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Good luck to everyone! Whatever happens, try to remember your worth isn't wrapped up in the outcome of this process. If you don't manage to land a spot this cycle, it says nothing about your competency or fitness for graduate work. Charge on and keep trying! We've got this! 💜

I just wanted to wish you all the best of luck! You are all capable and intelligent individuals, and you will end up where you're supposed to be. As a 3rd year now, I still remember the stress and anxiety of submitting applications and waiting to hear back and the feelings of sadness and failure when I didn't get interview offers. I ended up getting 1 interview, which led to 1 acceptance. The program I'm in now wasn't originally my 1st choice, but looking back, I am so happy with where I am and the opportunities I've had throughout this experience. It's a rollercoaster for sure. But remember,

It's December 1st finally! Just wishing everyone the best of luck! Applications have been a stressful time. I hope you all take time to celebrate being finished this stage of the process.

To contribute to the support train, we've got this guys! We've cried many tears, grown many grey hairs from the stress, and have written and rewritten so many versions of our personal statements and statements of purpose. To those who have had to submit more than one essay in your application(s), kudos to you! We've grown so much from this experience and have prepared the best we could! Now we can sit back and wait it out! Stressful, yes, but in a different way 😃. Fingers crossed for interview invites 🤞 If any of you are interested, I would love to form a group where we can practice out some m

In the words of Elle Woods..... WE DID IT!!!!!

Years ago I frequented Gradcafe while applying for a PhD in history. Not all of the advice I received here was good, but much of it was. Partly as a result of that advice, I was admitted to a good PhD program where I had excellent mentors, made some dear friends, and learned a great deal about the craft of writing history. Everyone battles depression at some point while doing a PhD, but on the whole I remember my PhD with fondness. So hear I am with my PhD in hand, ready to pay it forward. This is the best advice I can give you: don't do a PhD in history. Don't do it. I know that you have

Are we counting preliminary Zoom chats here? EDIT: Feels too soon to make an official post, but I literally just heard from a prof at one of my "safety" schools about setting up a Zoom meet (not the official one I think)! I guess I should amend my earlier statement about PI's likely not issuing invites yet. I think it's fair game for some POI's to reach out for an early feel.

I agree! celebrate being finished with this stage of the process, but also celebrate the fact that you're in a position where you are applying to phd programs! All of us have put so much work into building up our applications and we shouldn't take that lightly. ❤️ We have done so many great things while preparing for this moment.

Can we add in the template POI available upon pm (or something like this): yes/no Every year these things are clogged by (well-meaning and anxious) users spamming the threads with "omg can you tell me/pm me your POI". If we can add in that prompt, people who wish to be contacted and share their POI can say so and receive private messages accordingly. Just a suggestion!

Hey! I am a current DrPH student and thought I could lend some insights since I relied on this forum heavily last year. I heard back from one school in late Dec about an interview (my top choice and current program), and the other two schools the first and second weeks of February. I heard back about acceptances the March 13-14th from all three schools. All three programs offered scholarships and job offers in March as well. I did get rejected from Harvard and that was sent on Feb 18th. Overall, by mid-Feb you should start hearing back so no need to stress before then I waste

Here both offering and seeking support. In the immortal words of High School Musical, we're all in this together! Help me through this 😅

Good luck and good vibes to everyone submitting applications!

There was a response in that twitter thread from another professor about how, while he's gotten way more emails from interested applicants, many of them are either pretty questionable fits or not that competitive. I'm hoping that our earlier speculation that total app numbers increasing won't significantly impact the number of competitive applicants.

Schools should just abolish standardized exams all together.

Tell your friends and family that the average acceptance rate at top-10 programs is 3-4%, making philosophy the most competitive discipline in academia Edit: the acceptance rates are likely to be even lower this year

Generally, no. If a program does not offer full tuition remission and stipend support upon acceptance, it is not a program worth attending.

Just got accepted!! They called me over the phone :)

Welcome everyone to the 2020-2021 application thread for political science! Discuss the application process, ask questions, post results when they come out, and anything else related to admissions this year. Good luck to you all!

