lesage13

Have you been formally rejected, or are you inferring a rejection?

Not sure if this has been said already, but don't put too much stock in the PGR (don't dismiss them either). What's going to be really important is the department's strength in your AOI(s), not the overall ranking. If the lower ranked school is a good fit, with good philosophers in your AOI(s), then you should take it. The mixed placement is certainly a concern, and I'd bring that up on your visit day (absolutely visit if you can). But I don't think that it's a overriding reason not to go, given how bad the job market has been in recent years. In any case, FWIW, I'm finishing my MA right now, and while I did learn a lot, a sure thing is much more valuable given the competitiveness (and randomness) of the PhD application process.

My gut feeling is that you're right, but could you elaborate on this anyways? I understand that the American legal job market is pretty bad right now, but I've been told that the Canadian one is better. I'm hesitating to rule it out is because (1) it is fairly congruous with the skill set I got from (almost) two degrees in philosophy, and (2) a legal education can sometimes give one the platform from which to do some good in the world, which admittedly sounds naive.

The current application season has been very disappointing for me so far, verging on disastrous (0/0/7 of 11--with the remaining schools all in the top 15). So, now I'm finding myself staring down the likely possibility of not getting in anywhere at all (I'd be happy to just get onto a waitlist at this point), and wondering just what the hell am I going to do for the next year, and y'know, the rest of my life. And considering how this season has gone, I'm beginning to wonder whether I should even bother wasting my money next year. In short, I'm starting to seriously consider Plan Bs (and Cs, and Ds...). Thus far, the only thing that has suggested itself is law school, a prospect I'm not so thrilled about. I will have my MA from a relatively unknown Canadian school shortly, but I doubt that I can realistically do anything with that (despite some anecdotal evidence to the contrary). Anyone else in the same boat? Thoughts and suggestions are extremely welcome. FWIW, Plan 'Zed' involves culinary school and a lot of dishwashing.

Check now; I just found out about my rejection via the website.

I'd think that acceptance rate probably has more to do with the size of the program than it's prestige, at least in the top-50. I'd assume that well-known programs in the top-50 will all get a similar number of applications (~200), and if that's the case, then a more prestigious school with a bigger incoming class will have a higher acceptance rate than a less prestigious one with a smaller incoming class.

Does it? I'm in the same boat as you, but I'd really like some official confirmation of one's place on the waitlist... Also, anyone else heard from Colorado?

There's a U Wisconsin rejection up... Anyone else hear back from them?

For sure. I just wish they would get on with it already. All I do now is obsessively check my applications and the results page in between working on my thesis--it's not healthy!

I'm in a similar position (Canadian MA, A average in grad courses; V167, Q159, AW3.0), and I've applied to a lot of the schools on your list: Princeton, Michigan, UNC, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Brown. Additionally, I've applied to Duke, Stanford, Toronto, UC Davis, and USC. I feel your pain, though: I haven't heard back from any my schools either--even the ones that have sent out acceptances, which I'm thinking just means I've been rejected...

Oh, absolutely. But, then again, I have the luxury of the bank of mom and dad, a generous student loan, and a pretty decent TA-ship. There are plenty of students out there who don't have any of these resources, and don't have ~$2000 dollars just sitting around to be spent. Obviously, I don't think this was designed to disadvantage economically disadvantaged students, but given that the general sense is that one's chances correlate with the number of applications sent out and the norm is to send at least 10, it certainly does have that effect.

The math is really rough, but here's how I got that estimate: 11 x 90 (avg cost per app) + 7 x 25 (cost of sending GRE scores to each institution after the four free ones) + 185 (cost of GRE) + 300 (Misc.: Transcripts, postage, GRE prep materials... etc.) = 1650 x 1.13 (Sales tax in Ontario, Canada) = 1864.50 CAD. Btw, I'm still really bitter about all the money I spent (406.80 just on the ETS stuff, ~500, if you count prep materials) on what is probably the least important part of my application.

I thought so too, but that changed after talking to others who were also applying this season--most applied to fewer schools. This makes sense, since the cost involved can be quite prohibitive once you include things like transcript fees, GRE fees for each school over the initial four free ones, mailing expenses, etc. in addition to the cost of applying to each school (in my experience, ~$90) and the standard GRE fee (not including retests, prep books, or prep courses). In all, I think I've spent close to $2000 on my applications this season, and if I don't get anything, then that's another ~$2000 next year.

Oh wow, I applied to 11 (10 in the US and 1 in Canada) and I thought I was being ridiculous...

I applied to Duke, and I'm still waiting for a reply too. My application was a bit late, though--I made the department's deadline, but missed the university's deadline. Or, maybe it's just because they haven't sent out rejections yet... Anyone else apply late, like I did? Has anyone gotten a rejection? The waiting is driving me nuts...

I'm currently in a small, relatively unknown, but wonderful MA program in Canada. My UGPA is pretty weak--it's around an A-/B+. I've got a perfect A average in my MA coursework, though. On the GRE, I'm pretty happy with my Verbal and Quant scores (167 and 159, respectively), but my AW score was brutal--a 3.5. AOI: Metaethics, social and political, dev ethics, and 'metapolitical' theory. I'm otherwise a pretty unremarkable applicant--though I hope my letter writers will help give the opposite impression I've applied to (in no particular order): USC, Stanford, U Colorado, U Wisconsin, U Michigan, Brown, U Toronto, UC Davis, UNC, Duke, and Princeton. Ambitious, I know! The plan is to aim high this year, and in the very likely case that I don't get anything, reapply next year but include non-top-50 schools. Wish me luck! And good luck to all of you!