4minutemile Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Anyone else here waiting on MTS? Should we expect to hear on March 13th? Good luck everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
academiccricket Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'm waiting for the MTS as well. The email says, "Admissions decisions will be made available via the online application by March 15, 2009." Last year, they said they would do the same thing (March 15th). When I went to the admissions office that day, they told me they'd release the info at 5 pm on the 15th via the web application. So, I wouldn't be surprised if "by" March 15th really meant MARCH 15th this year (obviously, I did not get in last year...) Who knows? I think YDS said they were going to release their admissions info around that day too. Either it will be a great second week of March, or a really awful one. Any bets? :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4minutemile Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'm waiting for the MTS as well. The email says, "Admissions decisions will be made available via the online application by March 15, 2009." Wow, this is going to be a long two weeks. Did you get the "application is under review" status on your online application? Mine still simply says that it was submitted and is complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
academiccricket Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Yes, mine says that it is "under review", and has for the last couple of weeks. I think they just instituted this process this year (where it says "under review" for completed applications), because last year mine just showed "complete" until March 15th, where I then received the link to my rejection letter, and I don't think that anything showing on the online app NOW are indications of acceptance/rejections. Though I must admit, I was really excited to see it change, and then I had to remind myself that it wasn't indicative of anything except my app being complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4minutemile Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Yes, mine says that it is "under review", and has for the last couple of weeks. I think they just instituted this process this year (where it says "under review" for completed applications), because last year mine just showed "complete" until March 15th, where I then received the link to my rejection letter, and I don't think that anything showing on the online app NOW are indications of acceptance/rejections. Though I must admit, I was really excited to see it change, and then I had to remind myself that it wasn't indicative of anything except my app being complete. Well, I'm a little worried. Mine simply reads: "Submission Status: Submitted Submitted Date: 1/20/2009 Application Status: Completed on 1/29/2009." Do you think I should try contacting them to find out what's up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
academiccricket Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I probably would, though if all your application materials show "complete" on your web application, I wouldn't sweat it too much...they got 10+% more applications this year, and judging from the 600+ applications last year, that's a lot. They probably just didn't go back in and change it, and has no bearing on whether you are accepted/rejected. Mine shows: Submission Status: Submitted Submitted Date: 2/1/2009 6:57:00 PM E.S.T. Application is under review Application Status: Completed on 2/11/2009 3:50:00 PM ---- Though I've spent the last year "making myself more competitive" by going on Harvard's archaeology dig, presenting at an international conference, and auditing a language class through the NELC dept....I fully expect to get the boot again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jufarius87 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Well, I'm a little worried. Mine simply reads: "Submission Status: Submitted Submitted Date: 1/20/2009 Application Status: Completed on 1/29/2009." Do you think I should try contacting them to find out what's up? Are you sure that it didnt go under review and then was switched back? I'd say best to get a hold of them. I'm going for M.Div, mine says under review, potential variations in applicant statuses scare me at this point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4minutemile Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 So...I just called and they fixed my status. So, if anyone else does not have the "under review" status, it may just be a "system mishap," according to the admissions assistant, and does mean that your application is not being reviewed. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schweppes Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Hi! What kind of profile does it take to get admitted to MTS programs in general, and to the MTS program at HDS? Is this MTS the toughest to get admitted to (as compared to other divinity schools)? Do you already have a masters or just an undergraduate degree? What kind of language skills do you have? Any publications or research experience? Is it really that much easier to get admitted to masters programs, as someone told me? I saw the admissions statistics for HDS, yet they are not specified for the ThD, MDiv or MTS programs. Is it reasonable to think that about half of the MTS applicants get admitted? Many questions, I know... it would help to get an idea to what it takes though, as most posts here are about PhD applicants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
academiccricket Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I don't know what it takes to get into an MTS, but I can speculate. Wanting to work with the lay community while pursuing an academic interest, as seen in the personal statement, I think is extremely important. Fit with faculty interests/school's tradition (for example, right now it seems that HDS is big on liberation theology and/or feminist studies) plays a role as well. Undergraduate GPA is key, but if you have above a 3.5+, I think you can breathe easier than the rest. Most people I know in these programs don't submit GRE scores. People in the program seem to have a strong language background (my former housemate at HDS worked in Arabic before going to HDS, and others had Intermediate Greek/German/Elementary Biblical Hebrew). I don't necessarily think this is required to get into the program, but it certainly will make your app stronger. As for the competitiveness, HDS "by the numbers" looks easy to get into in comparison with other programs (according to petersons.com, it is roughly about 40%). However, you have to remember that the QUALITY of the applicant pool is significantly higher, so it is pretty tough competition regardless. ---- If it helps, I'm applying, and my profile is: M.A. Jewish Studies (from a small, unknown school), concentration in Hebrew Bible - 3.7 B.A. English, B.A. Religion (from small, liberal arts school) - 2.72 (I worked full-time and put myself through college, so this was a particularly tumultuous time for me). GRE: 1190 (verbal: 590, quant: 600)...definitely not enough to counter-balance my train-wreck of a ugpa. Typical school-given awards: excellence for Bib. Studies, Dean's List, etc. Presented at an international graduate conference at Trinity College, Ireland, with my thesis on gender roles and the Jacob cycle. Adjuncted an upper-division religion course and English 101 (for a semester) at a small, liberal arts college. Languages: Modern Hebrew (2 years), Biblical Hebrew (4 years), Midrashic Hebrew (1 year), Biblical Aramaic (1 semester), Akkadian (1 year), Attic Greek (1 year) Worked on an archaeological dig with Harvard NELC in Ashkelon, Israel for the full 2008 season. ---- I don't feel like I stand a shot because of my ugpa/GRE. We'll see in a little over a week. All the best of luck to everyone applying! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schweppes Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 OK great answer. Are you applying to a Hebrew Bible track for the MTS as well? Would you (or people in general) prefer to go to the MTS program (at HDS) or go directly for a PhD at a slightly less prestigious school (as I see you're admitted to a PhD program at CUA) if you have the choice? Will the MTS program have such a major impact on your career or work? Or would you prefer not to complete another program before starting a PhD? Is the MTS program in most cases just for back-up/safety reasons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schweppes Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Oh yes, I forgot: best of luck to you all with your applications! It seems from the messages on this forum that decisions will come on the 13th or 15th, which means in about 10 days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4minutemile Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 Hi! What kind of profile does it take to get admitted to MTS programs in general, and to the MTS program at HDS? Are you currently applying to the program? After the decisions are posted, I'd be happy to share my details with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
