Needle in the Hay

I was accepted at FSU last night with full funding. The timing suggests that I was on a hidden waitlist. Very excited to have this option, but still waiting on other schools and hoping some waitlists come through.

You really don't know whether Rose-Colored Dasein, or anyone else who has not heard back from SLU, has been rejected there. Grad cafe can give preliminary reason to expect particular results, but usually not with the kind of certainty you are suggesting. In this case, Rose-Colored Dasein might be on a "hidden waitlist" among other possibilities. I know that's possible because it happened to me at SLU one year. Moreover, I had a real shot of being accepted since the formal (i.e., "non-hidden") waitlist was very short.

wow, I'm so glad I asked; thank you, Eudaimon! May all of your activity exhibit virtue in accordance with reason.

Is there anyone who was accepted or waitlisted at Fordham who plans to decline? I was waitlisted there and I'm really hoping to get an offer. It would be an excellent fit and I'm not sure if I'll have any other offers at this point.

Email to check site.

No worries! Just thought my last comment would be a useful data point.

I was rejected at ND and I know someone whose first and last names both come before mine alphabetically and who has not heard back.

I just got a call from Dr. Beckwith at Baylor inviting me to the prospective student weekend there. He said it was for the final ten applicants. I don't know if it's an acceptance or not really, but he made it sound like it was. Anyone know? I just posted about this update in the results search, but I got my verbal and quantitative GRE scores reversed. Anyway, the message I included in that post remains true. I had a low undergrad GPA and middling MA gpa's, but I've made it pretty far at least at a school I'd be thrilled with. It's possible!

Don't lose hope. Their application isn't even due for another 13 days. Surely they will meet again after this deadline to choose more people to admit. Maybe you will be accepted then. Good luck!

To the people who were accepted at Boston College: does your bc portal reflect your acceptance yet? Or did you just get a letter via postal? Thanks, and congratulations!

Thanks, Axiomness. Good to know.

Did he/she give any indication of whether they would accept more students next year? I applied there in 2014 (for entry in fall of 2015) and they only accepted three students that year also. I was surprised at the time because I'd read on their website that they normally accept about 15 students. (I don't know if that's still on their site anywhere, though I suspect it isn't.) It's starting to look like a pattern, though.

Right. I was thinking they might have done that before sending out acceptances, but that's not very likely.

May I ask why you are presuming a rejection? They haven't issued any acceptances, have they?

I'm sorry to hear that. Did you solicit that information from them? I wish you the best at the places you're waiting to hear back from.

Thanks to all for your helpful input! Actually, Ian, I think 1- 5 on your "ways MAs help with PhD applications list" probably all apply in some way and to varying degrees in my case. 1- 3 on your "other reasons to get an MA" probably all apply to some degree in my case too. Maxhgns I think you raise a very valuable point as well. Thanks again, all! I'm feeling better about my situation now in part thanks to your advice.

Thanks for your helpful input on the subject, philstudent1991. I think you are probably right that the notoriety of the program will help me and that it will also help to have more extensive help from faculty in writing my sample. I should note that UCL actually does have a very strong tradition in philosophy; it is ranked about 6th in the UK on philosophical gourmet, for whatever that is worth. I'm not sure if that changes your perspective, but I'm inclined to think and hope that most of what you say still stands. Thanks again.

Hi all, So I have an MA in Philosophy from University College London and I'm currently enrolled in a 2nd MA (also in Philosophy) at Georgia State University. I decided to enroll because I thought it would further my PhD prospects, but since enrolling I've had some doubts about whether this is really true. There is not much likelihood that I will drop out of my program at GSU at this point, but I would still like to know how much it will really help me in my applications to have this degree (and to have done well and gotten strong letters). Here are the reasons I thought it might likely help: -GSU's MA has excellent PhD placement records. -the UCL MA is a one year program and GSU is a two year program. -UK MA's are arguably a slightly different kind of tradition/ degree than US MA's. By my understanding, UK MA's are not seen as primarily geared towards preparing one for further graduate study or a career in the subject. They are rather seen as primarily offering intellectual fulfillment in particular subjects and also as (perhaps incidentally or secondarily) having some prospect of helping students in applications to further graduate study (I am open to correction on this point). I believe this is part of what differentiates MA's from MPhil degrees in the UK. -GSU also has a lot of great faculty who work on areas related to my own who would be able to help me produce a strong writing sample. I consider this as somewhat of a lesser consideration because I also feel that I could produce a strong writing sample if I were not in the program and asked for help from my undergrad UNC professors. Any insights would be very much appreciated. Thank you, Theoldpond

Ha, apparently I've reached my "quota" of upvotes for the day, but thanks for your help, Ian! The info about PhD placement prospects coming out of GSU or Brandeis is really helpful. Also I think what you say about accepting the offer at SLU seems sensible, especially since, as I said, the job placement looks decent insofar as one is willing to teach at a smaller school. And I probably am. The rule of etiquette also makes sense! Thanks again.

