philstudent1991

Ya, I totally agree with the general sentiment that applicants from good MAs are pretty much incomparable to those just coming out of undergrad. Their sample isn't just a decent paper; it's a thesis excerpt. Their letter writers know them very wekk, served on their thesis committee, and know a lot more talented young philosophers to compare them to. Their GPA is graduate, not undergrad. They've been in a philosophical community, know the field, know their interests, etc. But also, it may be that you do the MA, and while you enjoy it and learn more about yourself and the world and are happy for having done so, you decide that academic philosophy is not for you. There is no experience one can have as an undergraduate that fully prepares them for the way academia is. You just have to do it. And the MA offers a clean break for those that feel this way. Finishing an MA is a huge accomplishment even if you don't go on. Dropping out of a PhD, even if you obtain the MA en route, will feel like a failure when your peers are continuing their studies. MA can be a good place to see if this is really what you want to do. Just a thought.

Idk if y'all are already aware of this but Ohio State, Duke and UNC all released first rounds in January last year, and supposing the past is a good predictor of the future (a radical presumption perhaps in philosophical company), we have reason to suspect their results sooner rather than later

Quite the list you have there in your byline. Good luck!!!

guess you should just round up

Ya, I've wondered this myself. Another possible reason is that they are a pretty small department if I'm not mistaken. And the fewer arrows you have, the fewer chances to hit the target, or something like that.

PM 64: Considering the lack of formal background in philosophy, I think applying to Tufts is a waste of time. Just my honest opinion.

^ A thought: a senior thesis is an obvious choice for a writing sample, since hopefully it is representative of your best, most organized and most in-depth work. But, they will almost universally be too long to submit in full as a writing sample, so you are left with chopping it up in such a way that you can still have a quality paper. This runs a risk of making the paper awkward and of compromising the flow of things. So, if you have a VERY good paper for another class that is of a more reasonable length, I would CONSIDER using this paper instead. If your senior thesis is your best work and you think you can truncate it without losing any quality, then great. But if not, remember you have other options. EDIT: This is aimed at applicants in general, not the commenter above in particular. I was just indicating that I was building on what he was saying.

^That is unfortunate, since a typical MA takes two years.

So a few months back there were some people reapplying that were wondering how long schools held on to GRE scores. I am curious about this, if anyone now has the first hand experience to enlighten us.

Most graduate programs offer their seminars almost exclusively in the evenings, while cross listed courses are during the day. You'll need to be flexible to succeed in graduate school, but your desire for evening classes is probably not a deal breaker. Working part time, however, is probably not going to work. If I were you, which I am not, I would only go to an MA that offers funding. More on that in a second. Yes, the competition at top MA programs (Tufts, Brandeis, GSU, UW Milwaukee, NIU) is stiff. But they are not closed to non-traditional students. While most people at such programs likely majored in philosophy, you wouldn't be alone in not being a philosophy major in undergrad. But, you MUST have some philosophy background to have a chance. As you say, taking some philosophy courses to improve your application is a good idea. But going into debt for philosophy, before even entering an MA, is not a good idea. But everyone has different economic concerns of course so only you can really evaluate that. Yes, funding at the MA level is not like a PhD level. But among the top five, I believe that GSU, NIU and UWM all offer decent funding. On the GRE. Idk what your score is but don't overestimate its importance. A high verbal is important, as a general claim. But some MAs don't really weight the GRE much at all, and I wouldn't expect any at all are deeply concerned about the quantitative score, provided it's not embarrassing. That's just my guess though. But I can guarantee this: some terminal MAs only require the GRE because it's a university mandate they are bound to. If they could waive the requirement, they would. That is telling about how much they worry about it. You don't mention the three most important things: GPA in philosophy, letter of rec from philosophers and writing sample. If you lined up these effectively, they could overcome a questionable background, at the MA level at least.

Your byline is specific enough that if I were evaluating your application, I would have all the information I needed to connect the dots. So, for the same reason you ought not post pictures of yourself doing irresponsible things on Facebook, you ought to be careful posting on this forum. It's easy to get stressed about the process and complain about the system on here. You wouldn't want to say anything here that would reflect poorly on you. I don't think ad comms are searching this forum for reasons to deny someone, but there are plenty of graduate students here and things do get around.

