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dunkeaters

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Everything posted by dunkeaters

  1. I'd go with LMU, especially if cost of living is not an issue. Boulder is a great school, but they accept both Phd students and MA students (and most likely give more attention to the Phd students). This is by no means a deal breaker-but to me it seems like you'd have to do more to stand out at Boulder as an MA student than you would to stand out at LMU.
  2. A big factor is obviously how much income you think you could gain from going to the more prestigious schools. I don't agree at all with the strong aversion to debt, its a cost like any other cost and should be treated as such. If you take out 80-90k in debt, you could end up paying 200-300k for it over the course of a lifetime. Significant obviously, but not an absolute deal breaker. If the more prestigious school could get you 10k more per year, that difference would easily pay for the difference in debt. It's just a matter of how much income difference you think there is, if any, and how much the difference in debt will end up as a difference in cost (I'm guessing, to a rough degree, that each extra dollar of debt is roughly two extra dollars in lifetime cost). If the loan forgiveness program is a reliable plan (is it guaranteed given a certain amount of years of social work? Or is it something you have to apply for?), that would significantly reduce the cost of debt.
  3. MKEPhil-I'm a philosophy undergraduate at UCSB. I can't speak for graduate life here, but I can a bit on the staff/atmosphere. On the particular professors in your areas: Prof. Brueckner is very well respected in his field (gets paid the highest salary on staff), and is one of the most laid back professors I've ever seen. He gave lectures in sweatpants and a t-shirt, and never seemed stressed or bothered in the slightest. Prof. Anderson doesn't take his lower division classes seriously, but I have no experience in his advanced classes/graduate seminars. Prof. Rescorla has a reputation for being very difficult and demanding on his students. Professors Salmon and Robertson (a couple, I believe) are decently engaging considering the topics they teach. , The staff is under-sized, but it's primarily undergraduates who've taken the brunt of it (the faculty prioritizes their graduate students). The atmosphere on campus is great (it helps being on a beach with a lagoon), but the town directly adjacent to campus (Isla Vista) is loud, and there are parties almost every Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Given all that, I do highly recommend UCSB. I love the campus, the professors are generally very nice and engaging, and the grad students generally seem happy to be here (though I'd recommend contacting some). If it's relevant, one plus side for UCSB is some, though not all, of the more experienced graduate students get to teach their own courses (particularly introductory ethics, critical thinking, and summer classes).
  4. Currently on two waitlists for philosophy PhD programs (one with a very good chance of getting in, the other seems very unlikely). Also been accepted into a couple master programs, though only one offers funding and I'm currently waitlisted for that too. Are other people in the same waiting situation? I'm having trouble comparing the three possibilities given the likelihood/unknown funding amounts, and I'm not sure how long I'm gonna have to make a decision (if I have one). Any tips, or others with similar experience, would be greatly appreciated.
  5. Currently waitlisted at a phd program that matches my interests well. The only other offer I have so far is an unfunded Masters program, so I'm more than a bit stressed about it :/
  6. I wish I had done more research on funding for masters programs. I didn't realize that some schools guarantee funding for all masters students, and some offer none. I'd also have placed a bigger emphasis on finding professors that match my interest, instead of looking at the rankings of the department as a whole.
  7. Does anyone have any tips on if/when to ask for status updates? There haven't been any acceptances to the school I'm waitlisted at (at least not on gradcafe), so I'm not sure exactly what progress has been made.
  8. Congrats! I went through the exact same emotions when I got my Col-Boulder letter back. They had already given out all their phD acceptances, so I was fully expecting rejection when I read the decision letter. Even though the funding for masters students in phD programs is terrible, it does give that validation and, at the very least, an opportunity. Glad to see others having the same positive outlook
  9. Honestly, I just really love debating. I love challenging ideas, having to analyze them, and trying to come up with my own rebuttals to them. It's like a great game I play, and it's such a rewarding feeling coming to understand the "why" question behind so many different topics. Basically, I decided I'd rather be poor and do philosophy than rich doing anything else.
  10. I don't know about placement records, you'd have to contact the department for that. In California, we generally see the best UC's in these tiers: 1. Berkeley and UCLA, 2. UCSD, 3. UCI and UCSB. UCSB has been improving a lot lately academically, the Nobel Prize winners being one factor.
  11. Just to give the opposite opinion, I'd borrow the money. I don't agree at all with the rule "never pay for a Phd". Why not? Anytime there's a rule with no exceptions, you know it can't apply to every case. So, here's how I'd look at it: how much better are your chances next year to get accepted with funding? If you don't accept now, you are taking a gamble with your life-you may not get in next year, you might get in without funding again, or you might get in with funding. In two of those three situations, you make yourself worse off by waiting. This reminds me of the phrase "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". You have an acceptance now, to a school you love. If this is a subject you really want to spend the rest of your life studying, why wouldn't you want to start now? The loans may hurt you financially for some years, but humanities Phd's generally aren't done for money.
  12. I'm just finishing up my undergraduate degree (philosophy) at UCSB. I don't know much about the geography or computer science programs (though Prof. Montello in Geography is one of the most entertaining and engaging professors I've had a class with), but I can comment on the campus/campus life. First, if you haven't seen the campus in person, I'd recommend doing so. It is really beautiful, the beach stretches along the edge of campus, the lagoon has great views, and there are a few decent trails for beach views. The academic reputation obviously varies by department, but overall UCSB has a very strong reputation. My last bit of advice: UCSB is directly adjacent to Isla Vista, a college town I currently live in. Isla Vista is intense, and there aren't many places like it. Thursdays/Fridays/Saturdays get very loud, drunk people are everywhere, and Halloween is insane. If you want a quiet place to live, you'll have to live elsewhere. The upside of living in Isla Vista is that the entire campus is accessible via bike path, and this is how most students get around. Driving on campus is almost impossible. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask. I love UCSB and highly recommend it, but it does have it's unique qualities.
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