Masters in Religon with excellent funding?

[george_lit]

Hi all. Can anyone recommend any masters programs in religion with great funding? I'm interested in Second Temple Judaism, so Yale Div is my #1 choice, but money is a huge issue so I'm wondering if there are other programs out there with well-funded masters?

[AbrasaxEos]

Many of the big programs (YDS, HDS, Duke, etc.) will be pretty well-funded, though it is somewhat unlikely that it would be full funding.  In my own case, I ended up paying no tuition while at YDS, and was lucky enough to have a spouse that could provide the income necessary to pay living expenses, but I think the norm is more like 50-75% funding for M* programs.  There is the well-known program at Notre Dame which fully funds Master's students, but it is intensely competitive for obvious reasons - note that the concentrated M.A.R. at YDS is also very competitive, especially in the HB/ST/NT concentrations, you'll need some pretty decent language preparation to be seriously considered.  So, without knowing what your background is, I would say that the most likely amount of funding you can expect from the larger programs is in the 50-75% of tuition range.  For this reason, one should pay attention to the area that the school is in - living in Cambridge or Boston is far more expensive than Durham! 

 

There is another poster on here who has done two masters in this area that could probably chime in with more specificity on some strong Second Temple Programs.

[Therewillbeluke]

Princeton Theological Seminary is excellent with funding, most people get 80% funding or more, and even if you got NO funding full tuition is still lower than what you'd pay if you received a 50% offer from many comparable school. The downside is that you'll have to do an M.Div, however there are many students who are here getting the M.Div whose aim is Ph.D work, at the least its more time for languages.

[sacklunch]

The assumption is often made that one interested in ancient Judaism/Xian is religious. If you're not, I suspect doing an MDiv wouldn't be terribly helpful.

1. So, do you want a religiously affiliated program/coursework?

2. What language prep have you done?

3. Second Temple is very broad. What specific, if any, subfield?

4. Give us some general info about how competitive you are (GPA, GRE, ect.)

cheers <3

Edited August 21, 2013 by jdmhotness

[george_lit]

I'll have a BA in Classics 3.7 or so from an ivy (an older student in nontraditional program). Advanced Greek/Latin/French, beg-int German, but only a year or so of modern Hebrew. The main point of going for a masters will be to have a couple years to work on biblical Hebrew, and to refine my interests for Ph.D research. But I'm broadly interested in comparative Jewish/Greco-Roman studies. I'm religious but not Christian (just "other"). My GRE was 168 V / 151 Q / 5.0 writing. There are two or three programs I'm very interested in -- Yale MAR, Oxford MPhil being top two -- but I'm terrified of applying too selectively and either not getting in due to inadequate Hebrew prep, or getting into only one and not being able to pay for it.

[sacklunch]

You have more preparation than 90% of the applicants. Your GRE score is fantastic for a master's applicants, and totally fine/great for doctoral apps even. Apply to the best programs and I'm sure you will get into most of them. I would def. apply to Yale's MARc (2nd Temple). Speak with Collins through email and if you can, you might want to visit. Depending on your interests I would also apply to ND's MTS as well as their ECS program (classics/theology). Don't waste your time with Duke if you are looking for a full ride, plus their MTS requirements seem to be pretty bloated (you may want to apply, just to see what happens...though they are fairly confessional). Throw HDS' MTS in there, too, since they seem to fund a ton of their students. Vandy and Emory, I hear, offer some pretty competitive scholarships, though not as high as the aforementioned (I received around 50% for both 4 years back). So, if I were me I would spend the most time on apps for: YDS' MARc (IMO the best program in 2nd Temple for funding, faculty, and resources), ND's MTS and ECS, HDS' MTS. 

 

Good luck!

[PeanutButterJellyTime]

You have more preparation than 90% of the applicants. Your GRE score is fantastic for a master's applicants, and totally fine/great for doctoral apps even. Apply to the best programs and I'm sure you will get into most of them. I would def. apply to Yale's MARc (2nd Temple). Speak with Collins through email and if you can, you might want to visit. Depending on your interests I would also apply to ND's MTS as well as their ECS program (classics/theology). Don't waste your time with Duke if you are looking for a full ride, plus their MTS requirements seem to be pretty bloated (you may want to apply, just to see what happens...though they are fairly confessional). Throw HDS' MTS in there, too, since they seem to fund a ton of their students. Vandy and Emory, I hear, offer some pretty competitive scholarships, though not as high as the aforementioned (I received around 50% for both 4 years back). So, if I were me I would spend the most time on apps for: YDS' MARc (IMO the best program in 2nd Temple for funding, faculty, and resources), ND's MTS and ECS, HDS' MTS. 

 

Good luck!