Yes, those that have suggested an MA are quite right. Tufts and Brandeis and great but do not fund, at least not sufficiently. After that, Georgia State and Wisconsin Milwaukee are probably the best two funded MAs, in terms of placement, faculty quality, student quality, PhD preparation, etc. University of Houston is also good and funds some students.

I don't have answers to your questions unfortunately, but I do have a word of advice: edit your byline so it doesn't include such specific information.

Look. The ad comms sift through hundreds of applications. It is a brute fact of human psychology that a letter from Thomas Nagel is going to get someone's attention in a way that a letter form Joe Blow will not. If it's all the same, get letters from famous people, if your department has any. I'm sure this is obvious to you, though. It is clear that pedigree matters in admissions, and I think the glamour of big name letter writers is partially to blame for why acceptances to philosophy PhDs are so top heavy. But, it is by no means a lost cause if you have no famous letter writers, or if you have a famous person in your department that you didn't happen to work with. Get letters from the people that know your work, your work ethic, your personality, etc. That's what really matters. But believe me, I'm cynical. If your school has the word "State" in it, then you will be rejected (save maybe Ohio State, or of course Georgia State or Arizona State for the MA).

^ well U Chicago has a "social thought" program, but I don't think it is very well respected, because virtually everyone rejected from the PhD is automatically admitted to it. And, it costs a sinful amount of money. At least, that's my understanding. I don't go there so I can't speak as an expert, although I was accepted, as was literally everyone else I have spoken with, after being rejected from their PhD last year.

generic statement, plus program specific info only when you really know what you're talking about and it's an obvious fit. just naming names isn't going to get you anywhere.

You might want to do extra research on Colorado. They had some serious climate problems last year, and even suspended graduate admissions, just in case you didn't know. And ya there are no safety schools in philosophy. For meta-ethics, Michigan and Princeton have very strong faculties, but they are crazy competitive. For action, if you mean free will, look into Florida State. Not as competitive as Michigan or Princeton to be sure, but still the premier place to be to work on free will.

don't even think about taking it again. that score is excellent, and while sure Q could be higher, that's not going to kill your chances anywhere.

it's gotta be self contained. taking something from your senior thesis is only natural, and that's fine, but it must be self-contained.

people are right to tell you that letters from outside of philosophy are not helpful. That said, this sounds like it is not wholly outside of philosophy. So if you really think he will write a good letter, and of course you have other letters from more traditional philosophers, I say why not

I think the Midwest thing is odd too. Maybe there are more philosophers originally hailing from the Northeast, say, than the Midwest. But I really don't think admission committees weigh region of origin in their decisions, and if they do it is far below other factors, most of which you can control (sample, GPA, GRE, letters, statement). In any case, armchair speculations about such things are not the best way you can spend your time. I know admissions season is agonizing, and you want to consider every possible factor. And it's October; people are really getting serious on their grad school dossiers by now (working on sample, asking for letters, and hopefully recalling taking the GRE months ago). But believe me, when you've gotten to the point of speculating about the influence of geography in your application, it's time to do something else. Enjoy college, read, study, pursue your hobbies. And of course, best of luck this round.

No reason to retake it. Those scores are just fine.

Georgia State is very strong in political philosophy and if that's your interest I'd recommend applying there. However, you cannot specialize in only political, at GSU or anywhere else. While you can take several courses in it, and do your thesis on it, you will have to take courses in history, M&E, and probably logic as well. You also are not likely to find a one year MA. Almost all programs will take two years.

idk your life, and there is a lot more to an application than GRE and school prestige, but believe me, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak if you are only applying to pretty much top ten schools. Even UConn is super, super competitive. Consider an MA: Tufts, Georgia State, Brandeis, NIU, Wisconsin Milwaukee, and a few others all have great programs with great placement into ranked PhD programs.

It's my first day of grad school today and I thought I'd check in for old time's sake. My biggest advice to people on here now is to get off this is a cool site for when you are waiting on acceptances, but right now be working on your classes, thinking about your letters, your programs of choice and your samples oh and the GRE if you haven't already taken it!