thanksbro

FWIW, I had just below a 3.8 cumulative GPA and got into a top 20 program. I have no idea whether those grades hurt me or not, but I get the sense that the quality of the writing sample matters much much more.

For what it's worth, I applied to graduate school with a 3.79 and I got into a top 20 program. My GPA for my philosophy classes was a bit higher, of course, but not dramatically so. My understanding is that the difference between a 3.8 and a 4.0 doesn't really matter much for admissions, as long as your philosophy grades are strong. The writing sample matters much more, comparatively. Focus on taking challenging courses and building relationships with your professors so that you can build your philosophical skills to produce the best writing sample possible, and don't worry too much about your grades as long as they are decently high.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments. It seems that both considerations of fit and a lot of randomness play a huge role in the process, especially because it's competitive enough that even completely qualified candidates can be shut out. With that in mind, I'm glad that things turned out as well for me as they did!

"Neither Here Nor There" makes a good point. Getting into a top 20 school at all may be an amazing achievement if you're coming from a school that isn't well-known to admissions committees. This point is worth reflecting on for people from that sort of educational background. However, my personal situation is not of the sort that "Neither Here nor There" described. I came from a school that is a top school by any reasonable standard. So, "Neither Here Nor There's" comment may actually give me more reason to be worried. It may give me reason to think that I am underperforming given my educational background. Though, that depends on whether it is the case that people from top schools who are doing well usually end up getting into a lot of schools. Many, though not all, of the applicants I know from my school got into a lot of schools; but I don't know if that is generally true of either my school or top schools in general. Perhaps the other people in this thread can shed light on this matter?

This cycle, I applied to nearly 20 schools, and only got into one. It's a top 20 school that is very highly ranked in my subfield, so I'm actually very happy with the result. But I have to ask -- is it common for people to apply to many schools and only get into 1? Is it a sign that there was some problem with my application, or that I am behind in some way that I will need to work hard to make up for in graduate school?

I suspect that this sort of result is actually pretty common. This cycle, I applied to almost 20 schools and have only been accepted by a top 20 school that is consistently ranked number 1 in my subfield. I've also heard of someone at my undergrad who got rejected everywhere except for NYU, where he was waitlisted. Based on my experience, I think that there are a couple of sources of randomness going on here. One is that fit matters a lot, and it can be difficult to assess fit from the outside. The other is that even if you are a good fit for a certain program, it's still pretty random as to whether you get accepted, as you're probably competing against several other people who have your same AOI/level of fit with the program and have applications that look pretty much identical to yours. So even if you're a very strong fit for a certain program, it's still a dice roll as to whether you get in. Both of the above things can dramatically affect what results you get, but aren't related at all to how meritorious an applicant you are in any sort of objective way (grades, GRE scores, quality of writing sample, strength of recommendations etc.) Which is a bummer, but I also think that means that even if you get shut out, it doesn't necessarily mean that your application was bad on any of those dimensions (though, if you got shut out, it's probably worth consulting with one of your professors about whether there was something that went wrong with your application). This is all purely speculative on my part, of course. But I do think that at the very least, it's not worth getting upset about getting into only one school, or only getting in to a PhD program on a second cycle. If you got in, you got in (and if you didn't get in, it could be worth trying again, though that depends a lot on your individual case).

That sounds like good advice. Do you think that a CGPA of 3.5 would "draw attention" as gughok put it?

By "low" I mean about a 3.5. I generally got grades in the B/B+ range in math and CS, while I got grades in the A/A- range in my philosophy courses. So it averages out to a GPA of about 3.5 (which will probably improve now that I've decided to focus on the humanities). I realize that that's not a "low GPA" by most standards, but PHD programs in the humanities have quite high standards, and I go to a school that, while it is well-known to graduate schools, has a reputation for grade inflation. Would explaining those grades in my personal statement still be a good plan, or would it just come off as neurotic?

Do philosophy grad schools care about a low overall GPA if you have high grades in your philosophy classes? I was trying to do math/cs for my first year and a half at college, and I found that a. I didn't like math or CS as much as I did the humanities, especially philosophy. b. I wasn't as good at Math/CS as I was at the humanities, especially philosophy. Unfortunately, both a and b are reflected in my grades in my math and CS classes. I have high grades in my philosophy classes, but my overall GPA isn't really as high as I would want it to be. Will this be a problem for admissions to graduate school? If so, is there anything I can do to ameliorate it come application time?

Yes, that answered my question. Sorry if it was unclear -- I meant something along the lines of "If you are an equally good fit for two schools, one which is more prestigious, and one which is less prestigious, why would you want to go to the less prestigious one?" I wasn't aware that how well a particular school places can vary even within a department, and for reasons that have nothing to do with how well you fit there as an individual student. Thanks, you've been a big help.

Thanks for your comprehensive response! One question about something you said -- why would a less prestigious school have better placement than a more prestigious school, all else being equal (e.g. the less prestigious school is a better fit for your research interests)?

Hey all, This is my first time here, and I know very little about both forum norms and conventions for applying to grad school in philosophy, so I expect to be harsly censured for this question. With that said... I just finished my freshman year, and while I can't say that my GPA is terrible, I'm not exactly happy with it either. I finished with slightly under a 3.5, with a B in a philosophy class I took my first semester and an A- in one that I took my second semester. I'm thinking that I want to spend the rest of my college career preparing to pursue philosophy in a serious way. However, I'm under the impression that it's next to impossible to get a tenure-track job without having attended an extremely prestigious phd program, especially in the humanities (e.g. this article http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2015/02/university_hiring_if_you_didn_t_get_your_ph_d_at_an_elite_university_good.html).While I hope to improve my grades as my college career continues, it's a bit unrealistic to expect straight As from now on, given my track record. Assuming that my future grades are about the same, is it even worth applying to grad school in philosophy if I want to work in academia? What are some next steps I can take to improve my prospects? For what it's worth (which might not be that much), here are a few things that might affect how I appear as an applicant: I. I plan to double major in either computer science or math. II. My main philosophical interests (which I imagine will narrow as I become a more mature student) are in philosophy of mind, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of science, and political philosophy. III. I go to a top small liberal arts college (think Williams or Swarthmore).