Seminary Decision

After my visits and much consideration I have decided that I will be attending Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary to pursue a Masters of Divinity (MDiv). I will be starting in the Fall and plan on relocating to Texas sometime in August so that I have a little bit of time to get settled in before new student orientation September 1 - 3. Classes begin the following week.
I really loved the school, the faculty and staff, the students that I met and the other prospective students that were there with me for Discovery Weekend.

When I let the school know that I was accepting their offer of admission I received multiple messages of cheer and welcome from staff and I was warmly welcomed by alumni on Twitter as one of their own. It was quite an instant affirmation of my decision.

The campus is fairly compact and really pretty. They have a really cool Gothic chapel and a selection of different on campus housing options for students and their families within easy walking distance (even for me) to classrooms, administration offices, and dining/fellowship hall. The seminary campus is across the street from the northern most part of the University of Texas campus.

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The warmer temperatures should be somewhat easier on my leg and the city of Austin was by far my favorite of the locations of the Presbyterian Seminaries. From the school's web site -

In recent studies Austin has ranked first as the “best city for relocating families,” second among “top creative cities,” third “best city for singles,” and the fourth most “wireless” city in America. Home to one of the nation’s largest universities as well as the seat of state government, Austin is a welcoming community whose cultural diversity and tolerant attitude make it easy to fit in. We delight in our claim as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” where you can hear the symphony perform on the banks of Lady Bird Lake just steps from a statue commemorating Austin blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughn. More than 150 restaurants and clubs within ten minutes of campus offer a smorgasbord of culinary and musical fare. Life in Austin is largely lived outdoors in the city’s parks, trails, spring-fed pools, and lakes. Chances are you’ll fall in love with Austin as you discover that our unofficial slogan, “Keep Austin Weird,” is as much about cherishing our natural resources, homegrown businesses, and authentic Tex-Mex cuisine as it is about birthday celebrations for Eeyore, a city-wide love affair with the Mexican freetail bat, and an annual party for a much-maligned canned meat product.

They have offered me a generous grant to cover the bulk of tuition so I will basically need to cover my living expenses. Since the housing is owned by the seminary the monthly rent is well under market rates. I am in the process of applying for scholarships and loans in order to cover my living expenses.

I have been thinking about this for years. Then after deciding to move forward I had to put things on hold to recover from my accident and deal with the end of my marriage. Once I felt I was ready to move forward, having the support of my congregation and the Presbytery of Baltimore gave me the green light to start checking out and apply to schools. So after many months of completing applications, writing essays and trying to decide where to study it certainly is nice to know where I'm going and to be working on the final details to make this a reality.