 

I second this. Your scores/GPA/interests are competitive, you should be fine. I applied to seven and received two funded with stipends/one funded tuition/one half funded tuition and my scores and GPA were around the same as yours. Throw your net wide. And you definitely need to decide whether you want to do an MDiv or MTS--it makes a difference.

Good luck!!!

[george_lit]

Thank you guys so much for your encouraging words and helpful advice. I feel a lot less afraid now that I'll graduate in May and have no money and nowhere to go when it's time to move out of student housing.

[AbrasaxEos]

To echo everyone here - you will be a competitive applicant.  Emphasize your current language preparation and aptitude and your willingness to absolutely dive in head first with ancient Hebrew.  This would really be your only weak point, although I think YDS offers a summer intensive in Biblical Hebrew that you can take prior to your first semester, which you would probably need to do (it does cost extra and even if you have good funding for the program, usually comes out of your own pocket), especially if you do the two year M.A.R.  You'd likely want to be taking the advanced Hebrew courses of some type by your second year, and to have gained the ability to read unpointed texts, as well as Aramaic if at all possible for a competitive PhD application in Second Temple studies.  The nice thing for you is that you already have your other languages pretty much squared away!  One thing to note about the Oxford program is that funding is usually fairly poor for U.S. applicants.

[dr. t]

To echo everyone here - you will be a competitive applicant.  Emphasize your current language preparation and aptitude and your willingness to absolutely dive in head first with ancient Hebrew.  This would really be your only weak point, although I think YDS offers a summer intensive in Biblical Hebrew that you can take prior to your first semester, which you would probably need to do (it does cost extra and even if you have good funding for the program, usually comes out of your own pocket)...

I would note HDS offers the same through its Summer Language Program, which is free.

 

George_lit, I was in a very similar situation to you a year ago. My numbers were about the same, and I am also from a non-traditional Ivy program. While I don't know the specifics of your field - I'm a high medievalist - I do have a couple friends who study medieval reception of Hebrew texts and things like that. Feel free to PM me with any questions, and the ones I can't answer I'll forward on!

[Ando]

UChicago Divinity MA program funds at least 50% (more if you're truly exceptional) of your MA

[oh4cute]

Boston College School of Theology and Ministry offers both MDiv and MTS programs with excellent funding... most students receive at least 50% tuition remission and in some cases 100% tuition remission and an additional stipend (quite rare for masters students).  Plus BC is part of the Boston Theological Institute which means you can take classes at BU, HDS, etc.  Worth looking into...   

[Body Politics]

Brite seems to have good funding for M* degrees. 

[xypathos]

Doesn't BC still require a year of full-time ministry experience post-bachelors to be admitted to their MDiv program? Their website says as such anyway but I'm not sure how enforced it is or how flexible they are in defining ministry experience.

[sacklunch]

It's enforced more or less. I knew some MTS people when I was there who tried to switch to MDiv and were not allowed because of having no background in ministry. I have no idea how strict they actually are. And to be honest, I have a feeling they can't possibly check to see if you are stretching the truth or not. 

[cadences]

I'll have a BA in Classics 3.7 or so from an ivy (an older student in nontraditional program). Advanced Greek/Latin/French, beg-int German, but only a year or so of modern Hebrew. The main point of going for a masters will be to have a couple years to work on biblical Hebrew, and to refine my interests for Ph.D research. But I'm broadly interested in comparative Jewish/Greco-Roman studies. I'm religious but not Christian (just "other"). My GRE was 168 V / 151 Q / 5.0 writing. There are two or three programs I'm very interested in -- Yale MAR, Oxford MPhil being top two -- but I'm terrified of applying too selectively and either not getting in due to inadequate Hebrew prep, or getting into only one and not being able to pay for it.

 

Hi george_lit,

 

I have heard before (from others on this forum) that Collins tends to admit students who can read unpointed Hebrew - one member shared about how Collins made him/her/a friend read an unpointed segment of the Hebrew Bible in front of him as part of the interview for the MARc. Although, according to these forum members, Collins does bend the rule for people with exceptional ability in languages. So, it would be a matter of convincing Collins that you would be up to par, Hebrew-wise, when you begin the program, then going out to grab as much Hebrew as you can.

 

Alternatively, you could just apply to the general MAR then switch over to the Second-Temple concentration after your first year. That might be easier! But do take YDS' summer Hebrew class if you go down that route...

 

My advice, for what it's worth

[xypathos]

Speaking of funding and M* programs. Any idea how well funded, on average, MDiv acceptances are at Union? I have some interest in religion and psychology/psychiatry and finding most of the people I'm interested in are tied to Union to some degree. That said, NYC is expensive.

[MBIGrad]

Also, University of Calgary just tried to recruit me; apparently they pay $14k to their Master's students. I believe FSU also has fellowship/assistantship programs available to MA students; the same may be true of USF.