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HDS Admissions: Student Blog

Tag Archives: Statement of Purpose

Last Minute Application Questions and Answers

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Applying

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financial aid, Recommendation Letters, Statement of Purpose

Editor’s Note: We hope this blog post helps answer any last-minute questions you may still have. Be sure to also check out our How to Apply series and the recorded HDS Admissions virtual events from this semester. Please note that the Admission’s Office is closed until January 1st and will reopen on January 4th. We are confident that you will use the tools we’ve provided and your best judgement as you finish up your application. Best of luck! 

HDS Photo // Courtesy of Kristie Welsh

Can I submit my application before my recommenders submit their letters? 

Yes, you can submit your application before your recommenders have submitted their letters. However, please note that it is your responsibility to remind your recommenders of the deadline and continue to check the status of your materials to make sure they are submitted on time.  

How do I apply for financial aid?  

The application for financial aid will become available AFTER the application deadline. Those who have applied will receive the financial aid application via email. Check your spam folder if you don’t receive the financial aid application information by late January and contact Financial Aid with any questions or concerns. The financial aid application is short and easy to complete. If you are an American citizen or qualified resident, you must also submit the FAFSA. International applicants are not required to submit the FAFSA.  Please note that you only need to include your personal financial information, and not your family’s financial information, on both the FAFSA and the HDS financial aid application.  

Upon submitting your HDS application, you will be considered for merit-based aid. However, you must submit the HDS financial-aid application to be considered for need-based aid.  Approximately 90 percent of students receive some form of institutional grant assistance, and the vast majority of that is need-based aid, so we strongly encourage all HDS applicants to apply for financial aid. 

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Advice from Current Students as You Finish Up Your Application

21 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Applying

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Current students, HDS People, Statement of Purpose

Editor’s Note: For this blog post, we asked current students to share some words of wisdom to help students as they finish up their HDS application. We know this can be a stressful time, but we hope this insight from current students makes the process a little easier. If you have any specific questions about the application, please reach out to the admissions team. 

Kenashia Thompson MDiv ’23 She/Her/Hers 

When you finish your application, celebrate! Relax! Kick your feet up! Treat yourself fam! Don’t stress! The decision will come soon enough. You’ve done your part in applying to HDS and this community would be blessed to have you and everything that you offer. Even if you don’t get accepted, realize that you are still ENOUGH and your talents and scholarship in this season are needed elsewhere. This is not the end. I’m rooting for you one trillion percent. 

Lóre Stevens MDiv ’22 She/Her/Hers 

As someone with a previous master’s degree: Know your deep, clear reason for coming to grad school. That reason will be what gets you through, so if it’s fuzzy or absent, this whole experience will be more difficult and less fulfilling. 

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Applying to Graduate School During a Pandemic

09 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Applying

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Admissions, Applying, Boston, Graduate Assistants, Statement of Purpose

Editor’s Note: My name is Jessica Cantos, and I am a current student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) in the Higher Education program. Due to the pandemic, my entire HGSE experience will be virtual because my program is only a year long. While zoom classes were not what I expected when I applied to graduate school a year ago, I have been overjoyed with the compassionate and support that professors and administrators have shown students during this challenging time. As I finish up my first semester remotely, I wanted to offer my perspective to students who are considering graduate school at a time where it feels impossible to plan ahead. I hope that the advice and insight offered in this post gives you the confidence and support you need to take this next step.  

Post by Jessica Cantos, Admissions Graduate Assistant

While we are currently planning for Fall 2021 to be back to an in-person, on-campus experience, we don’t know what will happen in the future with the pandemic and public health. If HDS needs to be remote for Fall 2021, we won’t have that decision until late spring or early summer, well after the Fall 2021 application deadline of January 7. Rest assured that if you do apply, are admitted, and accept our offer of admission, and then the decision is made to be remote in the fall, we will work with you to discuss your enrollment options. This blog post is meant to help you navigate the uncertainty of the pandemic and plans to apply to graduate school. 

Deciding to apply to graduate school during any “normal” year feels stressful and uncertain, but even more so during a global pandemic. If you’re feeling unsure whether it is the right time to pursue graduate education, you are not alone! Here are some things to consider as you decide:  

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Suggested Application Timeline

07 Tuesday Jul 2020

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Applying

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Academics, Applying, ask students, Decisions, financial aid, HDS People, How to Apply, MDiv, MTS, Recommendation Letters, Statement of Purpose, Summer

Editor’s Note: Kate Hoeting recently finished her first year as a student in the MTS program and as a Graduate Assistant in the HDS Office of Admissions. After a year of guiding prospective students through the application, Kate is sharing her wisdom about how applicants might approach the process.

