa and gre are two of many considerations. You may want to scroll through the pages of this google search to see people who are now working and who did an STM at YDS. You might even email some of them to see if they have any experiences they can share.

http://www.google.com/search?q=religion+faculty+stm+yale+divinity&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Take Care

[Postbib Yeshuist]

An STM will absolutely help. Much like a Th.M., it is a "second level" masters. There's a good chance you'll be expected to do some work at the PhD level and, provided your grades say strong, it can significantly enhance your prospects. That being said, an MDiv from Duke is nothing to sneeze at, so you might be able to go straight into PhD from there. An STM, however, would give you a little more time to settle in on a topic and there's a chance some of it might transfer to a PhD program, especially if you do them both at one institution and "roll" into the PhD

[Perique69]

If you want to get into a top-tier program, you'll need very high GRE scores despite any claims against "cut off" scores. 10 master's degree with very high GPA's but a poor GRE will rule you out. So, I'd make sure you have excellent GRE scores before deciding on another master's.

[JonathanEdwards]

Many MDiv's don't include a substantial thesis component, but the high quality STM/ThM's will. It's your chance to demonstrate research ability, as well as to demonstrate research interests that line up with potential faculty members.