MetaphysicalDrama

Definitely. I want to call and ask if my applications are complete again just to stay in the loop.

Well, I got most of my applications in at the end of November and the first week of December. I guess can relax now because I've heard from all of the schools that my applications are complete and that everything (letters, test scores, transcripts, sample, statement, and etc.) has been received. Area of Interest: Early-modern and medieval literature (Spenser and Arthuriana)

I missed a GRE subject test this weekend. The testing center was in a university student center where I do not attend school, and to make matters worse, there was a football game scheduled on campus that day, so parking and navigation was restricted. When I finally found some parking, I sprinted around campus for about thirty minutes trying to find the building with no luck. Does GRE ever offer another chance to take the subject test if you've registered for the original date and were a no-show? Two programs of interest to me recommend the subject test.

I know this is one of those things that can vary from school-to-school, but what's the general attitude towards transcripts now? Do most schools only desire scanned copies of transcripts, requiring sealed copies for matriculation, or do most schools prefer sealed transcripts by the application due date? There's a lot of money in this, so I'm just curious, will you be sending sealed, official transcripts to every school?

I think it is more valuable for people seeking faculty jobs, especially if their advisers are retired or deceased. I ask all of my letter writers to upload a letter to Interfolio for emergency purposes, but not enough of schools accept Interfolio letters for doctoral apps. They seem to have a page with a chart that the letter writer has to complete, and Interfolio has no way of doing that.

I had previously applied to PhD programs in philosophy back in '10, '12, and '13. I really didn't go about the process well, but since finishing my MA in philosophy, I have been adjuncting and will complete a second MA in English/literature this fall. I'm interested in medieval and early modern conceptions of political power in the Arthuriana and Spenser's Faerie Queene.

Thanks for the advice so far. I will likely give it one more go come the next application season. I suppose I'll take this oppurtunity to offer a little bit more information about my projects, and to ask a couple questions about how to put forth a more competitive application. Schools most interested in attending: University of Pittsburgh, University of Chicago, Columbia University, and Johns Hopkins University. Grad GPA: 3.8 (University of Chicago) Undergrad GPA: 3.59 (University of Denver) Writing sample: Explicating Vocabularies of Epistemic Normativity The aim of my writing sample was to justify the use of a vocabulary of objective truth within the limits of Rorty's critique of traditional epistemology. I accomplished this feat by appealing to McDowell's disquotational use of the word "true" as a way to show what we are doing when use a vocabulary of objective truth. Presentations: "Explicating Vocabularies of Epistemic Normativty" to a University of Chicago doctoral seminar. "A Subtle but Crucial Difference: Kant, McDowell, and the possibility of synthetic a priori judgments" at a University of Chicago Graduate Student Conference. "Inclination and Sensibility in Kant's Moral Philosophy at the SUNY Oneonta Undergraduate Philosophy Confernece. I do not have any publications. Would any of you recommend any journals in particular for my level of study to which I should submit work. My GRE scores were likely my applications Achillies heel, so I suppose a Kaplan course is in order. On the 700 point scale I would ideally like to boost my scores by 100 points in quantative and verbal, and I could likely increase my writing by at least .5 after a year at UChicago. Three questions I have yet to receive a good answer to are: What second tier schools that offer funding are good places to study the following authors: Kant, Hegel, Rorty, Brandom, and Sellars? In other words, what's a good place to study German Idealism and the Pittsburgh School? How important is it that you begin to outline the kind of project you would like to work on in your doctoral studies. In my statement, I present the kinds of projects I have worked on, and what I had learned from working on them. However, I only offered a cursory description of what my doctoral project's driving concern would be and some authors I would like to work on. Of course the quality of the material you offer in your writing sample is what is most imporant. However, would I benefit from offering a sample that focuses on Kant instead of keeping such a contemproary focus as I did last season?

At this time last year, I was admitted to the University of Chicago's Master of Arts in Philosophy and Humanities program. I accepted their offer, and I completed the program last Spring. I had a wonderful time, I was proud of the work I was doing, and I was optimistic about my chances of getting into a funded PhD program starting this Fall. Presently, I have been rejected by every PhD program to which I had applied (0/12). I had originallly thought that this would be a gap year between master's studies and doctoral studies. Now that I have no doctoral studies to look forward to I find myself questioning what I should be doing with my life. I've been working retail this year for roughly nine dollars an hour, and that was okay as long as I had something to look forward to in the Fall. Now that I've received the bad news from so many institutions, I've become frustrated and disappointed to see that I haven't progressed professionally since the day I graduated from high school. Why have I been working retail? It is not because I didn't pursue other career oppurtunities. It is because I haven't received a single oppurtunity to pursue a job in a community college, copywriting, data entry, or human resources. I admit that I have to lie to any organization other than a PhD Program in Philosophy regarding how much I would like to become part of their organization. However, if I had a gig copywriting or in human resources, then compared to where I am now, I might as well be studying at Harvard. I know there must be more of you out there who have completed the terminal MA and failed to move on to a PhD. However, I'm really confused regarding what to do now. I've loved life as long as I have been going to graduate seminars and composing research papers, but now I wake up every day just wishing my heart would stop beating.