Decision Help

[Barth-or-Bust]

I have received two offers (shown below) that I am currently choosing between. I was hoping to find some advice about which program would be a better fit for my interests and aspirations.

My interests primarily lie in New Testament and Theology / Philosophy of Religion (mostly religion and science). I have been particularly drawn to the work of NT Wright and the New Perspective. Note: I realize that I have a wide variety of interests. I am hoping to limit those down during my M*. I plan to pursue doctoral work after this M*. Therefore, my primary concern is which program would best prepare myself for that (and almost more importantly which program would open the most doors during doctoral applications). 

 

Boston College - MTS (2 year)

-Funding: Full (and potentially a GA position as a research assistant)

 

Boston University - MDiv (3 years) - Religion and the Academy

-Funding: Full (and a small housing stipend)

 

Luckily, a lot of the factors worth considering are similar between each program. Same city. Same funding. From my perspective, the major deciding factor is the program. The MTS would be quicker and more direct (less fluff classes to stomach) while the MDiv would allow for more time to learn languages and build up a CV.

 

Questions:

 

Which program would prepare myself better for graduate work? Are they roughly similar or is one substantially stronger than the other?

 

What are the general (academic) reputation of each school? Unfortunately, public opinion matters when my future relies on getting people to notice me. In terms of doctoral applications, which would be a stronger name on my resume?

Would the MDiv be looked down upon by doctoral adcoms? Even considering the intent (the religion and the academy track)?

 

Also, if there are any students here from either program I would love to hear what you have to say. Feel free to PM me.

[sacklunch]

Look at the requirements of each program. They vary a lot from school to school. The upside is you can take classes at any of the Boston schools through the BTI.

I was once upon a time at BC and I very much enjoyed my time there. You can take as many classes as you want through BC Dept. of Theology (which is much more academically focused) as part of the degree. So in effect you can almost never set foot in the STM and still get the degree from them. I'm not sure if this has changed, but 5 years or so ago their MTS had a hell of a lot of flexibility (also, up to 50% of your classes could be from BTI courses). 

 

It's also important to consider the sort of students you will be working alongside. The interesting thing about places like BC, when compared to their 'Protestant' counterparts, is there are a lot more students pursuing the MTS rather than the MDiv. It's not to say that women cannot get an MDiv from BC, but being the way the Catholic Church is, more students are enrolled in the MTS than the MDiv (when compared to places like Duke or Candler the opposite is true). This changes the classroom dynamic substantially. The kinds of interests, from my experience, tended to be more 'academic'. This is particularly true in biblical studies courses, where, even if the students have theological interests, there simply is not much at stake for them. Many liberal Catholics could care less about the veracity of the NT authors, the canon, and so on. It's old hat for many of them. The result is that biblical studies courses end up being very historical-critical (a plus or a minus depending on your interests) and smaller (a perk!). 

[ALH3]

To give the BU perspective, since sacklunch did a good job explaining BC, I just finished my MTS at BU. At BU you will get good science and religion. Dr. Wildman is great and they recently hired someone else. Dr. Neville also does significant work in that field and both Neville and Wildman are really great people. I looked into BC for PhD work and found out that only Dr. Robinette does anything related to science at BC and it was just one class that isn't regularly schedule (BC is more focused on continental philosophy). 

 

Concerning NT, BU has two good ones: Dr. Knust and Dr. Walters. Knust is really taking off as an important scholar, especially regarding sexuality in scripture. Dr. Walters does a lot of archeological stuff (they offer yearly trips to do digs and tour important sites). 

 

Sacklunch was right, you are looking at very different institutions. Obviously BC is catholic and, in my opinion, a bit more conservative. BU, on the other hand, is a Methodist school but is way on the "left" of Methodism. Simply speaking for myself, I fit better at BU (being protestant and a bit more "liberal"). 

