superhamdi

Your dossier looks strong. Going to a top school is a sizeable factor in your favor. Schools in the top20 care about that. Your GPA is good (in context), but note that doing well on the SAT does not correlate to GRE score. I did very well on SAT, very average on GRE. GRE is a different ball game, it's the big leagues. It's the difference between undergrad and grad school...Remember you'll have a 4 year gap since the last time you took a standardized test. So study a little bit every day for a few months before and be sure to take full-length timed (timing is more of an issue than the difficulty of the questions, for me anyway). Especially since you're planning so far ahead. I made the mistake of taking mine relatively on the fly because that's how I did my SAT. It would be a shame for a strong dossier to be marred by a low score. My impression is that undergraduate journals/presentations don't count for much. But it might mean something that you founded one. Upper division and especially graduate courses (esp @ a T20) do carry weight. I won't speak to your AOIs but you can consult the Philosophical Gourmet for that. They have specialty rankings. Also, a professor at UCR runs a blog with a very helpful manual on grad apps. Good luck!

I want to share some of my impressions of the areas/complexes I visited for students in the future. Prices are for 1 bedrooms. Willington- Very close to campus. Rural, wooded area. Willington Oaks ($700+) and Woodhaven apts ($650+)- both very nice, clean, quiet and affordable, property managers are very nice. I had the chance to speak to tenants at both complexes and they were very happy. However, there are lots of undergrads there and they book up by April/May for the following school year. Office @ woodhaven is in apt 10, it is not marked ANYWHERE. Willimantic- There are mainly 2 areas where students live: Main St, which is comprised largely of brick apartment buildings and the residential area around ECSU, mostly houses converted into apartments. The quality and prices vary widely. Some landlords are really pleasant, some are slumlords. Beware of a group called Meehan & Daughters. 1 bedrooms start around $600+. Downtown and food co-op are walking distance, so it's much livelier. However, some grad students said that Main St. was too noisy and there are a lot of drugs/prostitution there but it's mostly nonviolent. If you're uptight, this may not be the best spot for you. There's also a "hill" section further north which is fancier but pricier, mostly families live there. If you want to live in this area, you'll find a plethora of apts on craigslist but the LLs seek immediate occupancy, so wait till about a month before you want to move in. The best way to find good apartments is drive around, they will post "for rent" signs on their buildings. Colonial Townhouse- HUGE complex. Seemed fine to me, know a few grads who are happy there but they have poor ratings. $769+ including heat. Northern side of town, closer to UConn but not far from downtown (5 min car ride) Oak Ridge apts ($800+ heat incl)- across the bridge from downtown, not the best area. Mostly what struck me is the quality of the property management. They suck. Super sketchy and don't make an on site # or office available. Tips: As I mentioned before, you can book ahead on complexes but not so with individual LLs. I suggest getting a place with heat included, you will need it and it's expensive to pay on your own, ~$150-200 in the winter. ASK students in your department, they will be massively helpful. If anybody has more questions or wants to see pictures, PM me, particularly about Willimantic. My best friend's sister went to ECSU and I spoke with a lady at a local gov't office extensively about the area as well as a number of grad students.

A lot of people on the City Guide-Storrs thread recommended Willimantic and it seems like a wonderful place for grad students. There are many reasonable apartments in buildings on Main st. that I've found on Craigslist. The problem is that I'm going there next week and looking to secure a lease beginning August. Most of the open apartments are available immediately (May/June) and the LLs suggested trying back in June or July. My impression is that the majority of the apartments in downtown area are single buildings of 5 or 6 units owned by an individual, not necessarily big complexes. So for those of you considering Willimantic too, make note of this. I won't be able to make it back there before August, probably and don't want to wait until then anyway.

Not sure if anybody's seen this but it had me in stitches! These are really, really true! http://memegenerator.net/Scumbag-Analytic-Philosopher/images/popular

This is a great idea! I'm curious too. All the current PhD students I personally know have MAs and all my professors were advocating getting an MA as if it were the logical next step vs. applying for PhD programs. Though that could just be because they had no faith in me

contradiction- Congratulations! I feel ya, there are some of us who are glad we got even one offer! I had no idea how competitive it would be, otherwise I would have planned accordingly! Sheesh. But all's well that ends well! Just out of curiosity, did you apply to any MA programs?

I thought the deadline was Monday? Not that it's much better. But there are schools I still haven't heard from (obviously rejects). Apparently, that's not out of the ordinary.

Seconded. Boulder would be an amazing program with amazing faculty, but you know what they say about MA programs at PhD granting institutions that *don't fund* their MA students. My impression is that not only are they secondary to the doctoral students, they're also a sort of revenue for the department. I know that was the case at my UG institution for a while. Boulder's PhD program is pretty big, so you would be competing with all those PhD students plus all the other MA students (I don't know how big their MA is) for attention. Unless you are a really, really impressive student, I don't know if that would end up working in your favor. Also, I don't think that AOIs are that important in MA programs but I'm just repeating what has been said here previously. You don't have much time! Whatever you choose, best of luck!

That's actually what I was going for, I'm interested to know who is still deliberating between waitlists, what their alternatives are likely going to be, etc. It might also be useful for others on those lists as well. Anyway, I have heard really great things about Eugene. Congrats!