EDIT: Oh sorry, I see what you mean by the second question, you mean the question of whether I should attend either Brandeis or GSU. Why do you think the answer is obvious? Why would it be better than UCL, where I am accepted??? Yes the initial question was meant to be your second question. Thanks for the info about GSU! Unfortunately the situation is a bit less hopeful this year, since more people are accepting offers from them.

Hi all, Wondering if anyone can spare any advice for my situation. I'm waitlisted (or something similar) at each of the following: Brandeis (MA)- near the top Georgia State (MA) Colorado (PhD)- probably not happening St. Louis U (PhD)- reasonable chance of acceptance, complicated situation I'm accepted at University College London for the MPhil stud, and I believe I have a strong shot at acceptance to the MPhil Stud at King's College London. My main question is whether to accept either of the two US MA offers (Brandeis or GSU) if they come through before the 15. This might give me a strong shot at acceptance to a strong and well- respected PhD program in the US. On the other hand, I could just do the PhD at UCL (or King's if it comes through), since MPhil Stud students have the option of progressing to the PhD if they pass the course. My only worry about accepting at UCL (or King's) is that I'm not enthralled about committing myself to a UK career from the outset. To what extent would I risk this? I am very fortunate in that my parents are willing and able to support me and the money is only a secondary issue. I'm relatively confident that I would accept an offer from Saint Louis if it came through. It's a perfect fit for my interests and it actually has relatively strong placement, especially at smaller colleges that would be of interest to me career- wise. Any thoughts? Thanks as always for any help!

I recently solicited a response from St. Louis U regarding my application to the PhD and was told that I was in a pool of applicants that the offer might go to if accepted and waitlisted people decline their offers. There are only three slots, but there are also only 6- 7 people total that are either waitlisted or in this pool. I wanted to take this opportunity to say that if you are accepted or waitlisted at SLU and know that you will be declining I would greatly appreciate it if you would go ahead and do so. This program would really be a great fit for me and there is a very strong chance that I would accept an offer, especially if it was funded (which it very likely would be). Thanks, and good luck to all!

Can anyone claim the most recent St. Louis Acceptance? Were you notified that you were on the waitlist and then notified again when you were taken off? Or did the caller notify you that you had previously been on a waitlist and that you had now been removed? I ask because I don't see any waitlist results for St. Louis on the results search. Edit: i.e. SLU

Actually, you know what? Never mind! I don't think this would be immoral. It is just smart to take advantage of every resource you have in situations like these. If others are not thinking outside the box then that is their problem. And if their recommenders don't know people on admissions then that is really just too bad for them. Fortune is not even- handed, but fortune and justice are not the same. I think your post just made me a bit OCD about this, Establishment. But note that personal connections come into play all the time in life. For instance, I know people who have connections to someone in med school admissions somewhere. They said some favorable things about an applicant to this person in admissions and next thing you know the applicant was admitted. Of course, he had to be qualified, but his dossier might have gotten extra review based on the suggestion. I don't really see any problems here. As a note of personal disclosure, I was accepted to a PhD at UC Santa Cruz coming out of undergrad. I think this is in significant part due to a letter I sent the department in addition to all of my application materials. The letter voiced a strong interest in the program. It turns out they wanted to admit me but had thought it better not to since they couldn't offer me funding in the first year as an out of state student. I think my letter of interest suggested to them that I might be fine without the first year of funding, and they accepted me. I don't feel bad about this. I was just thinking outside of the box, and it helped. Thanks again Turretin and DontFly.

I suppose what I was thinking at first is that if the same opportunity is available to everyone- i.e. to have a recommender put in a word in his/ her favor to improve his/ her shot of being accepted off of the waiting list- then it would seem to be fine. I was taking it that the suggestion that the recommender in question would have to know someone on admissions didn't mean that this was some kind of credential but merely something that in fact would tend to help. On second thought I'm inclined to think that you are probably right. There seems to be good reason to have all of an applicant's admission credentials start and end with the application proper. For an applicant to be accepted on the basis of some credential that is not explicitly suggested or required for all applicants does seem unfair the more I think about it. Or otherwise, if this would not be an additional credential but rather a prompting for the admissions committee to further review the credentials I submitted with my application, it still seems somewhat unfair, because all of the applicants are not explicitly told that the same further review might be available to them and the presumption would seem to be to the contrary. Thanks for your suggestion. I think I will send my recommender a second email and retract my initial request and apologize. He hasn't responded yet anyway, which probably means he didn't like the idea given that he is an email wizard. Looks like I will just be sticking with the gracious email.