 

At the same time, I would advocate for a MTS over the MDiv. Like you said, there are a lot of classes that I just didn't care about that were required in the MDiv program. The MTS offered much better flexibility for me to study things I was interested in instead of classes on worship or counseling (great classes but just not my interest). So, obviously I'm bias toward BU but either would work. And although Chestnut Hill is still in the Boston area, BU is much more a part of the city. I'm not sure how much of a factor that is for you but perhaps it is. Aesthetically, just in case you haven't visited, BC's theology build is much nicer than BU's building. Perhaps they have this at BC but BU does free student lunches on Wednesdays and I think they have free lunch on Tuesday as well (random but hey, it's free food). 

 

I can't think of other random details but if you would like more information, feel free to PM me. 

[sacklunch]

Some great points above!

 

BC is more 'conservative' in appearance than the reality, I think. At least in biblical studies, there is very little theology happening inside BC Dept. of Theology. The STM, naturally, is a bit different. Still, I didn't encounter much theology while I was there. I'm not a Christian and having studied in the Jesuit education system beforehand, I was well aware that my faith tradition (or lack thereof) would have little impact on my fitting in the STM. My experience at other Protestant Div settings was much different; at the very least being a non-Christian appeared to have more drastic consequences in biblical studies. Mileage varies, of course, and having no experience with BU, I cannot comment on how 'liberal' its setting is. If, for example, you are interested in studying Christian Ethics but you are not a Christian, BC, I would imagine, would be more difficult to get along in. 

 

Speaking of food, BC has a big free lunch thing every week in the STM!

Edited March 27, 2015 by sacklunch

[Cfl]

The MDiv is intended as a professional degree for ministry, not a stepping stone for doctoral work, which you intend to pursue. When I was in div school a while ago the conventional wisdom was that the MDiv was better than the MTS for getting into PhD programs, but the MTS students did just fine getting accepted into PhD. programs. I think that with the extra year and requirements, the MDiv does not make sense for a person intending doctoral work right after.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Cfl

[Barth-or-Bust]

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I truly appreciate it. I'm schedule to visit both relatively soon and will probably have more questions to ask after that.

 

The MDiv is intended as a professional degree for ministry, not a stepping stone for doctoral work, which you intend to pursue. 

I recognize that (which is why I mostly applied to MTS programs) however I assumed the "religion and the academy" track to be the exception. From BU: "This track is especially appropriate for students in any academic discipline who are seeking to pursue doctoral studies..."

 

--

The Rel and the Academy requires 7 courses that could be considered "non-academic" including 2 History of Christianity with an apologetic focus, 1 Practicing Faith course, 2 Leadership courses, and 2 fieldwork courses. As of right now, that simply seems to outweigh the advantages of staying an extra year so I am leaning towards the MTS.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Barth-or-Bust

[ALH3]

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I truly appreciate it. I'm schedule to visit both relatively soon and will probably have more questions to ask after that.

 

I recognize that (which is why I mostly applied to MTS programs) however I assumed the "religion and the academy" track to be the exception. From BU: "This track is especially appropriate for students in any academic discipline who are seeking to pursue doctoral studies..."

 

--

The Rel and the Academy requires 7 courses that could be considered "non-academic" including 2 History of Christianity with an apologetic focus, 1 Practicing Faith course, 2 Leadership courses, and 2 fieldwork courses. As of right now, that simply seems to outweigh the advantages of staying an extra year so I am leaning towards the MTS.

I think that is a good decision. Since I went to BU, I know how they work the tracks and it just makes a lot more sense to do an MTS unless you are wanting/needing to become ordained to be a practitioner. The reason I chose the MTS was the flexibility in classes; I chose almost all the classes to fit my interests (I think there were 3 "core" classes I had to take but still ended up enjoying). I really enjoyed BU but I'd do the MTS. I wonder if you could talk to BU and see if there's any flexibility in changing into that program. I was initially an MDiv student and changed into the MTS - it might be worth asking.