ianfaircloud

Congratulations! I feel the same way right now. But that's crazy! We have another five weeks of these to come.

Yup, it's official. And if these acceptances are as personal as this person says, then they probably didn't go out all at once. Maybe we'll get a slow trickle, as we did with Berkeley.

Well, maybe start by asking yourself what draws you to philosophy. The answer to that question may help you identify other possibilities. For me, the answer to that question leads me to apply also to law schools. There's some overlap between law and philosophy, in terms of what's required of a good lawyer and a good philosopher. Also you could pursue another field in the academy, one whose admissions are less competitive. Psychology, anthropology, and politics are common interests among students of philosophy, in my experience. The LSAT isn't so bad. You'd do well, I'm sure. I agree with the sentiment that you may want a backup plan. The last time I received a bunch of rejections, I was glad that I had a backup plan (namely the MA at that point). But in the meantime, maybe don't sell yourself too short here. We are STILL REALLY EARLY in the process. Only a few big ones have sent acceptances.

Berkeley is sending wait-list notifications (3 p.m. EST).

Really good advice here. I've visited therapists for various reasons. I know that the institution with which I'm associated offers very inexpensive access to therapists. Also it's pretty easy in the United States to access free therapy; people who train to become licensed therapists or to earn relevant professional degrees are required to complete a lot of therapy hours, and they do many (all?) of these hours at no charge. It's usually easy to access this resource near a university, for obvious reasons. The only caveat is that some therapists really aren't very good at what they're doing. Also some therapists aren't a good fit. Don't be afraid to try several therapists to find one that meets your needs. (Good therapists know that this is par for the course.)

I'm not claiming it, but I'm betting that it's legitimate.

All of the above.

It's a matter of principles, not a matter of dollars. I understand that some people won't go to the bat for principles alone-- they need some kind of financial incentive to do so. I get that. That's not me.

I'm starting to wonder, based on the maturity and sophistication of your responses, whether you, Coggy, are among the reasons for the recent decline of your department

Did you mean to say, "I've only been accepted to Duke so far"? It's just an odd thing to say, frankly.

UNC posting waitlists.

OKAY, sorry to move this controversial thread to the top. There will be some movement on this issue within one week, based on my correspondence with three people (two of Colorado, one of elsewhere). Bottom line is that 'external pressure' is exactly what I expect will have to be applied. I've heard from a member of faculty at Colorado (whose name I won't mention here) that the department has worked with the graduate school, and the graduate school has informed them that it will NOT REIMBURSE us for our application expenses. I want to protect my identity here, so I'm not posting explicit details related to this correspondence. I was told also, through someone else, that the person to contact is the Dean of the Graduate School, John Stevenson, john.stevenson@colorado.edu. Colorado has a legal obligation to reimburse expenses like test and transcript fees. If you're someone who lost money due to this fiasco at Colorado, please send an email to John Stevenson to express your belief that the university is obligated to reimburse you expenses related to the application. I have it on very good authority that we will be heard.

Just as some of us expected! They're still sending some out today. Congrats to you!

I'll chime in more later. Very nice discussion here. I'll say quickly that I want to legitimize the views on both sides here (as expressed by Philosophe and Selfhating). I think it's easy to give a "what about me" story here, and I think those deserve our attention. Mine is a what-about-me story: I came from a weak background, and if it weren't for an MA program, I'd be out of consideration. So what about me? I was 17 years old when I made the decision to attend a very weak undergraduate institution. I've matured a bit since then, and I'm glad I have the second chance via an MA program. Oh, one more thing: Is there some proper way to use the vote-up and vote-down tools on this site? What about a comment merits its being voted down? Just wondering. I think I'm applying different standards. I'm not voting down posts merely because I disagree with the person. But I noticed that one person has been voting down a lot of my posts (like almost every post of mine in another thread). That feels like a misuse of the tool. But maybe I have that wrong.

Wow, I couldn't agree more. And I want to point out that the comments on this post (http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2014/02/phd-admissions-writing-samples-and-ma-programs.html) are very, very helpful. I'm so glad that Leiter posted this. I think there's been all kinds of confusion and ignorance, frankly, about MA programs. I almost cried when I read this philosopher's letter to Leiter, because it's extremely disappointing to hear that someone with such power over our lives would be so mistaken about the relevant facts. I love this comment, btw: "The Onion title for this 'concern' would read: 'Evidence That Hard Work Contributes to Success Sends Philosopher Into Moral Quandry'."

I agree. Berkeley is on Pacific time, and it's possible that someone took that into consideration last night. I think the Berkeley post went up very late last night. Probably won't call people at 1:00 a.m. local time. I typically assume it's for real when there is more than one post. Also, we're within three days of the date on which some of us predicted Berkeley would release initial results. (All of this stuff is fallible, as I've said elsewhere.)