I have never personally regretted having gotten my PhD in history; it enabled me to have so many experiences I would never have had otherwise, to live abroad, to make wonderful friends, live the life of the mind, etc. I'd be a very different person if I had stayed in the job I worked in before applying to PhD programs; the experience of the PhD helped me grow so much and I would never take it back. But, I want to second a lot of what the OP said. There really are so few jobs. When I was first applying to PhD programs in 2011 I knew that the job market was bad, but like OP said, I did

Hey everyone!!!! Let the waiting game begin. We have already come so far for just getting our applications in. I hope to be able to report lots of good news soon

For a long time, this paralleled my thoughts on the matter. But, as an adviser pointed out, a guaranteed 5-7 years making $30k with excellent health insurance coverage isn't nothing in this prepostapocalyptic hellscape. So I'm not so sure anymore.

I have so many projects and papers I put off to work on applications and now I'm dreading picking them back up lol

For OISE, they don't tend to review apps until well into the new year. My cohort all got emails from the profs before the portal updated with any info. Rather than checking the portal, just make sure to check your email junk folder! Best of luck everyone, hoping for good news all around

Hi hi -- if this is helpful, I did a panel with Playwrights Realm a couple weeks back about MFA Playwriting programs, and they just posted the panel here. Schools represented: UCSD, Brooklyn College, Yale, and Ohio U. It taught me a lot about those other schools and how different the programs are. Tanya's take on Brooklyn might be particularly helpful, based on previous questions on here. Though we all agree: Do not go into debt for your MFA.

Still have two more applications to wrap up tonight after work (facepalm). Good luck to everyone. Here's to a relaxing December!

It's December 1st finally! Just wishing everyone the best of luck! Applications have been a stressful time and I hope you all take time to celebrate being finished this stage of the process

Hi all! First-time applicant as well. My list is: - Juilliard - UT Austin - Columbia - UCSD - Hunter College - Brooklyn College - NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing I’ve read through all ten years of this forum (felt a bit like 100 Years of Solitude in its cyclical, epic nature!) and really appreciated what everybody shared, so didn’t want to just keep lurking! @Mel Rose @Agez@Coffee&Flowers Looking forward to going through the process with you. I invite anyone else who’s applying this year to come out of the woodwork and say hello!

Don't. Stick to your original plans. Do not throw in more applications because "COVID!" and "Dread!" What about ABDs who are finishing this year? They are really struggling to make decisions about whether to try to extend their funding because of the overall economic crisis and disastrous job market (except for a field that is in very high demand right now). They're trying to decide whether to use COVID as an excuse to extend their time in graduate school, even if their dissertations will be largely finished by Spring 2021, or how to come to terms with the reality that they will very likely

Hi folks! I noticed something interesting.. it looks like the timeline on the Gates-Cambridge website has changed. The offers are now slated to happen in late January for domestic US applicants, rather than early February, and there is no mention of the interview or panel ranking on the timeline anymore. Thoughts on this?

Describe exactly what you mean when you write. Avoid phrases like "that is to say" "as well as" etc. Most people have at least some of that kind of fluff in their writing. Look for places where you're not actually saying anything and chop out those words. Same goes for summaries of others' work. Is each sentence/paragraph contributing to your overall paper, or is it just there to fulfill a summary/review requirement? In terms of editing papers down, I find I can get distracted when words start moving around on the page so I set up an "operating table" which is a blank doc where I copy-pa

I think sometimes people will have that information in their signature! I also wonder if program lists were a lot more fluid this year because of programs deciding not to take a cohort, programs waiving the GRE, etc. But I'll share! I'm applying to 12 programs, all clinical psych PhD. UC Irvine, University of Denver, UNC Chapel Hill, Notre Dame, University of Nevada Reno, Washington State University, University of Utah, Northern Illinois University, Kent State University, West Virginia University, and University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (clinical-community). There are a few reach scho

There's very little information on here that's actually indicative of your chances. GPA does not really matter very much, but your GPA in phil courses will be more important than your overall GPA. Your STEM research, publications, conferences, etc. are irrelevant, though it will probably work in your favor that you excelled in a STEM field (but this is a very minor advantage). Your extracurriculars and reading groups don't matter at all. What does matter: do you have a polished writing sample in philosophy? It doesn't need to be publication-ready, but it does need to demonstrate that you

Hi all, I've gotten a couple reports on this thread and handed out a temporary silence or two. I would, however, generally encourage you all to stop feeding trolls that you have already recognized to be trolls. -T

The December 1st closing date for many programs is fast approaching! I know I was in a tizzy the whole last week myself last year, waiting for LORs and holding myself back from throwing away existing SOPs and writing whole new ones. So I just want to let this year's applicants know - you got this. You have done all the prep work you can. You've written and rewritten, edited and edited and then edited some more. If you still need to upload a CV or SOP, it's time. Hit submit and breathe. Then take the week and enjoy life, because soon it will be time for hard core interview prep, since some sc

