reixis

Is that okay to submit applications before letter writers upload their files? If so, I think I'll start to submit mine. Right now, I'm just waiting for letters.

I'm almost done, just waiting for letter writers to upload their files. Due to some financial issues (US dollar conversion rate to my country's money increased substantially in the past few months), I had to remove two schools from my list (Pittsburgh (HPS) and Oxford). The major drawback in my applications are, obviously, my GRE scores and my undergrad institution. I almost gave up this season, but I've been told to apply anyway. From what I've been told, the rest of my application is pretty good, including two letters from senior philosophers at Top-30 Leiter programs. As a plan B, I'm applying to a Master's program in my country in case things do not go well. In doing so, I can raise more money and apply in the next seasons.

Hi, I'm on my first application season this year and some universities are asking me to upload a PDF scan of my GRE/TOEFL scores. I've already paid for ETS delivery services and I'm wondering whether uploading a scan copy is really necessary. I'm asking this because ETS charges a $27 fee to delivery paper scores and it takes about two months to arrive in places outside the US.

You still have to pay for each additional extra score. The reason why I asked is that there are some schools that are also asking for the PDF scan of reports. I'm not sure whether this is new, but I found it weird. As far as I know, you have to pay more $27 to have the paper report sent to you. The same seems to apply to TOEFL. I should have had my paper scores delivered 20 days ago, but I haven't seen it yet. I sent ETS an e-mail asking about it.

One other question related to the GRE: why institutions ask for a PDF scan of your score reports? I thought the ETS delivery sytem would do all the job.

I think it could hurt you depending on how you establish the contact. People often apply to programs because of someone in specific, and it would be a major disappointment to know that your POI is about to leave for a year or so after you’re in the program. So I guess it does no harm to ask about someone’s availability in the next few months. Also, many programs outside the US require you to establish a prior contact (one notable example is ANU). About brown-nosing effects, I don’t deny that this is a possibility, but again, I think it varies according to how you contact your POI. Honestly, if I were someone’s POI, I wouldn’t take a polite prior contact on the negative side. In fact, I think it is an opportunity to know better about that person beforehand, but that is just me. For what it’s worth, many graduate programs in my country see this prior contact as an advantage for the candidate because it demonstrates his or her interests in the program. But things may be different in the US given academic cultural differences.

These 3 pages are a clarification of a very specific point. It doesn’t have any substantial impact on the overall argument, but I think it is worth leaving it up since it might help solving some eventual suspicion about my argument. I just thought it was a good idea to maintain that part (it’s only 3 pages after all) and leave it up to adcoms to decide whether they will dedicate attention to that part.

If you don't feel like removing parts of your sample, it might be a good idea to insert a short abstract and indicate pages that may be skipped. My sample has 25 pages and it has an abstract and a note indicating 3 pages that may be skipped.

Yes, I know about the risks. Unfortunately, I cannot afford applying to MA programs in the US. I don't have money to live in the US by myself, and as far as I know, few MA programs provide full funding. I’m applying to a MA program in my country as a backup and am also applying to a full-scholarship from my country’s government. I heard that if you have your own funding and admission folks think you are worth a spot in the program, then it might make things easier. -- @topic When do students usually send out applications? Many of the schools I’m applying to are opening the season in the next weeks and I was wondering whether it is advisable to send files earlier.

Thanks. I didn't know about this piece of reading. I'll certainly read it in the near future. Anyway, many recent works have focused on these issues. You might want to check out the following: There is also an interesting discussion about the subject in Cook Wilson’s Statement and inference. I believe that he was at Oxford at the same time that Bradley was.

Thanks! I don't know my AW either, but I think I did well (I couldn't revise my first essay though). Anyway, I think the importance of the GRE is pretty controversial. As the comments on the link above show, admission folks have very different perspectives on how to evaluate scores, sometimes even contradictory ones. If this is of any comfort, it seems that all files are generally revised by at least two or three different people, so I wouldn't give up just because my GRE scores are low. You never know who is gonna read your files!

I don't address Berkeley's argument in this paper, but the main ideia is that primary qualities and secondary qualities are primarily qualities and that qualities are real. I recognize there is a distinction between them, but I argue that this distinction holds at a non-fundamental level. So the ideia is to provide an account of how things in the world can allow for the kind of perceptual variability we experience. Basically, while Berkeley holds that things are essentially ideas and that their being is to be perceived, I am going for a realism that allows for variability to happen outside our minds. I'm not sure what you mean by "analytic philosophy", but my WS is on topics that have been recently considered a part of this tradtition (at least institutionally speaking). My discussions of qualities are based on recent discussions in philosophy of perception (disjunctivism, color primitivism, and color pluralism). Mark Kalderon and Michael Martin (not to mention recent works from Alex Byrne, Heather Logue and William Fish) both have been publishing in these topics recently.

My WS is an attempt to provide a metaphysical foundation for realism about secondary qualities (the title is "The nature of the qualitative"). I was, at first, wary to use such an ambitious piece of writing, but my letter writers thought it was a good idea, so I'm going with it.