Post by Kate Hoeting, MTS ‘21 and Admissions Graduate Assistant

Kate Hoeting (MTS ‘21) at work in the HDS Admissions Office // 
photo courtesy of Kate Hoeting 

I love a good plan, and if you clicked on this article, it seems likely that you love a good plan too. When you’re facing something that seems as daunting as applying to graduate school, it can be helpful to break the process down into manageable steps. But first, a word of warning: everyone’s journey to divinity school is different, and this timeline shouldn’t be one size fits all. Do not panic if you’re reading this post in October and thinking, “I’m already too late!” Conversely, if you are already working on your Statement of Purpose, that is fantastic! Please customize the timeline to your particular situation. I personally did not follow this timeline when I applied to HDS—it’s just a set of guidelines for those of you who love a good plan.  

July: Decide if you want to apply to graduate school 

Going to graduate school is a serious commitment of time and resources, so it will be helpful to take some time to sort out if and why you want to apply. This process of discernment can also be helpful in writing a strong Statement of Purpose later down the line. This is a good time to do some journaling, reflecting, and ritualizing. Be in your communities—even if it’s on Zoom—and connect with mentors who can help you decide whether to apply. It can also be helpful to check out our website and sign up for one of our HDS information session webinars. 

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Exploring Divinity School during COVID-19

10 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Considering HDS

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Applying, ask students, Classes, Current students, Faculty, How to Apply, Lectures, Podcast, Prospective Students, Statement of Purpose

Post by Kate Hoeting, MTS ‘21, & Julia Reimann, MDiv ‘22 

If you’re thinking about coming to divinity school, you might be wondering how to decide where to apply when you can’t visit campus. We at the HDS Office of Admissions feel for you, and we’re working hard to develop resources to help you explore HDS!  

  1. Draft Your Statement of Purpose  

Divinity school is a big investment of time and money, so you’ll want to devote time to thinking about why you want to attend. Even if you’re just exploring, starting to draft your Statement of Purpose can give you a good sense of what you’d like to get out of graduate school and why. Having a grasp on your future goals will not only strengthen your application but also make your life happier in the long run by helping you decide which kind of school is right for you. 

  1. Make a Research Spreadsheet 

Summer is a great time to research different schools before you can start filling out our application in September. If you make a spreadsheet to track your research, you can mark things like tuition, programs that interest you, and testing requirements. Just making the spreadsheet can be helpful because it will help you consider which aspects of divinity school matter to you. For example, when I was searching for schools, my spreadsheet had a column to rate each school’s library. 

Students preparing for our annual multi-religious  
celebration Seasons of Light // photo courtesy of HDS OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
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How to Apply Series

11 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Applying

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Advice, GRE, Reapplication, Recommendation Letters, Statement of Purpose, Test Scores, TOEFL/IELTS, writing sample

Post by: Kate Hoeting, MTS ‘21, Graduate Assistant in the HDS Office of Admissions 

Hi everyone! If you’re planning to apply for the 2021-2022 school year, we hope this blog has been helpful in getting you ready for the January deadline. In 2018, our Graduate Assistants created a wonderful blog post series called “How to Apply” that will walk you through each aspect of the application process. In December 2020, we went back and updated the articles to reflect this year’s requirements. Here are the articles in our “How to Apply” series: 

  • “How to Apply: Letters of Recommendation” 
  • “How to Apply: Statement of Purpose” 
  • “How to Apply: Reapplication” 
  • “How to Apply: Writing Sample” 
  • “How to Apply: Test Scores” 

Remember that during this busy period for those of you applying in this cycle, the Admissions Office is happy to help! Email us at admissions@hds.harvard.edu or ask_students@hds.harvard.edu.

Current Students Reflect: What Surprised You Most About the HDS Application Process?

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Applying

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Admissions, Advice, GRE, Statement of Purpose

Applying to graduate school can bring many new things to light: Is my application process something I want to discuss with everybody, with nobody, or with a few trusted confidants? How well can I juggle my everyday commitments with this extra task? What is it that is truly driving me to apply for graduate study, and how can I best translate that into my statement of purpose?

As application season rapidly draws to a close, current HDS students stopped to reflect on what surprised them most during their own application processes…

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Current Students Reflect: Advice on Beginning Your HDS Application

04 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Applying

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Admissions, Advice, GRE, Statement of Purpose

Wherever you are in the application process, we current students at HDS remember the discombobulating stress that can accompany embarking on the massive undertaking of applying to graduate school. Below is some of the advice we wished we would have known as we clicked “Begin an application” on the HDS website…

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