Yale Div and Harvard Div, Any Chances

[JusticeYeti]

Hey Team,

On Monday, I applied for an M. Div at Harvard Div and Yale Div. The thing is I'm from Alaska, I know more about bear safety than I do the east coast. Do I have any chance at getting in? Can anyone give me a hint or a clue of stats or admissions numbers? I went to a fairly high ranked Jesuit School and studied under two top notch scholars.

GPA: 3.444/4

UG Major- Theology and Religious Studies (Seattle University)

Work- 3 years of part time ministry, one year on the board of a non-profit. Photo editor of the school paper, ran worship for the ecumenical service for a year.

LOR- Two really good academic letters and a great letter for ministry.

No GRE's- not required

Theology classes under my belt- 14

[Jufarius87]

I appled to both as well. I think you have a very realistic chance at Yale (67% admit, B+ average GPA) given your ministry exp. There are other factors at hand as well, ECs in school? Research? Language Background? All that stuff is considered.

Being from Alaska Wont hurt you if anything it *might* help a bit given that has the geographic diversity factor..

Whats your denomination? Thats worth considering too, Yale while nonsectarian, it is heavily influenced by the episcopal tradition.

Harvard has the most brutal admissions standards (33% in past years) and they said they had a record # of apps so I cant really give any insight on your chances (or mine for that matter)

[Jufarius87]

If anyone has any background with Harvard, I wouldnt mind getting their opinion on my app as well.

M.Div program

GPA 3.82/4

Academic: UG Honors Program, PHI honors Program, P.B.K

Languages: 1 year of German

ECs: elected position at church and two on campus, 3 public speaking awards

Work Exp: Applying from UG, Internship with a Court, some private tutoring

Research: Senior Thesis (Philosophy-Military Ethics)

GREs: Didnt Submit

[Philmajor]

Jafarius87 - A person by the name of KooKoo in the 2009 Applications Religion folder is an MA student at Harvard. Try posting you questions to him in that category - bet you'll get the information you're looking for. Where else did you apply?

[rollofthedice]

Back when i was applying to MTS programs I got into Yale but not Harvard, though Yale offered very little money making it prohibitive.

I think that when it comes to the Mdiv there may be less to worry about regarding admission, and more to worry about regarding financing. But I did the MTS, so i relied solely on academic scholarship and not denominational ones.

This was a little while ago, though. Things may certainly have changed (especially in the current economic climate).

best of luck!

[Jufarius87]

RE Philmajor: I only applied to three schools, Harvard, Yale, Duke, I got an early accept to Duke so i didnt need to apply anywhere else.

RE Rollofthedice: If you dont mind my asking, what were your numbers/ECs/etc? I feel somewhat confident about Yale, but due to recent circumstances (denominational switch) Harvard is probably my easiest fit now, whereas Duke would've have been before the switch.

[JusticeYeti]

Oh yeah my extras are as follows

Languages- I have one year of Arabic

EC- Photo editor of the university newspaper, I worked in campus ministry for the school, and a ton of volunteer work (minimum of ten hours a week every week of undergrad)

Research- Senior Thesis-Teaching Theology With Simple Drawings: Pitching Theology On Napkins.