UConn has been really terrible this season about their waitlist, if that's what you're referring to. Apparently they waitlisted a lot of people and have been stringing them on for weeks/months now. I've corresponded with 3 people on their "waitlist" and they all said the same thing, more or less. Congratulations on UCSB! Were you the one in the other thread who was debating between IU and UCSB?

Done. I wrote it to include people like you, Philosophia, who are still in deliberation but (probably) nearing a decision and also those who are on waiting lists, etc. If you'd care/want to share that (there).

Someone suggested a new thread for this. Since we're nearing the end of the season, would anybody care to post their current state of deliberations? Final decisions, waiting lists, ambivalence? Congratulations to everybody, best of luck.

Since we're nearing the end of the season, would anyone like to post their final decisions, waiting lists, etc? Congratulations to the incoming class of '13 and best of luck to all!

Yes, me too. This could be a deciding factor for me.

Well, boo for the both of us. But that's all I was waiting on.

contradiction, here is the email I just received from UCSB in response to an inquiry I made over a week ago: Thank you for your inquiry. At this point in time a formal decision has not been made about your application. Yet, we have formed a wait list and we have not placed you on that wait list at this time. I am sorry to say that it is not likely that you will be offered admission for our institution. Sincerely, Alicia

Phil, I'm from NY and there are homeless people that make more than 25k lol, sorry, but it's true. That said, if locale is a factor then there's nothing in the world that compares to NYC if you don't mind living in a paper bag. Spending your mid 20s there is a dream come true for a lot of folks. It IS expensive to do the fun stuff, depending on what you consider "fun". Lots of tourist places like museums offer free admission to students but 2 nights out on the town could cost you almost a week salary fairly easily. But it's not just the benefit of the city itself. You've got the Hamptons/eastern LI, Atlantic City, CT and beautiful New England more or less at your fingertips. FWIW, that also means lots of networking within the philosophy world, since you're close to Rutgers, Columbia, NYU, plus the innumerable schools in New England. Keep in mind, though, that living in NYC can be *overwhelming* coming from a small town. Risk/cost/benefit analysis my friend. Man I wish I was in your shoes!! Best of luck and congrats!

This is the case at most programs for students in their third year and beyond.

MKEPhil- Congrats on the UCSB admit, that's one of my top choices. Ultimately, the point of rankings is more or less to correlate with job prospects, unless you care about quantifying prestige. If the placement record is similar go with the program that you like better. Obviously, faculty relationships and AOI are of utmost importance in grad school, as it decides the trajectory of your career with little room for deviation. Teaching load is an important factor too. That's a considerable amount of time taken away from your own studies every week, sort of like a part-time job. I turned down an offer bc I knew the teaching load would be too much (current students admitted to it). My sister goes to IUB and I have a lot of friends down there so I've spent a considerable amount of time there. It's an artsy, counterculture community- smart people, great food, amazing music, things to do. The land/campus is beautiful, weather's nice (esp in summer), and the cost of living is extremely palatable. I also spent some time at the department meeting with faculty and grad students a few years ago. The faculty is an accomplished, encouraging group on the whole and they hold a summer logic colloquium. If I remember correctly, professors from 5 or so relevant fields make themselves available as well (I.e. Math, linguistics). I can't remember if they are officially part of the phil. faculty or not, nonetheless they are a part of the program. My impression was that they invest a lot in their relationships and interactions with students. Most students reciprocated this appreciation. Both faculty and students were extremely kind and willing to offer time and advice when I went to visit as a clueless undergrad. Ask the DGS to put you in touch with current students, they're often helpful. The only reason I didn't apply (not that I would have gotten in) is because my sister goes there and would hate me if I did. BUT, if location is important to you, there's really no contest for a sweeping campus on the coast of SoCal. Good luck, and congrats!

I can't tell you much about their department. But I can tell you a lot about the town/living there. PM if you want info.

Congrats Phil2013!! Fan of that program. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

MKEPhil -- contradiction: you're right, I remember reading a similar announcement when I was putting in my application. But I just thought that there's no way that would still be the same one. Right before I posted that I had emailed the grad secretary anyway and still haven't heard anything back from her.

This is for incontradiction and any others waiting on UCSB. I saw this on their dept website after emailing their grad secretary (so I feel like an idiot): "We our pleased to welcome five new graduate students this year: Michael Augustin, Alexander Dunn, Jeonggyu Lee, Juliana Lima, and Zachary Rentz." So, I think it's safe to assume the rest of us are out of the picture. Congrats to those ^ folks!!

Billy, I think you'll do well this round. And you're totally right about only applying to programs you really want to attend/have a good fit. I'm guessing you ended up doing the MA last time?

Ask the DGS to put you in touch with other current grad students. That's what I've done, and they give you the most relevant information since they are in a similar situation vs. the other factors involved in cost-of-living averages. They can tell you what to expect if you want to live close to campus, if there is grad student housing on campus, or if it's cheaper to commute from a few miles away. Most importantly, they cut through the fluff and tell you what the "take-home" will be. Most schools have about ~1K in fees and health insurance varies by school.