philstudent1991

Did you contact them anonymously or by name?

I am also interested. There are two now.

How's your season going Jac?

Perhaps the "Oxford" in the location is a partial explanation? Not that oddnumber isn't an excellent philosopher, but perhaps that explains in part why she is an excellent philosopher.

Congrats to the Georgia State admits. I'd be happy to chat about the program. Just PM me.

This week we should see Texas, UCR, UMass and UConn at least, if not a few more!

You are in at Harvard.

Dangerous words friendo

"I'm in at fucking USC and on the waitlist at fucking NYU so...I'm sure you understand." Best, shitandthings

FWIW, my department is not like the horrible one the earlier comment described. And I'm sure plenty of departments are like mine

UMass says they will have decisions by March 4!

I just emailed UNC and Penn to solicit rejection lol. I'll let y'all know what they say.

Well firstly, don't do it. In all likelihood it will be more brutal and unpatterned (and expensive) than you think, even if you have pretty low expectations. If there's something else you can imagine yourself doing, do that instead. There's a lot of great stuff about grad school, but grad school and the path to it are filled with rejection, poverty, loneliness, insecurity and burnout so be aware. Anyway, my thoughts: 1. Just spend your time on one really good sample. 2. I scored in the 99th% and I'm probably shut out of PhDs and I know folks who have great offers and unexceptional GRE scores, so don't worry about the GRE too much...that said, shoot for 165+V, 155-160+Q if you can. Definitely get some study materials. I had an online program through Kaplan that had video lectures and practice problems and tests that I think were very helpful. 3. I think so. My program had a ton of people applying out and most places I've been rejected accepted one or even two of our people. I have to think that most (but not all) programs would be hesitant to accept more than one person from one school (unless it's Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Oxford, etc.) 4. If you have the MA, that can definitely help. Just look at NIU or UWM or GSU placement record. But good people from good MAs still get shut out just like anyone else. 5. Good question. I had a pretty developed sense of my interests and identified some projects I'd want to work on and with whom. I made sure programs were a good fit with my interests and cleared the list with advisors who knew my work and interests well and are aware of how admissions goes. But I'm shut out so idk what that's worth. Maybe I should have come across as more of a generalist. 6. Don't do that. Philosophy doesn't really do that.

I'm just going to change my identity to @AgentScully and take one of the offers you don't want. Hope that's okay!

It was someone I know. I'm sure he can confirm soon.

?

So, will there be any calling this week?

For what it's worth, all four of my rejections so far have come between 2 and 7 AM while I was asleep. For all my refreshing grad cafe and checking my phone, nothing has come of it.

Take the PhD if you want to get a PhD. This process is too random to hope for luck a second time.

Your name is exactly how I feel about my admissions season.

Interestingly, it turns out that asking departments flat out for an update is a terrible proxy for results. For instance, Nat asked Georgetown when they'd be releasing and they said two weeks, and then they released today. Brown said they'd release today but as far as anyone knows, they didn't (unless they did snail mail). UCSD said they don't do wait lists, but I personally know folks who are waitlisted there. So if even asking schools directly for information turns out to be an unreliable way of knowing what's going on, I can't conclude anything other than absolute skepticism. Sure, no information has ever been more important to me in my life. It will determine how my life will go in many ways, certainly for the immediate future, but for the long term future as well. So I know why people get so anxious; I certainly am. But I think all of our best tools of prognostication have failed and we should abandon all efforts. Just try to think about other stuff, and the information will come when it may.

At the end of the semester I will be moving, maybe to a PhD program, but more likely back home with my parents. I don't have a car, but I have too much stuff to take on a plane. Has anyone here had a similar situation? Any tips on moving cheaply without just packing and shipping todos de mis chismes?

any news on this?

Yep, I say UNC rejections today, more WashU, plus Stanford and UConn. Brown tomorrow. That's my prediction.

I'd be curious to know if Penn is done, and when UConn is expecting to start (since they are so much later than last year).