dev35689 Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Has anyone here applied to a Vanderbilt Divinity Master's program? I received an acceptance letter last week, and out of the school's I applied to it is the one I know the least about. I was just curious what everyone's overall perception of their program's are, and if anyone else here has been applying.
MDLee Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 I applied to the history program. No word yet. It's supposed to be a great school...but I admit it was on a list of "This is a place you MUST apply" handed to me by an advisor, so I went with it. Did they fund you?
dev35689 Posted March 4, 2009 Author Posted March 4, 2009 They are covering 70% of my tuition with a merit scholarship...still waiting on what kind of government aid I can get.
MDLee Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 They are covering 70% of my tuition with a merit scholarship...still waiting on what kind of government aid I can get. Congrats--that's not bad funding given the current economic situation. I'm sure more will be coming in the future as you establish yourself in the school...have you gotten any other acceptance notices?
achowa00 Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 dev35869, I earned my M.Div. at VDS two years ago and am happy to answer whatever questions you might have--just send me a PM. I loved it there, but I would also say it definitely depends on your background and interests! Congrats on your acceptance and impressive funding!
username4321 Posted March 15, 2009 Posted March 15, 2009 dev35869, hey, i was also admitted with a similiar funding package. have you found out more about the program? I was accepted to the MTS? you? also, with the funding, i was a little confused: it was merit based, but it was stated i had to submit my financial aid forms as well. is the merit scholarship only given if need is demonstrated? interested to hear anything you have learned. what other schools/programs are you looking at?
dev35689 Posted March 16, 2009 Author Posted March 16, 2009 In regards to your question about the financial aid information, I believe the merit scholarship is given based on your past achievements without regard of need. This makes even more sense if your were awarded this and the School does not have any of your financial aid info. I've been trying to get in touch with the financial aid office at Vanderbilt for a few days without success to find out what other kinds of aid are available. 70% off tuition is great, but I will still need to qualify for loans and such if I hope to go there. As to your other question about the program, outside of the website and a few comments from this site I don't know much about the program. I'm going to visit in a couple weeks. I wasn't given any dates for an admitted students day, so I'm assuming they don't offer one, which I actually like because I'll be able to experience what a typical day would be like there.
username4321 Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 i figured that was the case with the scholarship, but the need for my forms threw me off. I am going to attempt to contact the department as well this week, so let me know if you have any luck, and who you talk to.
waitingtoexhale Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 hey, i was also admitted with a similiar funding package. have you found out more about the program? I was accepted to the MTS? you? also, with the funding, i was a little confused: it was merit based, but it was stated i had to submit my financial aid forms as well. is the merit scholarship only given if need is demonstrated? I think financial aid forms, such as FAFSA, are required by most schools. The forms won't have any bearing on merit-based scholarships, but are necessary to obtain additional funds (loans/work-study).
sacklunch Posted April 7, 2010 Posted April 7, 2010 Have you guys heard anything about grants/financial aid yet? I talked to them last week and they said they were about to send out this information, but I have not received anything as of today (accepted into MTS).
11Q13 Posted April 7, 2010 Posted April 7, 2010 Have you guys heard anything about grants/financial aid yet? I talked to them last week and they said they were about to send out this information, but I have not received anything as of today (accepted into MTS). I got my info a long time ago, at least 2 or 3 weeks ago. There were a bunch of extra forms that you have to fill out for other types of aid, which I was shocked to hear about because they aren't anywhere on the website. It ended up not mattering because I didn't qualify for need-based grants (which was shocking to me because I literally made 0 income last year). The loan package was pretty standard, but the work study was either 7,500 or 9,000 I forget which, pretty high from what I've seen.
sacklunch Posted April 7, 2010 Posted April 7, 2010 I got my info a long time ago, at least 2 or 3 weeks ago. There were a bunch of extra forms that you have to fill out for other types of aid, which I was shocked to hear about because they aren't anywhere on the website. It ended up not mattering because I didn't qualify for need-based grants (which was shocking to me because I literally made 0 income last year). The loan package was pretty standard, but the work study was either 7,500 or 9,000 I forget which, pretty high from what I've seen. Yeah I filled out the same forms, seems pretty odd they didn't have anyone fill them out during the application. Did you end up taking the offer? I see you have several other great offers in your sig.
11Q13 Posted April 7, 2010 Posted April 7, 2010 On 4/7/2010 at 9:04 AM, wagnern said: Yeah I filled out the same forms, seems pretty odd they didn't have anyone fill them out during the application. Did you end up taking the offer? I see you have several other great offers in your sig. I could do my Master's with minimal loans. But like someone else mentioned, I don't really know that much about the specific Divinity School profs. I know that they are good at getting students placed in PhD programs, and that because of some undergrad courses I can waive some introductory stuff. Harvard, the guy that would be my adviser is basically the guy id want to study under more than anything, and HDS has a multi-faith dynamic which is good for the work I'm doing now. But I only got 50% scholarship, which means including living expenses I'd have to come up with somewhere in the neighborhood of 60k just to do the degree... I'm racking my brain day and night about this
sacklunch Posted April 7, 2010 Posted April 7, 2010 Well, at least you have choices, eh? Congrats on at least getting 50%. I have a good friend at HDS right now, although the only reason he went there was because he got a full ride. Still, with living costs he is spending quite a bit, and really might be about what a less aided cheaper school would be. What would your concentration be? I see you applied for the Jewish studies deal at HDS? Are you Jewish, or just interested?
11Q13 Posted April 7, 2010 Posted April 7, 2010 It would be Biblical Studies. I'm a Christian. Jon Levenson, the chair of the Jewish studies program, has crafted a very interesting niche where he combines historical critical scholarship with interfaith dialog. I really want to get in on that. I’ve been working in Israel/Palestine for the last couple years with a couple charities which are specifically catered toward interfaith dialog. I am also a Bible nerd and consume copious amounts of the most useless esoteric Biblical Studies journal material. Finding a way to do what he does, and well, would give me some purpose, hopefully set me up for a PhD, and also make me better at my job here...I also figured there would be less competition for the Jewish Studies concentration.
sacklunch Posted April 8, 2010 Posted April 8, 2010 On 4/7/2010 at 1:58 PM, 11Q13 said: It would be Biblical Studies. I'm a Christian. Jon Levenson, the chair of the Jewish studies program, has crafted a very interesting niche where he combines historical critical scholarship with interfaith dialog. I really want to get in on that. I’ve been working in Israel/Palestine for the last couple years with a couple charities which are specifically catered toward interfaith dialog. I am also a Bible nerd and consume copious amounts of the most useless esoteric Biblical Studies journal material. Finding a way to do what he does, and well, would give me some purpose, hopefully set me up for a PhD, and also make me better at my job here...I also figured there would be less competition for the Jewish Studies concentration. Do you have any idea what total tuition is? I talked to their financial aid office today and was a bit confused. I got around 50% tuition off, but the lady I think said annually it costs around 39k...does this sound right? I was unsure if she was adding in assumed costs, such as books, room, food, ect. Thoughts?
11Q13 Posted April 9, 2010 Posted April 9, 2010 from what they sent me: tuition 18k health fee 2k activities/recreation fee 400 books 1k rent and utilities 8.4k food 3.6k personal 1.8k parking 260 grand total ~35k
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