Picking a Seminary: Questions to Consider

I've begun the process of choosing a seminary. I have a few potential schools on my list, the first of which I just got back from visiting (read about it here).

Picking a seminary is one of the most difficult choices facing anyone following a call to full time Christian ministry. There are thousands of seminaries in North America, and the task of choosing the best one can certainly be daunting.  You have to ask yourself a metric ton of questions in order to create a set of criteria by which to evaluate each school. While the following list is by no means exhaustive, they give an example of some of the things I had to think about. Hopefully, they will be helpful in guiding your decision process.

Theologically Liberal vs. Theological Conservative? How do you answer questions about the nature of God, the nature of man, the historicity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, or the possibility of miracles?

Ministry vs. Scholarship? It's my observation that certain schools tend to produce pastors and ministers, while other schools are more interested in producing scholars and professors. Which are you looking for? Does the school in question try to produce ministers at the expense of teaching systematic theology, biblical languages, and biblical studies? Or does it try to generate scholars at the expense of practical theology like preaching, counseling,  and leadership? Does it try to take a more balanced or nuanced approach?

There are 4 other aspects that I considered. You'll need to roughly rank them in order of importance to you.

• Theological Affinity? Methodist, Baptist, Reformed/Presbyterian, or Roman Catholic?Arminian or Calvinist? Does the seminary have a statement of faith? Does it offer a unified perspective on issues, or is the faculty all over the map theologically? Does it require you to affirm certain doctrines as a requirement for graduation
• Practical Ministry Experience? Number of internship hours required? Number of local churches to work in? Does the school help place you in internships? Are they paid? Does the school itself run ministries?
• Community / Spiritual Development? On-campus housing? Number of students? Accountability or mentorship groups? Professor-student ratio? Do the professors take personal interest in students?
• Academics? Are the academics top notch, run of the mill, or lacking altogether? Are the professors published? Are they top of their field, or relatively unknown?

I've also come to realize you need to evaluate the location of the seminary as well. Will you be able to find a job? A church? How are the living expenses? Transportation issues? Crime? How's the climate?

These are just some of the many questions you could ask yourself. You can probably think of many more (add them to the comments!). Maybe you don't even care about some of these questions: the things that are important to me may not be very important to you. I hope these will be useful to you in any event.

So, what are some other things to consider?