Various Questions

[Cedeno13]

I’m currently a rising  senior  at a public university. I’m looking to get an MTS( or MA) after undergrad. My ultimate goal is to get into a top PhD program for New Testament ( Yes, I know the job market is horrible) I’m looking at the following programs right now

 

Harvard Divinity School(MTS)

Yale Divinity School( MAR)

Princeton Theological Seminary( MTS)

Duke Divinity School(MTS)

Dominican House of Studies (MA)

Nashotah House (MTS)

Sewanee School of Theology (MA)

 

How difficult would it be to get into these programs?( I imagine it probably isn’t that hard to get into Nashotah or Sewanee) What kind of stats do they look for?

 

Also, I know that if I end up attending Nashotah House or Sewanee, I’ll probably have to get a second MA. Would top MA/PhD programs look down upon Nashotah House because it has a somewhat conservative reputation?

 

Thank you

Edited July 29, 2022 by Cedeno13

[xypathos]

I don't know your stats (GPA, major, extracurriculars, etc.) so what we can offer in the way of advice is a bit limited.

That said, the admission rate for the academic degrees at Harvard, Yale, Princeton Theo., and Duke is lower than their M.Div rates but likely still around 25-33% based on conversations I've had with staff in those schools. Covid has impacted these numbers some but every school is being impacted a littler differently. Some are seeing an uptick in the number of applications but candidates that are deemed actually viable is going up only marginally. Others are receiving less applications.

MTS applicants are viewed through a more academic lens than M.Div applicants, who are viewed more holistically. It's not a terrible difference or anything but most M.Div students are looking to go into ministry, non-profit, teaching, etc. If you're a MTS student the presumption is that you want to do a PhD so the question before the AdCom is: Can we, reasonably, get this student prepared to enter a PhD program in two years? If the answer is absolutely no, you certainly won't be admitted. Most MTS students never end up in a PhD program, though but that's a different question/issue.

I can't speak to the Dominican House of Studies.

As an episcopal priest, I can speak to Sewanee and Nashotah. Both will give you a broad overview of the Christian Church (liturgy, theology, NT and HB, and history). Neither, on their own, will have you ready to enter into a reputable PhD program. So I think you should absolutely expect doing a second M* where you then intensively focus on the NT.

Nashotah is deeply traditional in how they view the world. I'm still quite young but in my lifetime, Nashotah didn't allow female candidates for ordination to study there. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, while Bishop of North Carolina, forbid postulants from studying at Nashotah due to their stance on women and LGBT+. This has relaxed quite a bit but there are still a number of bishops that refuse to send students there.

I bring this up because if you attend Nashotah, or any evangelical school, you will have to wrestle with the weight of that school's name on your application. Someone on your committee, given the prevalence of Religious Studies faculty that are Episcopalian, will absolutely know about Nashotah. What they will wonder is: 1) Is this student a traditionalist? and 2) How has/might their beliefs impact their scholarship and their ability to critique and pursue hard questions?

Sewanee is more progressive but still considered traditionalist. Your real problem here is that Sewanee's seminary student body is all of like 40 students. School's of that size really can't offer much in the way of electives, and driving up to Nashville to take classes at Vanderbilt isn't reliable. It can be done but Sewanee puts a cap on it and restricts what you can study at Vanderbilt.

If you want to maximize your chances of ending up in a reputable NT program, your list should be:

Harvard Div.

Yale Div.

Princeton Theo.

Chicago Div.

Vanderbilt

Emory

Duke

and that's probably about it.

Edited July 29, 2022 by xypathos

[Cedeno13]

3 hours ago, xypathos said:

I don't know your stats (GPA, major, extracurriculars, etc.) so what we can offer in the way of advice is a bit limited.

That said, the admission rate for the academic degrees at Harvard, Yale, Princeton Theo., and Duke is lower than their M.Div rates but likely still around 25-33% based on conversations I've had with staff in those schools. Covid has impacted these numbers some but every school is being impacted a littler differently. Some are seeing an uptick in the number of applications but candidates that are deemed actually viable is going up only marginally. Others are receiving less applications.

MTS applicants are viewed through a more academic lens than M.Div applicants, who are viewed more holistically. It's not a terrible difference or anything but most M.Div students are looking to go into ministry, non-profit, teaching, etc. If you're a MTS student the presumption is that you want to do a PhD so the question before the AdCom is: Can we, reasonably, get this student prepared to enter a PhD program in two years? If the answer is absolutely no, you certainly won't be admitted. Most MTS students never end up in a PhD program, though but that's a different question/issue.

I can't speak to the Dominican House of Studies.

As an episcopal priest, I can speak to Sewanee and Nashotah. Both will give you a broad overview of the Christian Church (liturgy, theology, NT and HB, and history). Neither, on their own, will have you ready to enter into a reputable PhD program. So I think you should absolutely expect doing a second M* where you then intensively focus on the NT.

Nashotah is deeply traditional in how they view the world. I'm still quite young but in my lifetime, Nashotah didn't allow female candidates for ordination to study there. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, while Bishop of North Carolina, forbid postulants from studying at Nashotah due to their stance on women and LGBT+. This has relaxed quite a bit but there are still a number of bishops that refuse to send students there.

I bring this up because if you attend Nashotah, or any evangelical school, you will have to wrestle with the weight of that school's name on your application. Someone on your committee, given the prevalence of Religious Studies faculty that are Episcopalian, will absolutely know about Nashotah. What they will wonder is: 1) Is this student a traditionalist? and 2) How has/might their beliefs impact their scholarship and their ability to critique and pursue hard questions?

Sewanee is more progressive but still considered traditionalist. Your real problem here is that Sewanee's seminary student body is all of like 40 students. School's of that size really can't offer much in the way of electives, and driving up to Nashville to take classes at Vanderbilt isn't reliable. It can be done but Sewanee puts a cap on it and restricts what you can study at Vanderbilt.

If you want to maximize your chances of ending up in a reputable NT program, your list should be:

Harvard Div.

Yale Div.

Princeton Theo.

Chicago Div.

Vanderbilt

Emory

Duke

and that's probably about it.

Thanks for the thorough reply. I just PMed you with some additional questions