academiccricket Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 If I had my choice, I'd choose YDS out of all of them. They have everything I want in their M.A.R. program, including a prof. that does what I want to eventually do... It would give me two/three years to gain a lot more experience in terms of publications/presentations (in addition to raising my GRE score), and get stronger letters of recommendation. However, HDS would be easier for me personally, because my fiance is a Ph.D. in the NELC department at Harvard, and we are "settled" here. It would be nice to work in Lamont library or Widener without having to sign in as a guest every single time. :-) I could also cross-register through NELC, and that would be great. The other major impact is funding, as I have yet to hear what the funding (if any...) CUA offers, and if I don't get funding for a Ph.D., it simply isn't worth it. So, all I need is just one between the two programs. I'm really hoping that next week is a good week for me. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jufarius87 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Do you guys think there is a big difference in the difficulty between getting into an M.Div compared to a MTS/MAR program? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
academiccricket Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Yes. I've heard resoundingly from people that the M.Div is easier to get into. Period. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jufarius87 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Yes. I've heard resoundingly from people that the M.Div is easier to get into. Period. :-) Yay! (hopefully) So, Congrats on your acceptance to CUA, but if it came down to a masters at Harvard or Yale Vs PhD at CUA what would you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
academiccricket Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 My choice depends on funding...but... I'm really hoping for acceptance from one of the two Div schools, but I am not holding my breath for either one. This article (http://yaledailynews.com/articles/view/27636) in the Yale Daily News, says that YDS applications are up to about 550 and they are only accepting about 140, which puts the acceptance rate at approx. 25% as a whole. Harvard Divinity allegedly had the most applications they've ever had, so I expect their acceptance rate to go down from the 37% last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schweppes Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 YDS applications are up to about 550 and they are only accepting about 140, which puts the acceptance rate at approx. 25% as a whole. It isn't entirely clear to me in the article whether they expect the incoming class to be about 140, or whether they will actually admit 140 students, which definitely is not the same. In the latter case, you are right, it would be an acceptance rate of approx. 25%... which is very low indeed. But if they seek to enroll 140 students, they might admit about 200 students, which would mean an acceptance rate of approx. 36% (which seems more realistic to me). In any case, it seems to be getting harder and harder to get admitted to Divinity School. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schweppes Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Another similar story in Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/id/183715 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jufarius87 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 It isn't entirely clear to me in the article whether they expect the incoming class to be about 140, or whether they will actually admit 140 students, which definitely is not the same. In the latter case, you are right, it would be an acceptance rate of approx. 25%... which is very low indeed. But if they seek to enroll 140 students, they might admit about 200 students, which would mean an acceptance rate of approx. 36% (which seems more realistic to me). In any case, it seems to be getting harder and harder to get admitted to Divinity School. From "YDS Our year in review SPECTRUM" 07-08 admissions gave a 50% yield rate for M.Div, 43% yield rate for MAR, and 70% yield rate for STM. If the same hold this year the school should admit roughly 250-290 applicants, making the overall admit rate something around 40-50% That said, overall enrollement for 07-08 was 207 M.Divs, 148 MARs, and 19 STMS, good news for the MARs if YDS try to balance this number in favor of equaling out MAR-M.DIv population, bad news if it is just general practice to have more M.Divs than MARs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jufarius87 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Given lousy economy though I think more people will accept than did the admits of the 07-08 year. for this reason I think YDS will admit less, perhaps 35-42%? with a possible waitlist in case they project wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James105 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I have really enjoyed reading the information that has been posted so far. It is really helpful to get an insight into the psyche of programs without being pulled around by the admissions page and pamplet fluff. I am a junior in undergrad and have hopes of doing a joint ScD program in public health and MTS in the future. I am well aquainted with the public health process, I am not, however, very knowledgable about Divinity School admissions. So I would love to hear any insight in the normal stats of students and what qualifies one as a good applicant Here is the kicker: this summer I will be interning with a public health program at Harvard. The program has a month and a half long recess in the middle of the summer. So I thought it would be great to work for a professor during that period. It could be from any of the divinity professers in Boston. How should I go about scoring this opportunity (of course I know that it will be difficult since I am not a grad student)? Thank so much for your time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artandrelig Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 another question on this. since mar 15, the date we're supposed to hear for mts/mdiv, is a sunday, do you think that's actually true? or is it more likely to be the 14th (sat) or 16th (mon)? this could help my sanity considerably, if anyone has any insights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4minutemile Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 another question on this. since mar 15, the date we're supposed to hear for mts/mdiv, is a sunday, do you think that's actually true? or is it more likely to be the 14th (sat) or 16th (mon)? this could help my sanity considerably, if anyone has any insights. In past years, it seems that we might get the decision from HDS on Friday...this year, the 13th. But maybe I'm just being wishful. Has anyone called admissions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now