But I am a bit confused. From what I read above, I could have a bachelors in something completely non-religion related, and then pursue a master’s in theology?
If I get a bachelors in theology (is that even an option? or can you only master in that?), can I not go on and get a master’s in theology?
Thanks so much everyone!
Jennie
Elaborating once more on Joe5859’s excellent post:
Yes, it is the practice of many graduate programs and graduate schools to admit students with any bachelor degree to their programs, even if they do not have the bachelors in the same field as the proposed field of graduate study, as long as they have a sufficient background in the proposed field of graduate study. The reasoning behind this is that the chief purpose of a bachelor degree is to ensure that students have the ability to think, not necessarily that the student have exact knowledge of a field (some exceptions exist, of course, especially in fields which train you for a specific career, such as nursing, engineering, etc.). More importantly, I think, it also gives students who have decided to change fields between graduating undergraduate and entering graduate school some flexibility. Otherwise students would have to start over from scratch, minus general education requirements. Now mind, some graduate courses have undegraduate prereqs you will need to complete in order to take them, so in the end, everything tends to even out.
Say, for example, I graduated with a BA in psychology degree. But I know a person who graduated with a BS or a BA in biology who somewhere along the way became more interested in the psychological aspects of the mind/brain connection as opposed to strict biology. So she applied for the MS in Psychology degree here at UTSA. Admissions to UTSA’s psychology degree requires about 15-18 semester units in psychology (including upper division courses) + BA or equivalent in any field + GRE scores + statistics course. As for me, I am not currently interested in continuing formal education in my undergraduate field, though I do maintain an informal interest in consciousness and other psychological topics.
Now, some graduate programs which by their very nature will require that you have the proper undergraduate degree, or at least an undergraduate degree in some field plus more or less the equivalent of the undergraduate degree (such as music or engineering, for example). At the Catholic University of America, one student was admitted to the master degree in sacred music with a BA in Geography, according to the CUA website. I don’t know his precise background (extra curriculars, etc.), however.
Remember also, that at the undergraduate level, theology, a disciplined effort to understand divine revelation, in the words of George Weigel, is often combined with comparative religious studies (the study of how different religions compare with each other). Example: Catholic University of America.
My apologies for the lengthy post.
