Comments | applyingtograd: Looking a Gift-Horse in the Mouth, and the power of Ivys

brekketechie in applyingtograd

Looking a Gift-Horse in the Mouth, and the power of Ivys

Mar 15, 2009 03:31

So...I applied to three schools for an M.Div: Yale, Harvard and Emory.
( This whole things makes me sound super pretentious and I'm not...but I need advice! )

choosing a school, visiting, choices, rejected, dream school, acceptance, funding, divinity school, emory, yale

Comments 37

silverthief2 March 15 2009, 08:23:09 UTC

assuming I get minimal funding form Yale...is the draw of attending an Ivy (and being in such a specialized program) worth the debt I would generate?

Ask this question to people who employ people with M.Div. degrees, or doctorates, if that is the case. They'd be best suited to answer that.

Also, definitely visit. You'll be spending at least 2 years of your life at one of these places, so you should know as much about what it's like as you can find out before making the decision. Even though it's getting expensive, I will be visiting all 3 of the schools where I've been accepted that I hadn't previously visited.

DEBT! actadiurna March 15 2009, 14:26:36 UTC

Congratulations on your admissions. They are both great schools so in the end, you can’t go wrong. Being from Atlanta, I am partial to Emory, but this is not the point of my reply, it is regarding the money ( ... )

Re: DEBT! brekketechie March 15 2009, 15:04:06 UTC

Thanks. I do want to clarify a few things, though.
An M.Div is a professional degree - unlike an MA, you have the ability to be ordained. I guess in some ways it's comparable to an MFA in taht it tehnically is a terminal degree, but you couold go on for a Ph.D in theology (but's that's a totoally different story).
Both schools offered tuition remission and stipends (of varying degrees) to M.Div students (ministers don't make lots of money generally, so there tends to be decent endowments by folks who want ministers to go to college). But what you say about debt and interest is a little scary! I have about $25K from undergrad (and I had a full tuition scholarship!! That was just room and board) and I promised myself I wouldn't take out more than $10K a year for Grad School (the M.Div program is 3 years).
Yikes!

Good luck to you, too. And like my Dad told me (he was a college prof), if you can't go to a school for Ph.D work you can alway go as a visiting scholar later in life. :)

Re: DEBT! fullofpink March 15 2009, 15:58:22 UTC

lol. I love your dad's advice!

Re: DEBT! brekketechie March 15 2009, 21:13:29 UTC

He actually was a visiting Scholar at Yale. :)
Things work out.

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endxgame March 15 2009, 15:16:21 UTC

If people within the field recognize Emory as being awesome and there are high profile faculty there then you can always use it as a jumping off point to getting a PhD at Yale after you finish the M.Div.

ambiguously_jer March 15 2009, 15:22:16 UTC

VISIT.

Several of my friends applied for the Yale MDiv program and while were really excited about it on paper, really didn't like the atmosphere of the divinity school when they went to visit. (Not saying you wouldn't, but visit if at all possible!)

Alternatively, I wasn't excited about Harvard Div in the least... until I visited.

brekketechie March 15 2009, 15:32:02 UTC

Yeah, I think I'm going to have to go visit Yale. Which sucks because I'm broke. I find out if I gwt any aid sometime this week. If there's a least some, I'll start planning a visit. I think if I don't get anything aid, though, I'm just going to forget it and stick with Emory. I really, really liked Emory, so it's nit like I'm choosing between a school I loved and a school I hated. :)

ravenword March 15 2009, 15:24:37 UTC

New Haven sucks. Don't do that to yourself.

Honestly, I don't think it's worth going into debt to attend #1 when you've been accepted to #2. But I'm not in this field at all, so I can't offer specific comments. People who know nothing will be more impressed by an Ivy than by Emory, but you shouldn't care about their opinions because they're ignorant. ;-)

brekketechie March 15 2009, 15:30:05 UTC

Does New Haven really suck that much? Really?
I'm from the South. I grew up in the ATL and lived in Charlotte, so i've never lived up North before. I've never even visited. Are you saying New Haven sucks in comparison to NYC or Boston or something? Or, does it just suck in general?

fullofpink March 15 2009, 15:55:37 UTC

Snow is King ( ... )

brekketechie March 15 2009, 21:22:20 UTC

I lived about an hour North of Belfast for a semester, and while it didn't snow, I did get use to the eternal drizzle and icy coldness of the Irish coast. I've never lived near snow, but I think it would be a good adventure. :)
Also, with the emphasis on New Haven, I mean how much free time do Grad students have anyway? I know there will be some free moments, but I expect to be fairly busy with school. Should I really worry about the fact that New Haven is so small? All I want are a variety of ethnic restraunts, a good neighborhood theater and a health food store. I think I could survive on that (that's about what Charlotte had ( ... )

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