ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS All applicants , to be accepted, must hold the Bachelor of Arts degree, or its academic equivalent. They must have a 2.6 (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average. Those not meeting this latter requirement, if accepted , will be placed on probation. Graduates from approved unaccredited colleges, if accepted , will be granted provisional acceptance, though exceptions may be made when the grade point average is 3 .0 or higher. Students who have not had Greek but wish to take it in seminary may take Beginning Greek at Talbot and receive credit applicable toward the gradua tion requirement. GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS A. Satisfactorily complete 96-98 semester units. See (D) below. B. Take the courses prescribed in the Master of Divinity curriculum . C. Complete the requirements in one of the major fields. D. Submit an acceptable thesis (four units) chosen in consulta tion with the major advisor, or at the option of the major advisor and in lieu of the thesis , complete six units of elec tives. Students who write a thesis will have a total requirement of 96 units , and those who take six units of electives in lieu of a thesis will have a total requirement of 98 units. Two un bound copies of the thesis are to be submitted to the librarian. All theses , whether acceptable or not , become the property of Talbot Seminary and School of Theology. E. At least 24 units must be taken in this seminary by transfer students. Students are placed on academic probation if their grade point average for any semester falls below 2.5 and remain on probation as long as the single semester or cumulative grade point average remains below 2.5. Students on probation are granted one semes ter in which to bring their academic work up to the required level (2 .5) for continuance in the seminary. A student cannot graduate while on probation. MAJOR REQUIREMENTS MAJORS AVAILABLE Majors are offered in the following areas of study: Bible Exposition Church History Systematic Theology Missions* Semitics and Old Testament Practical Theology New Testament Language Christian Education and Literature Diversified Each student must select a major and satisfactorily complete the requirements of that major. The program set forth in the curricu lum charts on page 128 is common to all majors except Christian education , on page 131. Students who have not taken undergradu ate biblical studies will select an M.Div. curriculum which in cludes BE 518 , Old Testament Survey, on the appropriate page . Students should indicate their choice of major at the beginning of their program. Changes of major may be authorized under certain circumstances prior to the completion of 48 units , but are discour aged after that point. Students without a working knowledge of Greek must take NT 501 and 502 (Beginning Greek) , to be applied toward the total M.Div . unit requirement. For information on the emphasis of each department , check under the appropriate department heading in the " Description of Courses " portion of this catalog. *For mission courses see the School of Intercultural Studies and World Missions.
ELECTIVES IN THE CURRICULUM The number of electives available ranges from six to 20 units in the M.Div. curriculum. This is affected by such factors as: whether beginning Greek is to be taken ; whether a thesis is to be written; whether one elects to take four units of exegesis in lieu of a Bible exposition course . There are other circumstances where the number of electives may be increased further , as indicated in the individual M.Div. curriculum charts. All electives are free to the students' choice (checkprerequisites) regardless of major , but that choice may be governed by the following guidelines: I) each major advisor , if he deems neces sary, may require up to four units of elective in the department of major study in preparation for the thesis in that department . The thesis must be written in the student ' s major field. 2) Those who will not write a thesis are required to take a minimum of six elective units in the field of their major. At the advisor ' s discre tion , however, the minimum may be increased to eight units. 3) For students in the diversified major, the electives are not restricted as to department . PROGRAM REDUCTION BASED UPON PRIOR ACADEMIC STUDY Qualified students coming from approved Bible colleges or Christian liberal arts colleges may request exemption from cer tain required courses . Requests for exemption may be considered from two perspectives: l) Program reductions are possible up to a maximum of 16 units from the normal M .Div. requirement , i.e . 96-98 units may be reduced by two to 16 units . A reduction of as much as six units (included in the 16) is possible for students with collegiate studies in either classical Hebrew or Greek. Evaluations for reduction are considered for undergraduate courses with satis factory parallel content, provided that the collegiate courses are approximately double the unit value of the corresponding seminary courses. To qualify for such reductions the student must have earned at least a' ' B' ' grade in the specific course(s) and be able to demonstrate competency in the subject matter. In the event the student takes a course which had been waived that previous reduction would then be nullified. 2) The substitution of electives in lieu of required courses may be arranged in certain circumstances. In some cases where one of the above criteria may preclude a program reduction , the student may nevertheless be able to demonstrate a satisfactory level of competency in a given subject. In this event, electives may be substituted for the course in question. Interested students should contact the appropriate department chairman regarding course substitutions. This alternative is also avail able for those who qualify for the maximum program reduc tion indicated above. Requests for program reduction should be submitted to the admis sions and records office before studies begin at Talbot , because reductions for a specific course cannot be considered after reg istration for that course . The substitution of electives in lieu of required courses may be requested anytime during the student ' s first year.
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