Programs in New Testament and Christian Origins

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Hi all,

 

I am applying to grad programs in Second Temple Judaism and Christian origins, and I'm interested to know what you think my chances are of getting accepted.

 

Master's programs to which I'm applying: 

 

MTS @ HDS, ND, Duke Div

MA(TS) @ Princeton Sem

MA in Early Christian Studies @ ND

MAR in Second Temple Judaism @ YDS

MA @ Toronto

 

Education

 

BA in Theology, minor in Classics (4.0)

MA in Biblical Languages (4.0) [May 2018]*

--- both from same evangelical university

 

Languages

 

Greek [classical & Koine]  (advanced)

Hebrew (advanced)

Latin (intermediate)

Aramaic (intermediate)

German (beginner)

 

-GRE 163 (V), 158 (Q), 4.5 (AW)

 

-One conference presentation (university's theology conference)

 

-Received departmental and university-wide awards during undergraduate years

 

-Two research assistantships

 

Some reasons I'm interested in doing another master's before PhD:

 

-to diversify my education

-to develop my research interests into a dissertation topic & proposal

-to develop proficiencies in Sahidic Coptic, Syriac, and German

-to hopefully get accepted to a PhD program at one of the schools listed above 

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback, especially from those with inside experience at/in any of these schools/programs.

 

+ A_CS

[xypathos]

I think you're taking the right approach, especially if you're looking to apply to competitive, TT PhD programs in another year or two. Your language list is impressive and certainly on point for PhD applicants, so you'll stand out there.

I would make sure to mention, even in passing, that you're looking to diversify your education and skill set. Some others could chime in with experience or passed down advice about making the jump from an evangelical school to a mainstream one. Certainly when it comes to biblical studies and languages, evangelical school alums tend to do well, as their programs are exceptionally strong in this regard.

Your GRE scores are fine and certainly beyond a screening cutoff - probably even for PhD programs but certainly for M* applicants.

I think your program list is strong enough. Often I like to plug my own alma mater (VDS) but I imagine Segovia has to be on the edge of retiring any day now and AJ is a controversial professor that almost got fired about four years ago and last time I read the VDS culture report from the dean, their looking to focus future faculty more in cultural and postcolonial studies, given the job market in biblical studies.

[_ 0 _]

@xypathos, thanks for your response and feedback. I have thought about VDS, but I get the sense that NT studies - and even 2TJ studies - is not their focus going forward. The other program to which I'm thinking about applying but am currently "on the fence" about is Chicago Div. 

[rheya19]

On 9/17/2017 at 7:51 PM, Adelphos_CS said:

@xypathos, thanks for your response and feedback. I have thought about VDS, but I get the sense that NT studies - and even 2TJ studies - is not their focus going forward. The other program to which I'm thinking about applying but am currently "on the fence" about is Chicago Div. 

I got my MA (or AM) at UC Div School, and my husband did his MDiv there too. If you have questions about it, let me know.

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3 hours ago, rheya19 said:

I got my MA (or AM) at UC Div School, and my husband did his MDiv there too. If you have questions about it, let me know.

Thanks! I just messaged you.

[psstein]

Oh man, you're in a field I absolutely adore, but didn't go into for a number of reasons (many to do with ecclesiastical politics!). 

You're making the right decision by going into another masters' program. Many top tier divinity schools look down on evangelical institutions for a number of reasons.

The only program I don't like on your list is HDS, but they're good by all accounts. PM me if you want to talk about your research interests, as I can definitely help you there (I wanted to do NT for almost two and a half years).  

[sacklunch]

If you really want to establish yourself as "safe" to top doctoral programs you might also consider applying to religious studies and/or classics MA's. As for RS, apply to Duke's MA. The funding is about the same as Duke Divinity's MTS, but there is only one required class, leaving the entire remainder of the degree up to you (you can take classes in RS, Divinity, or any other department, including Classics, and at UNC-CH with Ehrman or Plese, as long as the class in any way relates to "religion"). For those looking to get into academia, there is zero reason why you would do the MTS at Duke unless they offer you substantially more funding (unlikely). As for Classics, you have enough Greek and Latin to get in, which is rare in your field (well, Latin is at least). To ND's ECS, you might check out programs like WUSTL, University of Kansas, Arizona, and even somewhere like University of British Columbia. I think all of these are fully or mostly funded. As I'm sure you already know, for Christian Origins/Second Temple period, the most important part of your application is languages. Feel free to message me. I'm at one of the top doctoral programs mentioned in this thread and there was a time when I identified my interests very close to yours.

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@sacklunch, thanks for your note. I tried to message you, but it says you are unable to receive messages. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps you could try to message me.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Adelphos_CS