What are the feeder schools to top-notch doctoral programs?

[Guest]

Hey this will be my first post. It's nice to see that there's a community available for folks in a situation like my own!

Anyways, I am currently a senior in a BA Theology: Pastoral Ministry program at Andrews University (Berrien Springs, MI. Seventh-day Adventist).

I am currently in the process of applying to graduate schools, planning to do an MDiv.

As a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, I'm actually unsure of how my tradition feels about going to other seminaries. They seem to perhaps be kind of close-minded to the practice for the MDiv only because the conferences that hire you generally prefer folks to have an MDiv or an MA from the SDA Theological Seminary (Also at Andrews University) so they get exposure to some Adventist theology in particular.

When it comes to MA's, MTh's, PhD's and DMin's, though, they almost prefer that you go to another school as the rest of the Christian world tends to do. They simply want evidence that you are qualified to represent Adventist beliefs as a minister/teacher/administrator.

Anyways, since I grew up going to denominational schools, am a lifelong church member and attended an SDA university for my undergraduate, I feel like I might be able to convince the powers that be that I have adequate understanding of our theology. If this is the case, I will most certainly shoot for the most excellent seminaries available to me.

My questions are basically:

1. As a person thoroughly interested in ministry, yet just as passionately into the academic side of things and intending to become a teacher/professor eventually, is the MDiv the best place to start or should I be thinking more so MA/etc..)? I figure that the MDiv provides the right mix for what I'm looking for but I'm open to all perspectives.

2. Regardless of what degree type is recommended for my situation, what are some excellent seminaries/schools to consider if I want a top-notch PhD program?

For instance, in other topics in this forum I have seen that Gordon-Conwell has a reputation as a feeder school for great doctoral programs. I basically want to know what other schools have such a reputation as well. I can guess which ones (Yale, Duke, Harvard, Union, Regent, are ones that come to mind) seem to be feeder schools, but I frankly have no clue.

I am currently between Fuller for it's focus on arts and culture and fantastic location, and the SDA Theological Seminary because it would help avoid any potential speed bumps I might have in getting hired without losing the top-notch scholarship I'm looking for (which is a world-class seminary really with a remarkable faculty, it just may lack the reputation that other schools have due to misperceptions of Adventism/lack of awareness,etc.).

It did occur to me, though, that if I'm going to consider Fuller and other non-denominational/multi-denominational/ecumenical/evangelical/denominational institutions, I might as well try to get into schools that will adequately prepare me for the rigor of a top-level PhD program and back me up with their good reputation.

My stats are:

School: Andrews University (Liberal Arts, denominational)

Degree: BA Theology: Pastoral Ministry (pending May 2012) with a secondary teaching credential in Bible

GPA: 3.62 (I want to raise it at the masters level. I'm told it's the last thing you do that counts the most)

Denomination: Seventh-day Adventist (Hopefully that isn't somehow a strike against me)

Honors: Theta Alpha Kappa, Dean's list every semester, J.N. Andrews Honor Scholar (pending graduation May 2012, it was my school's honors program), Pi Lamda Theta

GRE: n/a

Languages: Koine Greek, Ancient Hebrew, working on Spanish

IDK what other stats are necessary so I'll just include:

Age: 21

Marital Status: Married

Sex: Male

Edited August 1, 2011 by Mikeyswen79

[LateAntique]

What are your interests, exactly? This post was really hard for me to follow.

Question 1: Depends where you do your M.Div. It sounds like your tradition requires you to do an M.Div in an SDA environment, so are you asking what to do after you do an SDA M.Div?

Question 2: What sort of interests do you have? Theology? NT? OT? Church history? Yale might be great for Theology, but not as good for Greek and Latin patristics.

[Guest]

Sorry about that. I will repost more clearly because I can't edit the first one anymore for some reason:

I am currently a senior in a BA Theology: Pastoral Ministry program at Andrews University (Berrien Springs, MI. Seventh-day Adventist) and am in the process of applying to graduate schools, planning to do an MDiv.

My denomination (SDA) has a seminary that they generally motivate prospective pastors to attend. I'm not sure how strong they are on this point but they may allow for attending other seminaries as well just as long as I can demonstrate competency in Adventist theology somehow.

Though the SDA Theological Seminary is a top notch school with world-class professors, it is lacking in reputation and I think that may affect my ability to get into strong PhD programs. Because of this, I felt it might be good to do my masters degree elsewhere if it will help me better prepare for PhD studies at reputable schools like Duke, UChicago, and the like.

I am interested in systematic theology and hermeneutics, as well as how religion relates to culture. I also have a keen interest in ethics and philosophy. I would like to pursue one of these at advanced levels when the time comes.

My questions are basically:

1. As a person thoroughly interested in ministry, yet just as passionately into the academic side of things and intending to become a teacher/professor eventually, is the MDiv the best place to start or should I be thinking more so MA/etc..)? I figure that the MDiv provides the right mix for what I'm looking for but I'm open to all perspectives.

I want to be a pastor but also want to phase into college-level teaching.

2. Regardless of what degree type is recommended for my masters degree, what are some excellent seminaries/schools that are known as "feeder schools" to consider for my masters degree if I want to later be admitted into a top-notch PhD program?

For instance, in other topics in this forum I have seen that Gordon-Conwell has a reputation as a feeder school for great doctoral programs in general, though they may be strong in only certain aspects of religious studies. I basically want to know what other schools have such a reputation as well. I can guess which ones (Yale, Duke, Harvard, Union, Regent, are ones that come to mind) seem to be feeder schools, but I frankly have no clue.

My stats are:

School: Andrews University (Liberal Arts, denominational)

Degree: BA Theology: Pastoral Ministry (pending May 2012) with a secondary teaching credential in Bible

GPA: 3.62

Denomination: Seventh-day Adventist

Honors: Theta Alpha Kappa, Dean's list every semester, J.N. Andrews Honor Scholar (pending graduation May 2012, it was my school's honors program), Pi Lamda Theta

GRE: n/a

Languages: Koine Greek, Ancient Hebrew, working on Spanish

IDK what other stats are necessary so I'll just include:

Age: 21

Marital Status: Married

Sex: Male

Hope that is clearer. God bless

[11Q13]

I'd give Harvard Divinity MDiv a shot. Being SDA will give you a big boost for diversity which they're always looking for and it looks like you've got pretty good stats. I wouldn't call Fuller a feeder school (except for one guy I know that went to Claremont after [but whether Claremont is a top school or not is another thing]). As for other schools, Harvard, Notre Dame, Yale, and Chicago are all incredibly incestuous, then in the south there's Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt, some other "feeder" type schools depending on what exactly you're studying could be Princeton TS, Boston College, University of Texas, perhaps a few others