newcement

Applied and was accepted to Princeton’s Theological Seminary’s MDiv program as a transfer student.
Visiting next week and will decide if I want to move in this summer to get started on language courses or hold off for a fall start. Either way, I’m very excited to transfer over from my current seminary!

@newcement I'm currently at PTS in the M.Div - depending on your reasons for taking a language, you may want to refrain from taking the summer session. For example, if you're only taking Greek/Hebrew to satisfy an ordination requirement that allows you to do pass/fail, then go ahead and do it. If you are doing it because you plan to pursue a PhD in biblical studies, I would not recommend taking it in the summer - that is, unless you're coming in with some previous language experience.

Applied and was accepted to Princeton’s Theological Seminary’s MDiv program as a transfer student.
Visiting next week and will decide if I want to move in this summer to get started on language courses or hold off for a fall start. Either way, I’m very excited to transfer over from my current seminary!

Ok, not little

All too often people post here asking what their chances are at this and that school. I completetly understand their desire to know the answer. However, I also understand why some other people get somewhat annoyed by this question. Indeed, it is very hard to tell what somebody's chances are at certain schools, even if you know their stats and other details like a number of publications they have. That is why I decided to write this post. I will explain how, in my opinion, one can estimate one's chances and choose programs correctly. I hope that other people experienced in application process will correct me if I am wrong and add their advice. And may be, if moderators consider this post useful, they will be able to make it always stay on top of this board - if it is possible on this forum.

First of all, if you want to know whether your stats (GRE, GPA, TOEFL score) are good enough for you to be accepted to certain schools - there is one easy way to find the answer. Most schools post stats of students they have accepted, like on this page here. So try to find this info on websites of schools you are planning to apply to and if you can't find it, ask graduate secretaries/coordanators if such a page exists and if not, where you can find those stats. Remember that if your stats are low but not abysmal, that does not mean that your chances are low. It does not (always) go like - lower the grades, lower the chances (unless they are above some bare minimum) and vice versa. Because...

Second of all, even with the best stats, numerous publications, brilliant letters of reference, etc. you may not be accepted to a school if you have not chosen a program wisely. Because the most important thing in this game is fit. If a program thinks they are a bad fit for you, they will not admit you, however wonderful your application is. So you should apply only to schools that fit well your research interests and experience. How can you find schools with a good fit? First, of course, you schould know what your research interests are. If you know that, visit as many websites of programs in your field as you can find - and read about them, very carefully. Where can you find a list of programs? Well, browse the internet. When I was applying last year, I came across a biiiiiig list of programs in my field (it was not a ranking, just a list) and I spent a lot of time just going through all these program's websites. If you don't find such a list, just find some rankings. Not in order to find out what programs are the best in your field (many people don't believe in rankings anyway) but just to see what programs are out there. So, you read about the programs on their websites. From the way these programs are described you should get an idea if you would be interested in studying there or not. When I was choosing programs to apply to, I first used the list that I had found to make a shorter list of programs with a very general fit. Then, as I knew that I would not be able to attent a program without funding, I looked through this new shorter list looking for programs that were offering funding. As you can imagine, the list became even shorter after that Then I started to read about faculty in the programs from the last list, looking for professors who could potentially become my advisors. Then I contacted these professors, telling them about my research project, asking about their opinion. When some replied and I saw that they liked my ideas, I asked them if they would be taking graduate students next year. In the end I had only 5 programs left and I applied to all of them.

About contacting professors. As far as I understand, you can do that in all fields, except - for some mysterious reason! - English. (Here I ask other experienced forumers to correct me if I am wrong.)
BUT: If a professor is interested or even very very interested, that in no way guarantees that you will be accepted to this program because there are many other factors at play during the application process (most important of them being funding and faculty politics). But of course having a professor in a program who has expressed interest in working with you is a very good sign. It is definetely better than having no such professor. If you find a profesoor who is willing to take you as a graduate student but you are unsure about your stats, you can ask them about that. But of course don't ask it in the first letter to them!!! Only when you see that they are interested (and friendly).

Finally, I want to say, that all I have told above is based on my experience and it helped me - I was accepted to a school with a great fit (which is supported by the fact that they decided to give me a nice fellowship). May be there are other ways to choose programs and estimate your chances with them. May be in other fields (I am in social sciences) rules are different. I hope that others will correct me or pitch in some ideas based on their own experience with application process.

Good luck!

My experience with my interview at Ryerson was pretty good. My POI was very relaxed and we basically chatted about my interests, his, his work, what kind of supervisor I am looking for and so on. I've heard other people say theirs was more intense.
 
During my interview, I ended up asking more questions that I was expecting, and I heard this is not out of the ordinary for interviews at this stage.
Dress to impress. Formal but comfortable.

Try to relax, I know it can be hard. Be yourself and see if they would fit with you jsut as much as if you would fit with them. Have fun. No one likes to interview someone who is nervous and puts other people on edge. So just be yourself, do your best, and have fun
 
Good luck!

Expect a 9-5 day with some formal interviews (abt 30-40 mins) with your POI and another prof or two, then an  interview or two with a couple of graduate students. Also expect some activities in a group setting, e.g. some informal socializing time (e.g. a coffee break/lunch), a mini-tour of the psych building/campus, office spaces allotted for graduate students.
 
Expect that you will be asking most of the questions; so, effectively, you are evaluated based on the quality of your questions. You should be evidently ready to talk about your proposed research project, your current work/research, and your future professional goals. Keep your interviewees talking, show an interest in the program, lab etc. you are applying to. Ask questions about funding, living costs, work ethic of the lab you're applying to.
 
Depending on the school/professor, you will be invited to an informal dinner the night before or after the interviews.