Hey all! I'm a first year UofA student (also applied to Ontario schools), please message me if you have any questions! I hope you're all doing okay, I know this was such an incredibly stressful process and I can't imagine how your experience is being affected by COVID. You got this

It's going to vary depending on master's or PhD, subfield, etc. That said, "near-publishable quality" shouldn't be taken to literally mean that you tried to get it published. Rather, the paper should be research oriented, addressing a substantial philosophical argument or a paper that shows your ability to entice out nuances in extremely difficult material. Faculty don't want to read your book report or your glorified timeline of 20th C. French existentialism. The former works are quality that editors love to put in their journal. The latter faculty make themselves read after their fifth

So uhhh... Sorry to detract from homie's baffling pivot from being rejected by ten schools, to being God's gift to literature, but... I'm new here! Gimme da good vibez! It's my first time applying for an MFA. I looked exclusively at fully-funded, somewhat eclectic programs, and ultimately applied to: Michener Arizona State Oregon State University of Florida University of South Florida Hoping I set myself apart by getting in the pool extremely early on all of these. Anyway, not sure why I am here, but good luck to everyone who is applying, even if you're sna

Where are the functional data analysts when you need them?! My guess is that most variance is explained by recommendation letters. Other criteria like GPA, GRE scores, and statements of purpose seem to typically be used as binary predictors, i.e. some weight is given to an application if the general GRE Q score is above 165, but if it's lower, then there's a weight penalty. Maybe the form of our relationship is something like P(acceptance) = 0.01*1{GRE Q >= 165} + 0.01*1{GPA >= 3.3} + 0.01*1{SoP not terrible} + 0.1*(Rec Letters) + c where the function 1A is the indicator

I am in !!!! Got a call just now. And the official one will come by tomorrow night!

We are overwhelmed with figuring out how our departments will look like next year, with burned out undergrads also struggling with mental health issues, with domestic responsibilities, with re-structuring entire courses (no, teaching online is not easier), with isolation, with the uncertainty of our research (i.e. our production, i.e. our job security). So, I'm sorry to tell you that an email from a potential student is not a top priority right now.

Profs and grad students are scrambling at the moment to move classes entirely online as universities failed to plan ahead for the third wave in the US. It took me a month to respond to a prospective student, not because I didn't want to talk, rather because I have been swamped sorting out the mess my university created with last minute adjustments to only then back away from those guidelines, but then to reimplement them a week later. *deep sigh* A friendly reminder email is probably your best bet, but don't expect immediate responses.

I'm celebrating today! I just submitted my first application, and I'm finalizing my SOP for the other. All my requests for LORs are out. I'm psyched because I'm still nearly a month out from the deadlines!

Don't start your SoP this way -- decenter yourself. I do not know how many times ppl have to stress that an SoP is about demonstrating that you can ask robust, interesting, historical questions. Do that. Start with the questions. Do NOT begin with a bunch of vague stuff about how you identify, what you might be interested in working on, even what your senior thesis was -- professors are not going to read "I am open to a variety of topics" and think "well that's the kind of exciting work I want to be involved with". Sorry to be blunt but it needs to be said. In order to get into a program you n

Does anyone here have any personal contacts to admissions departments (at schools where the deadlines have passed by now)? I'm curious if more or less people applied this year because of the pandemic...

don't try it honestly, just get it all done ahead of time so you don't have to worry about it. If there's a problem with uploading a file or if you have a question about the application, then you won't have time to reach out to the department to get your problem solved.

And it might help to look through some of the other "am I competitive/what are my chances/am I good enough/etc" threads on this forum to see what some people (i.e., those who are more qualified than me) have said in response to others, as I think their advice is pretty generalizable. This cycle is going to be decidedly shitty, so I wish you the best of luck in advance!

@YdrlDude, in the nicest way possible, all you're doing is indulging him. Clearly he thinks GC is the place to debate people and show off his """massive intellect.""" If people stop debating him, he'll stop ruining the thread.

Just got a call and I'm in! only 10k scholarship, but just getting accepted has me stoked.

Applying to grad school is uhhhhhhhhhh the worst.

Faculty member here. I get maybe a dozen or so emails from prospective students each cycle. Doing so doesn't help or hurt. IIRC in the last couple cycles none of the people who reached out to me in the fall have been admitted. Go figure. This is likely just random chance.