<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am currently a student at UChicago Divinity. I will be receiving my masters degree in June. I applied to the PhD program and I'm curious if being a current student will give me a leg up on the competition.</p>
<p>My advisor was very helpful during the application process. He actually helped me refine my Statement of Intent and he pointed me to the professors who should be on my committee. I've met with him many times in the 2 years and he's always been extremely helpful. Is this just part of the job or does it mean something more.</p>
<p>This is indeed part of his job. However, knowing "the lay of the land" in the Div School can be of tremendous help to you as you apply to the PhD program. </p>
<p>I am sure your advisor has told you this already, but the fact that your statement will show familiarity with the professors with whom you'd like to work (and will state WHY you'd like to work with them) will go a long way in terms of demonstrating good "fit" to the admissions committee. </p>
<p>As I am sure you already know, Chicago is perhaps the premier program in the nation for Religious Studies. Competition will be unbelievably stiff. But with good letters of rec, a great GPA from the Div School, and a strong statement, you should be a good candidate. There is, of course, no way to "chance" you. It will depend on the pool of applicants, and on which professors are "overbooked" with current PhD students, and which are open to more.</p>
<p>I wish you good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks Professor X.</p>
<p>I had heard that Chicago's the place to be which is why I was shocked to be accepted. But I'm here and working harder than I ever imagined I could.</p>
<p>The professor I'm hoping to work with is also my advisor - he's fairly new to the school so I'm hoping he has room to accept me. I had spoken with him early on and he seemed pleased that I was interested in the some of the same things that he's working on. I guess all I can do at this point is keep my fingers crossed and hope it works to my advantage.</p>
<p>Do you happen to know if the school considers internal candidates prior to external or are we all put into the same pool?</p>