philoSophia12

Hi 2015 Applicants! Just randomly stopping by to say "hi," and good luck on this season! If there's any questions I can answer, I went through the process this past season successfully and broke a lot of the traditional wisdom on random application things so I'd love to be of any help I can.I ended up with a T20 PhD offer as well as another PhD offer which I ended up accepting (it's a long story, but the moral of it is--Go with the school you fit best with! I can't tell you how happy I am with my decision!). Anyway, feel free to put my very limited knowledge to use. This was a definite process but gradcafe made it fun at points and it was completely and totally worth every ounce of tears and sweat put into the application process. I hope every single one of you gets to experience the feeling of being funded and accepted at your top school! It's magical and practically sends you to the noumenal world! And ask Ian Faircloud for help too (you'll find his posts here in gradcafe cyber space). He's a legend. -philoSophia

philstudent, I pretty much am in the same boat as you are. I'm not sure if the top 20 admit students regularly from state schools...guess there will only be one way to find out.

philstudent, I am so relieved to hear that. Math has never been my strong subject (mostly because I didn't invest energy in it in high school), so the GRE caused me much fear and trembling. So glad it's over. Kant is actually not an aoi of mine, my undergrad program happens to have no faculty members who are interested in any of my own aois, so all my "great" papers that I would submit for writing samples are from courses that aren't within my aois. Do you think this may hurt me a bunch if I'm submitting papers that aren't in my aoi? Or maybe is it worth mentioning why my writing sample may not be in my aoi in my personal statement to clear that confusion up?

I finished the gre (and remembered somethings I forgot to include, thanks for your help, bar_scene_gambler), so here is the updated version. My dream school at this point would be Notre Dame. Anyone think this profile might possibly just get me in? Undergrad school: Top 150 US News, Unheard of Philosophy program GPA: 4.0 overall, (4.0 philosophy also, obviously) GRE: 157Q 165V Waiting on AW Writing Sample: Either an analytic-focused paper on a problem in philosophy of religion or a Kant on Abortion paper 2 "Colloquia" style presentations (basically I taught a mini-one day class/discussion group with a student org.) I'll be a TA this coming year for an intro to the discipline class that a lot of freshmen take, and I TAed my sophomore year for a lower division English class (so I'll have some direct teaching experience going in). Letters of Rec: I should have good ones, but not from anyone famous. Awards: Top Student Philosopher (among graduate and undergrad students) in the University, Highest level of departmental scholarship recognition, Outstanding language student, Top 10% of student writers in my university.. Coursework: (IP)=upcoming semester Intro to Philosophy Ethical Theory Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Logic Philosophy of Religion Modern Philosophy Kant's Ethics Philosophy of Language (IP) Social and Political Philosophy (IP) Philosophy and Religions of India Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Religion (Reformed Epistemology, Realism vs Non Realism), History of Philosophy (especially Augustine and the Neo-Platonists)

gatewayselect, Thanks so much for the evaluation/feedback. This has been the most stressful part of the apps for me and more advice is always helpful.

Hello everyone, For the rest of you struggling to write the best SOP your committees will ever have written, I have found this to be massively helpful: http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2007/10/applying-to-philosophy-phd-programs_08.html Professor Schwitzgebel also linked some sample SOPs which also helped me get the process started in the comments section of the post. Happy writing!

Undergrad school: Top 150 US News, Unheard of Philosophy program GPA: 4.0 overall, (4.0 philosophy also, obviously) GRE: Getting ready to take it in a few weeks. Writing Sample: Either an analytic-focused paper on a problem in philosophy of religion or a Kant on Abortion paper 2 presentations, but not at conferences I'll be a TA this coming year for an undergrad phil. class. Letters of Rec: I should have good ones, but not from anyone famous. Coursework: (IP)=upcoming semester Intro to Philosophy Ethical Theory Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Logic Philosophy of Religion Modern Philosophy Kant's Ethics Philosophy of Language (IP) Social and Political Philosophy (IP) Philosophy and Religions of India Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Religion (Reformed Epistemology, Realism vs Non Realism), History of Philosophy (especially Augustine and the Neo-Platonists)

I'm in the same place as you, bar_scene_gambler, only I don't particularly like any of the few I'm choosing from. Are you going to submit different writing samples for the different schools or are you going to choose one throughout?

Bar_scene_gambler, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Yes, please!

Hello GradCafers, I'm presently putting together the pieces of my app. to Boston College's Phd Philosophy program for Fall 2014. I'm studying away at the GRE and was wondering if anyone could tell me average or any GRE scores of current Philosophy Phd students there so I have a goal to aim for. Thank you!