M.A.R. at Baylor vs. M.T.S. at Truett

[Café com Leite]

Hello all! I'm looking to start a masters program next year with the goal of going on to do a PhD afterwards. I've been looking at Baylor because I have family in Texas, so it would be nice to be close to them (but not a necessity) but I'm a little confused about the relationship between Baylor and Truett and which would be better prep for a PhD. I saw that the Dept. of Religion at Baylor offers an M.A. in Religion, but their site has almost no info (most of it is about their PhD) and Truett offers a MTS for "further academic study". Does anybody have any feedback about either of these programs and which would be better? Thanks in advance.

[Body Politics]

My initial reaction is to opt for Baylor, simply because its more recognizable in the field (because Baylor is a good school). At first I had no idea what Truett was. 

[sacklunch]

Second Baylor. Plus it's a religious studies degree which I imagine (?) would allow you more freedom in your coursework.

[cadences]

Baylor's got my vote too. What's their financial aid like, though?

[Fnkyfreshman]

I did my MDIV at Truett and have just started my PhD in the religion dept at Baylor, so I think I can answer some of your questions. 

 

Honestly, I think Baylor Religion is phasing out the MA. I would ask the admissions office to be sure, but pretty much the entire dept centers on the PhD students. So even if they did let you do that track, I'm not sure if you would get the attention you may need. Of course, if you wanted to come to Baylor for your PhD then it may give you a boost. 

 

Truett is a very different place and has almost no institutional or faculty affiliation with the Religion Dept. Its even on the other side of campus! Its nothing like what you have at Duke or Chicago where the div school is closely affiliated. The faculties are completely different, though many of them are friends and colleagues. Truett is also very different theologically. Truett is a very protestant place with deep baptist roots and a largely pietistic student body (intuition and spirituality is prized over logical rigor and argument). Its' heavy on scriptural study (its strongest asset) and light on philosophical method or ethics, though that is rapidly changing with a couple of recent hires. It has strong historical theology and missiology folks who occasionally do something 'systematic', but since the main goal is to train pastors, the academic preparation has to be sought out on your own. You wont come out of Truett perfectly ready to apply to PhD work without having taken the time while you are there to purposefully take steps in that direction. There is no thesis/academic track really. I took 5 courses in the Baylor religion dept for credit at Truett, which helped me get a lay of the current academic land. Two of my 3 recs came from Baylor Religion and not Truett. I know a number of former truett students in great PhD programs, but they had to work more than the degree required for graduation in order be competitive. This is not a criticism though. Truett is a wonderful place. But its goals are more ecclesial and less academia. 

 

 

Baylor Religion is very Duke School oriented in almost every way. There is a very strong Duke contingent at Baylor (3 grad theology faculty did PhD's at Duke) and many of our students have done degrees there.  Many of the theology students are "Bapto-catholics" or Anabaptist and most all of them do some form of Christian Ethics (as opposed to say systematics). So there is some philosophical and theological presuppositions that you will never run into at Truett, for better or worse. 

 

Let me know if you have questions about NT or OT and I can ask someone in those depts. 

 

You may, in the end, simply want to try applying to the best MTS or MAR programs you can (Duke, PTS, Yale, Chicago, Notre Dame etc) because they will make the transition to PhD apps much easier. 

[Café com Leite]

Thanks for the feedback and thanks FnkyFreshman for the insights from the "front lines" at Baylor and Truett. I finally emailed Baylor because I couldn't find info on applying for the MAR (only a page listing the course description) and they replied and said that they are currently not offering a MA through the religion department and referred me to Truett if I was interested in a M** in Religion/Theo. So I guess that solves that question.

 

I do plan to apply to several of the "top" schools for MTS/MAR programs, but I would like to have at least one option that is close to family, are there any other "noteworthy" masters programs in Texas for PhD prep? Thanks for your help again!

[sacklunch]

Tell us a bit more about your interests. There are likely other options (in Texas) in related fields, such as Classics, but you would need the required language prep for such programs.

[Fnkyfreshman]

There are some seminaries scattered around (austin pres. and seminary of the sw, hardin simmons etc) but many would do you more harm than good. Of course we won't even mention the SBC options. As for universities, SMU is up the road as is TCU. Both have pretty good div schools.SMU is better but tends to be more theologically progressive than say Baylor/duke div etc. But Bruce Marshall or William Abraham are good names to be associated with and their recs would be very helpful. If you wanted to do NT then UT could work. But keep in mind that it is entirely secular, so confessional apps will be tossed.

What are your interests/goals?

[Kuriakos]

Without a specialty it is hard to advise you about Texas options.

[Café com Leite]

My interest is in N.T., specifically Paul. I like both the historical side (New Perspective stuff) as well as the theological side, but that's a very general overview of my interests. I have taken 5 semesters of Greek and have intermediate french reading and very basic German reading (I took a course on it, but wouldn't say I can "read" it with ease). Hope this helps. Not to expand the topic too much, but what other schools would be good for doing an MTS/MAR related to Pauline studies. On my list so far I have Duke, Emory, Yale and maybe Vandy. Thanks again!

[sacklunch]

My interest is in N.T., specifically Paul. I like both the historical side (New Perspective stuff) as well as the theological side, but that's a very general overview of my interests. I have taken 5 semesters of Greek and have intermediate french reading and very basic German reading (I took a course on it, but wouldn't say I can "read" it with ease). Hope this helps. Not to expand the topic too much, but what other schools would be good for doing an MTS/MAR related to Pauline studies. On my list so far I have Duke, Emory, Yale and maybe Vandy. Thanks again!

 

Any of those schools would be fine places to study. The biggest, more difficult, factor for anyone in bible is getting enough language work in before starting a PhD. That said, you want to find a school/program that will allow you to take enough language courses. I imagine for most competitive PhD programs you are going to need at least two years of Hebrew (so that will take up 12 hours of an MAR/MTS), more Greek (you will eventually need to study Classical; if you haven't started that yet, please start now), and possibly Latin/Aramaic/Coptic/Styriac depending on your interests. Again, this is for 'more competitive' programs that focus on the historical-critical method, so take my comments lightly if you plan to apply to a different type of doctoral program.

 

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