(01-03-2021, 12:45 AM)DamonPage Wrote: Hey! I'm interested in pursuing an MTS after my Bachelors, and was wondering what the experience was like? How was the pacing? And I heard that it's difficult to get a proctor for tests and things, is that true? Thanks in advance.
My experience at NationsU was rather great. The pacing is up to you. No semesters. No seat time. It's at your own pace. The biggest issue I found with NU was the turnaround time on getting papers graded. Usually took a few weeks. I had to email my advisor once and she rousted the instructor after the two week deadline. All the instructors are volunteers, so there's a reason for the slow response. If you are enrolled in multiple classes at once you can turn in a paper, go on to the next course while you wait and turn in another paper, etc. That way you're not waiting the two weeks doing nothing and you'll finish in a fraction of the time and will cost you a truck load less.
Proctors are selected by you in your own community. They have to be clergy, or librarians, etc. When not during COVID it was as simple as arranging tests with my local librarian. But after COVID hit it was a little more difficult. I emailed probably a dozen churches and libraries and received only two emails back. One library said they couldn't do it but a local pastor agreed and was great when proctoring my Comprehensive Exam. I would suggest finding one reliable person ahead of time that you can use as a proctor for all your tests throughout the program. They have to be approved by the school and it's a process. But once approved and you start testing it's easy. Then again, at least for the MTS, there are only three proctored exams, two comps during the program and a final comp at the end (multiple choice).
The coursework is fun and challenging. The online, unproctored tests can be brutal. The Ancient Near East and New Testament Environment courses were particularly difficult for me. The rest were pretty easy. For both courses I had real trouble trying to remember and keep together all the foreign names of places and peoples and gods and beliefs. Unfortunately you need to pass at least one of those courses for the degree. Unproctored tests are online, multiple choice and you get three attempts. Not sure what happens if you fail all three. I much preferred the courses that required papers to write instead of tests. I'm thankful to be done with courses and on to actual research now for my doctorate program. I really don't care for tests, but I surprisingly enjoyed the final Comprehensive exam experience. I did a lot better than I thought I would. They don't provide study materials or notes, but I spent a few weeks testing on Quizlet. They have many card decks for bible course finals or for comprehensive exams at other seminaries. I just used the ones already created and used the testing feature. It helped quite a bit I think.
NU is really the best option out there if you are at all constrained by money or by time as long as a nationally accredited degree will work. If you need RA then look elsewhere, but you will be paying much, much more. I went with NU over Liberty for the MTS because it saved me about $7000. By the time I finished with my MTS degree I had selected a different seminary altogether for my doctorate (ThD instead of PhD) and that saved me about $14k.
As long as you don't need regional accreditation you cannot beat NU on price, time, or work. It was a great experience overall.
Isaac
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