MKEPhil

I applied to Washington. Should hear tomorrow or the first judging by previous years. Every year, the first acceptances are posted on the last day of February.

Most of those are likely entry level in business/accounting positions. It's all about selling the "broad critical thinking skills" you get from a humanities degree. Often you can place into jobs as a retail manager around that amount (though you will be working 60+ hours a week for it). While in school I had a tutor center director and a retail manager before that who were both Philosophy BA's probably making around 40k.

Congrats! You can look on best places to see estimates of costs of living. It seems a standard number (adjusted for cost of living) would be around 18k, with some being higher (fellowships help) and some being lower. For instance, a school in the North East offered me 22k while a school in the Midwest (small city) offered 15k. But by cost of living, they average out to be very close.

A backup plan should be something you can see yourself to doing happily. It really depends on you. That said, I don't recommend trying for another highly competitive field as a "fallback" unless you could see yourself being very happy doing it. The people who succeed as lawyers WANT to be lawyers. Also, I wouldn't get too discouraged after a bad season. When I first applied, I hadn't yet finished undergrad and due to time commitments, most of my upper level phil courses were still in progress. I was rejected uniformly. I took a year off and worked in unskilled jobs (and as a tutor) and worked on my application material. The next application cycle I was only accepted to MAs (I only applied to 2 PhDs) and now I have offers for PhDs on my third shot. It was a long road and had a lot of setbacks but it can work out. If philosophy is where you want to be, don't give up. It can take a long time but taking the year to work on samples can make a huge difference. My first recommendation for a Plan B would be to apply again next year. If, however, you think that you would be happy in a different career path, then maybe that's the right Plan B.

This is something I struggled with before attending a funded masters program. I was waitlisted at 3 lower ranked PhD programs and offered funded positions in 4 prominent MA programs, but ultimately didn't get into the PhD (making my choice easier). In my opinion, to take a MA over a good PhD (say, lower ranked or unranked with good placement) would be a big mistake. While MA programs are a great help in preparing for programs, they are not guarantees. Also note, programs in the PGR with low rankings (40's) have virtually identical placement records to those 20 points higher (obviously the specific program will matter). It seems to me that turning down a 44 ranked program for the hopes of a 30 ranked program would be rather futile. Your job prospects will not be much better served, and there is no certainty of getting into those higher programs. Also, if you are thinking that you may try for one of those top 10-15 schools, remember that competition in those programs is so stiff that even the best students can't guarantee a spot. Unless you are not admitted into a PhD that would serve your interests, or you are really motivated to take the shot at the top 10 programs again, passing on a PhD for a MA isn't a good idea. Of course, this is all relative to individual desires. Perhaps a mid-ranked school is your dream school. Then maybe trying to bolster your application slightly would be a good idea. Also, funding should be a main concern. I would hesitate to take any offer without funding, MA included.

I had a long paper as well (25 pages- 9k words), but merely directed readers to the most substantial sections of my argumentation. Some departments requested as little as an 8 page paper, and I just added a note about which sections to read if the committee wished to shorten it. For the life of me, I can't imagine 8 double spaced pages being enough to give a solid impression of one's philosophical chops. So far it has been fine, and one of the schools has actually made an offer, so I wouldn't worry about it. My Masters advisor advised me on this course, so I wouldn't think you should be in much trouble!

Yes, with the caveat that you should be absolutely sure on the details of the offer you are taking over the rejected offer. You should have financial information and an offer in writing before you deny anything. I'm kind of in the same situation, but am waiting to hear details on funding before making any decisions.

15, have only heard back from 1, but it was an acceptance. It is quite a financial risk but I hope that some more financially limited students can take advantage of fee waivers. The only reason I could do so many was the 1100 in savings bonds I had given to me as gifts from my Grandparents when I was a child.