Chicago Divinity 2012

[dispositif]

Anyone else applying to Divinity at Chicago this application season? If so, how's your application coming along?

Also to others not applying but have in the past, any word on funding? Everyone knows tuition is impossibly high and that funding is not very hopeful, but if you have or anyone who has received funding, have any idea on why they might have been awarded it? I'd be grateful for any info you might have.

As for me, I'm an A.M. applicant with a background in Religious Studies.

[sacklunch]

I'm also applying for the AM. I would love to hear about previous funding packages, too.

good luck!

[phoskaialetheia]

When I applied last year I was offered 50%, which seems to be their standard package, with a few outstanding apps getting full funding. I know a few others who were offered half-tuition, and know that full funding is more rare and haven't heard of anyone getting an offer less than 50% or anything other than half or full tuition. They may be out there, but that's the impression that I get. The ones getting full funding seem to fit the profile you might expect: really good numbers, a lot of language coursework, etc.

I'm not sure what tuition will be like next year, but it may be worth keeping in mind that while I thought 50% wouldn't be viable with their notoriously high tuition rates, my acceptance letter also bore the surprising news that tuition across the board would be reduced from around $50k to around $30k (as I recall). So while the $15k a year a standard funding package would entail is slightly more than what you might pay at other comparable institutions, it's a lot less than the untenable rates their AM program had developed a reputation for, and the degree may be well worth it if your interests dovetail with strengths in the program (which are many). The option to petition in-house for PhD admission has to be worth something as well. Also, cost of living may be appreciably more reasonable than some alternatives, especially if you are looking at programs in Boston or NYC. I remember being surprised at the relatively low rent in the area. Just something to consider. Best of luck with the application season!

Edited December 6, 2011 by phoskaialetheia

[matt6666666666]

Yes, 50% is the package almost exclusively (I actually don't know anyone here who got more, other than the M.Div's of course). But as phoskaialetheia says, with reasonable rent in Hyde Park it's not actully too bad. While the result is still more expensive than some places, for me the overall cost was roughly equivalent to a much better offer I recieved from Union after factoring in the cost of living in NYC.

[chicagodivstudent]

As a current student at UChicago, I know that AM students sometimes do get full funding. If not full, I've never known someone to not receive fifty percent. I've heard it from a few different sources (admittedly students) that funding for AM students is almost entirely based on GRE scores. I would also echo the above statement that tuition has recently dropped to around 30k--so 15k with a normal package.

Hope to see you around next Autumn quarter!

[DivSkool]

Just a few comments on the funding packages: it's rare, but not at all unheard of for AM students to be fully funded. The Divinity School offered 5 applicants full funding this year (as in, people who started fall 2011), and while not everyone to whom a full ride was offered chose to attend, that's still a decent number if you consider that the size of the cohort (for the first-year AMs this year) is only 40-ish students.

As someone who was offered and accepted a full funding package, I think (although of course I can't really know - the vicissitudes of funding are totally mysterious!) that a big part of why I received such a generous offer was because I had a great deal of language preparation in the field I wanted to enter. I also had a background in religion from my undergrad, but emphasized in my application and SOP the interdisciplinary work that I'd done and how I wanted to continue that at Chicago (which is allllll about the interdisciplinarity). A quick note on what chicagodivstudent said in the last post: my GRE scores were actually not that great: 700 or below for both sections. Not bad, but nothing outstanding.

Speaking of languages, if you are studying a language like Chinese, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi, or any that the US government deems "critical languages," you could be eligible for a FLAS, which the Foreign Language and Area Studies grant. I don't know all the details, but basically you get full tuition plus a stipend for each year that you are continually enrolled in classes in whatever language you applied for. I'm hardly complaining about getting a full ride from the Divinity School, but a stipend would have been nice

To be blunt, it will also help if you are a woman, a minority, or both. I distinctly remember looking around the intro class (which everyone has to take together their first term) and being like "Wow...there are a lot of white dudes."

Good luck and hope to see you around Hyde Park next year!

[chicagodivstudent]

Thanks for correcting my info about GRE being the pivotal element, DivSkool!

[dispositif]

Results Survey shows that some PhD applicants began to hear back last week, but no postings from those who've applied to the Master's programs. Anyone out there have any info? Congrats to all of those who've been admitted, good luck to those still waiting, and thank you to anyone with any information to share!

[rdc190]

Results Survey shows that some PhD applicants began to hear back last week, but no postings from those who've applied to the Master's programs. Anyone out there have any info? Congrats to all of those who've been admitted, good luck to those still waiting, and thank you to anyone with any information to share!

I received notification today that I've been admitted to the M.Div. program. I believe that most Masters programs applicants have been notified now, but I'm not sure because not too many have posted about it on GC.

[dispositif]

Congrats rdc190!

[dispositif]

Got my "yes" from Chicago this morning! A good day.

[misskitty]

Accepted in the AM program..25% funding.

[rdc190]

Got my "yes" from Chicago this morning! A good day.

Congrats to you too!

Edited March 11, 2012 by rdc190

[MonkeyPants]

Accepted to UChicago AMRS with 50% funding and MAPH with 100% funding. Wow.

[dispositif]

Anyone planning to attend Prospective Students' Day? Plane tickets to O'Hare from the Southeast are looking pretty pricey...

[rdc190]

Anyone planning to attend Prospective Students' Day? Plane tickets to O'Hare from the Southeast are looking pretty pricey...

I am not going to the Prospective Student's Day, but I did visit in the fall. I would suggest flying into Midway if possible because it is so much closer to campus than O'Hare. You can take a bus from the Midway to UChicago for just a couple of dollars and it took about an hour to get to the school. Also Southwest Airlines flies into Midway and they tend to be less expensive than other airlines. Good luck! I know how all of those travel expenses add up!

[theologyofyourface]

Has anyone here acceped UChicago's offer and gotten any response from them about it?

I accepted on March 31st via the website, but I haven't heard anything else-- I haven't gotten housing stuff, my school ID, nothin'. Should I email them, or is this normal?

[Aletheia]

This is off the topic but... I will be applying to the AM for fall 2013 and was just wondering what the typical stats of people admitted are. Any help would be appreciated.

[DivSkool]

I can't really speak for "stats" like GRE scores or GPA (since I don't think they matter as much on their own, rather they are just another part of a well-rounded application), but in my experience everyone that I've met in the MA (AM, whatever) program has had extensive language training in their field before they get here, and once they're here, continue to study relevant languages over the course of the year and into the summer. So, if you know that you're going to need to have Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, etc., you should focus on including the training you've already had in your statement of purpose, and definitely plan on taking more language classes if you don't already have a background in what you need.