Hey everyone. So I regret some of my harsher comments toward Colorado. I'm frustrated by this. I feel like this problem, though smaller than other problems in the world, is not being taken seriously by everyone involved. I really dislike the attitude, "Well, it's small money, so you aren't a priority. They have bigger fish to fry." That's what I hear behind the words of some other posts in this thread. So regarding the real problem: I've been in some communication with more than one member of faculty at Colorado. The information I received (weeks ago) was that no decisions had been made, and they (i.e. faculty or staff of the department) promised to follow up with me. The communication also involved an administrative assistant (the title may not be exactly correct here) in the department. I've not heard from any of these people since then. What I didn't hear from them was, "Hey, you're asking the wrong people." In the meantime, I have been in communication with philosophy faculty not at Colorado, faculty whose judgment I trust. And I hear from them that this is the appropriate channel to request a reimbursement. The thought is this: If the department believes I'm barking up the wrong tree, I'll let the department direct me to the right person. But look, if this is such a small problem, then it ought to be easily addressed. Get on the phone with the dean, the grad school, the interim department chair, and say, "Look, we have applicants who need to be reimbursed." This is a small matter for them. We're talking about $10,000 max. I'd be shocked if they have to dole out half that. And all I'm looking for right now is assurance that we'll be reimbursed. If you find this unreasonable, fine. I'm not here to argue with you. Say what you want to say. But if you find this reasonable, then I appreciate your willingness to help make this happen. Maybe "apply pressure" isn't the right phrase here. But I think those relevant people should know that many voices, not just a few, are behind the request for reimbursements. Edit: By the way, I'm wondering whether everyone understands what we're asking for. Obviously we're not just asking for application fees to be reimbursed. For those, of course we would go to graduate admissions -- presumably they are in a better position to refund those fees. We're asking for application expenses to be reimbursed (GRE scores, transcripts), too. And it's much less obvious who would take care of that kind of reimbursement.

Nobody said contacting the graduate school is a bad idea. I can assure you that I have it on good authority that I'm not barking up the wrong tree. But I'm not going to name names on a forum like this. I like how you make this out to be all about me. It really isn't. I never spend hours trying to track down $50 for me. I do, however, devote time to making even small things right for other people. I can see you think I'm overly zealous. If you participated in the exchanges that I have, maybe you'd feel differently about it. I'd be glad to work with anyone else toward the end of making this right in a way that's reasonable and human. Message me if you're interested. This forum isn't a good place to discuss the details of that kind of plan. I thought it was a good place to discuss broader points, but I'm doubting that.

Well, I applied to the philosophy program. The philosophy department made it its business when it posted something to the effect of "We'll reimburse application fees" on its website. So I think I have it 'straight' about who I should contact. Also, this is administrative stuff. So presumably the department can direct me to the proper administrative course. I'll let *them* do that. So far, I've not heard anything (in communication with relevant faculty) to the effect of, "Hey, you're asking the wrong people." So your advice isn't well-taken. I think I do have it quite 'straight' about who to contact.

I think you're right about this, Philosophe. So some people may want to look to someone else for this kind of help. For me, I don't want to release that information here. But *if* anyone wants to hear from someone who went to a top-six MA program, I'd be glad to tell you what I know about each of them. As someone who attended one of these, and as someone who has since heard about these and experienced two of them fairly directly, I may be more helpful than some people. I also may be able to give advice related to what I think are the most important and least important features of an MA program. But yeah, I won't say which of these I attended (at least not before I've accepted an offer of admission).

Table, I totally misunderstood the comment. Thanks for the clarification. And I'm very sympathetic to your view. I just want to encourage others who see this forum to pursue the refund. I think my worry is that, as time passes, fewer will be willing to go to the trouble. And so the department may not see enough reason. This is the right time to 'strike', so to speak, while all eyes remain on their department. Also, I wish the department would simply post on their website, "We will reimburse applicants for all expenses incurred directly as a result of their applications," or something to that effect. Instead the department explicitly mentions application fees. So I'm not as confident of their willingness to compensate us fully. But yeah, I think we're generally on the same page here, Table. I do appreciate what you're saying, and I'm sure there are 'innocent' folks in the department who are suffering to meet all the exigencies of their unfortunate situation.

Oh, one more thing. What apps are they reading? I missed something related to that...

I'd be glad to answer questions about MA programs. I won't say here exactly which of these I attend(ed), but I'll say that it's a top-six (by Leiter's standards). And I was admitted to most of the top six. So I'd be very happy to help as I can.

I have sympathy for them, because I'm human, too. And so yes, I think they're busy. And they have their hands full. And I think you're right that it's a good idea to keep this in mind. However, I think Colorado Boulder absolutely owes us reimbursements. So I'm absolutely going to pursue a reimbursement. Colorado Boulder needs to allocate the resources (human and financial) to see to it that we are promptly reimbursed. This isn't just the department. The university absolutely needs to marshal the resources necessary to address this immediately. Last I checked, CU Boulder has a 1.5 billion dollar endowment. So they sure as hell better repay the $42 they owe me, as well as the dollars they owe others, for their institutional failures.