Davidspring

Yes, I agree with you. Given the large number of strong candidates, the GRE scores could make a difference. And this is the sad part.

Thanks for your suggestion. What I want to say is that if the admission committee considered two candidates, both of whom had very strong letters and writing samples and perfectly fitted with the program, then it seems that they would tend to put they candidate who has much lower GRE score on the waiting list and send an offer to the other candidate. Does this make sense? I personally really dislike any standardized tests. However, since the competition is so fierce, I have to try to make every part of my applications outstanding. Moreover, I am not sure whether most faculty members in those top programs would not use the scores as a measure to throw some files away. I am sure the people in Cornell and Michigan won't do that, but I don't know any information about the other strong programs. I am worried about my scores particularly because I read the lessons that the philosophy applicants got from the previous application season on this website: many people cautioned that we should be serious about GRE and poor scores could hurt.

Thanks for this reply. The reason why I am so concerned with the GRE scores is that those top programs seem to have no substantial reason to accept a student who has low GRE scores, since they have far more competitive candidates than the offers they can send out. But I am just curious whether they will separately consider non-native applicants, since non-native speakers can hardly compete with natives on the aspect of English vocabulary.

I cite a discussion about this topic from this website: According to my personal experience as a non-native speaker, it takes me a lot of time (I mean several months) to improve the GRE scores. I used to think that to improve my analytical writing is particularly important and so I did that, scoring 5 in this section. I also improved my quantitative score, which is good enough for philosophy applications, but it seems so hard for me to improve the verbal score. I hope I can get 160+ on the verbal portion and I did that in the practice tests, however in the real tests I got scores as low as 157. I will definitely retake the test, but now I am wondering what people will say about this: Do you think that the admission committees will just use the same cut-off standard in my case as that in the cases of native speakers? Stories from previous international applicants are particularly welcome.

This is true. But for the international students, they should also be concerned with the specific placement records for them. For example, at SFU, the international students' record is not so good as those Americans and Canadians'. Also, SFU does not update their record for the recent two years.

Yeah, they are all very good. Thanks again.

Thank you! So which philosophy MA programs (including the PhD programs that have terminal MAs) are traditionally regarded as top ones in Canada (the PGR report mainly shows the views from the American philosophers)?

Right. As to funding, the Canadian MA programs are more attractive, and their quality is also very high.

Thanks for your information. Most Canadian philosophy graduate programs (including terminal MA and PhD) can provide considerable funding, and some American MA programs can give decent funds (of course most American PhD programs are able to offer full funding).

Hi friends, Let's talk about a sensitive but interesting topic. On the PGR we can see that many MA programs are good options. However, not every MA program could provide full funds (The Canadian MA programs and the US MA programs would be able to fund their students, so some people may prefer to apply for these programs.). Now, the question is: are the US MA programs better options than the programs in Canada (most Canadian PhD programs also offer a terminal MA program)? Or, both of them have pros and cons?

I suggest that the Chinese philosophy programs in Peking University, Renmin University, Chinese University of Hong Kong might be the best here. You can write letters to the professors in these programs to ask for further information. Good luck with your application!

Thanks a lot for your suggestion! As for the time, in the first year, I can concentrate on my study for I have no TA work to do. As you suggested, I should think about all of the application issues from the very beginning of my MA study and also actively consult with advisors. Since the education of philosophy in China is rather different from in North America, I would try my best to behave well in the graduate courses.

Hello guys! I am a fourth-year philosophy undergraduate student in China. This year I had applied to six Canadian Philosophy MA programs and I got four offers (Alberta, SFU, Victoria and Guelph) and two waiting lists (UBC and Calgary). After my careful consideration and consultation, I finally decided to attend the UAlberta for I think the program in this university will give me the best faculty support (my current philosophical interest, history of philosophy esp. Kant and Hume, is fitting very well with the faculty support). A two-year MA program is appropriate for me, because I intend to apply for a PhD program in North America one or two years later and my MA study in Canada would strengthen my academic background on western philosophy. Here, I sincerely welcome friends to give me suggestions about how to have a good Philosophy MA study experience in Canada. Thank you very much!