I took the GRE last week and got very bad scores (155V, 152Q, waiting for AW). I think I did better on the AW, but I don't know. I'm applying with these scores since I don't have money to take the test again. Anyway, I asked one of my letter writers and he said that I'm an URM (Brazilian). Do you guys think it is a good idea to mark this information when applying? I've been reading about it online and it seems to be much more a matter of whether you consider yourself an URM then really being a member of a specific group.

Thanks! I'll take a look at those schools.

Thanks! I didn't know about those political/social pressures on admissions committee. At the same time that I don’t think it is fair at all to have such an advantage over other people, that might help overcoming possible difficulties with my background. As you said, relying on pedigree is a way to ensure you are making a “safe bet” and I think that even though admissions folks are not consciously willing to rely on these criteria, they might do so unconsciously. I would say that a safe school in this situation is one in which I have considerably higher chances of admissions than the ones on the list I mentioned and yet one that offers a good education in the so-called analytic tradition. As I said, this might be a one-time opportunity in the near future for me, so I would like to make sure there is at least one place in which it is very likely that I will be admitted, even though I know that is something hard to evaluate beforehand.

Thank you for the feedback. I don’t know whether I’m legally considered as a underrepresented minority (I don’t know the criteria for such a classification), but I believe so. I would say there are fewer than five students from my country at US philosophy programs right at this moment, and I’m sure there hasn’t been more than 30 in the past 50 years (as far as graduate program in philosophy is concerned). As for my WS, I’ve been told by one of my letter writers that my work equals the quality of advanced students in top graduate programs (those were his words). I have considered Canada and the UK, but funding opportunities for overseas students are very limited and I cannot afford applying to these places too. In fact, this is a one-time shot for me, at least in the foreseeable future. If I don’t get admitted, I will have to work for maybe two years to be able to afford another round. Unfortunately, there are no opportunities for fee waives for international students. University policies usually restrict it to American citizens. I share your concerns about the GRE. I have had a hard time preparing for it and now that I have less than two weeks for the test I had no choice but to gather on my desk and start studying. I recognize that I have what might be a good profile, but I still feel kind of lost on this whole process. I don’t know how things work in American academy and I always have the impression that the fact that I’m coming from nowhere will overshadow all the good aspects of my application. So, I thought that would be good to ask for advice from people who have been recently engaged in this process. P.S.: I didn't know about Cornell. I read somewhere else that the philosophy department gave pedigree a great weight.

This is my first application season and I'm coming from South America (non-English speaking country). My interests are in metaphysics, philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. Here’s my background: I have a 4.0 GPA and have taken 26 philosophy courses during my undergraduate (it's a four-year major). Not sure to what extent that is relevant, since my university is widely unknown internationally, although it is a top one in my country. I have 12 papers published (11 of them in my native tongue and in undergraduate journals) and one in English that appeared in a leading professional journal in my country, though I suspect people know about it in the US. I have also presented 14 papers at national conferences. I got two letters of recommendations from senior philosophers at two different Leiter’s Top 20 departments, which as far as I can gather, will be very good, and one from my professors at my home university. I don’t have much money and will only be able to afford five or six applications. I will be taking the GRE in the next weeks, but I don't expect much of it. My scores have been fairly low in previous practice tests (somewhere between 155-160 in V and Q), although I believe I can do better at the AWA and there is some time for improvement. Well, since I have to spend my money very wisely, any incoming advice for someone with a background like mine is welcome. My list of schools is below. I’m looking forward to fill the two extra spots with “safe schools” (if there is such thing at all). 1) Harvard 2) MIT 3) Penn 4) U. of Miami 5) ?? 6) ??

Just out of curiosity: is it a common practice between American undergraduates to publish at top journals?

A question from a prospective applicant: Are waitlists exclusively a matter of funding availability? If so, in case you are waitlisted and have secured external funding, should you let admission folks know about that or that will not make any difference?

Hey guys, I did a little research over this section and I couldn’t find anything related to this topic, so if I’m being repetitive, please point me out to where I can gather more information on this topic. Here's the situation: I will be applying with a full-scholarship from my country to pursue graduate studies at the US. I have heard that most schools ask for whether you have secured or have applied to external scholarships. What I would like to know, though it is not a formal question about admissions, is whether coming with a full-scholarship has any impact on your chances of being admitted.

Hey guys, I was wondering if coming with full funding (tuition, fees + living costs) from your home country has any impact on your application. I know it shouldn’t, but I have heard that informally this might make your application more attractive. The reason I’m asking this is because I may only indicate two schools at the application form and I’m not sure if I should aim high or not (sadly, the selective process will take place BEFORE schools start to spread out admissions). Any thoughts on that?

I'm from Brazil and I believe my case is pretty similar to yours. Andean, I would appreciate if you could share that information. I talked to other Argentinians who have applied recently and they told me it's hard to say what really matters in your application. One point that might be positive for us is that here in South America (as far as I am concerned of, that's the case in Brazil and Argentina) we take more philosophy classes than in the usual B.A. in North America. But it's hard to say to what extent it really helps your application (if it does at all).