Griswald

Cool, I understand. I hope the Facebook discussion is a fruitful one!

Perhaps it has to do with funding. Doesn't NIU usually admit more students than it can fund? Maybe they email students who are receiving, or are likely to receive, TA-ships, and admit the rest by website notification and snail mail.

$14k could end up being just a drop in the bucket over the course of your entire career. If Berkeley is better regarded on most measures, you'll probably have better job opportunities for having attended there.

I'm wondering if you plan on sharing any insights or conclusions reached on the FB thread with the male audience here. I for one (I'm a man btw) would really appreciate it. I'd be very reluctant to accept an offer from a department with climate issues.

Is Warwick really clearly stronger in post-Kantian philosophy? For what it's worth, Leiter thinks that GSU is the strongest MA program in the US for 18th and 19th c. German philosophy (see here).

Just make sure you thoroughly investigate Tech's placement record. Does Tech consistently place their graduates in programs that are at least as good or better (whatever that means for you) than UVA?

Okay, this makes some sense to me. I agree that it's a bit too soon to discuss this sort of thing. That said, I'm certain that I would have benefitted a lot from a discussion like this a few years ago, so I still think it's a good thread.

Your values might not change what I value, but your reasons for holding them might. If this isn't helpful, why not just forgo commenting?

For me, location is a big factor, for personal reasons. Fit is equally, or perhaps slightly more, important. I think I'm a good fit at all the programs I applied to, though some might edge out others. If by ranking you mean PGR ranking, then I'd say that it's not really too important for me. I'm much more concerned about fit and placement than I am about attending the "top-10" or the "top-30". I would allow stipend to be a deciding factor if all else was nearly equal.

The OP asked how important various factors are to you personally, not for a general "set way to decide." That seems to me like a reasonably good topic to discuss.

I would let my letter writers know as soon as possible of my plan to reapply, and I'd ask them how I could improve my application before the next round of deadlines. I might even ask what I could do to get even stronger letters from them. Then I'd try really hard to follow their recommendations.

Not sure if these remarks are directed at my last comment. But to clarify, I was wondering what MattDest is doing in light of the fact that he's already accepted Arizona's offer. It's likely that I'll be in a similar situation soon and I was just wondering how he's handling it. I agree that we should avoid pressuring people to turn down offers.

Out of curiosity, are you removing yourself from consideration at any of the places that you've yet to hear from?

My advisor said that I should thank the person who notified me and that's it. He said that if I haven't heard anything more by the beginning of April, then it would be okay to contact someone in the department to ask about the likelihood of receiving an offer.

Is this what your advisors have told you? Because I've heard differently.

I don't think that should seem odd at all. If the chair, or other faculty, make you feel odd for asking for that information, I would take that as a bad sign about the department's climate. You should definitely talk to current grad students at departments you're considering.

I'm fairly confident that some of the top MA programs accept applications on a rolling basis. The thing is, you are probably less likely to get funding the longer you wait to apply. Still worth looking into, though.

Yikes, that sounds like it could be nerve-racking. How long have they given you to prepare it? Do you have something you feel confident sending them?

One question that's relevant to this topic, I think, is how settled you are in your areas of interest. It's not uncommon for your interests to change during your graduate studies. If you think that you're not settled in your interests, casting a wide net might be advisable. Also relevant is how confident you are in your ability to judge fit. What if the adcom at a top-10 would have correctly judged you to be a good fit had you applied there, but you didn't apply because you misjudged how well you'd fit in there?

Thanks! I guess it was informal as it indicated that funding info would come from the graduate school within a week. It was addressed to me, but other than that it was impersonal. My status on the site has not been updated. I can't say I have a focus yet, but I have many interests, primarily phil. science, decision theory, and language. MA.

I'm the one who posted it. I got the email last night around 11PM EST. I'm afraid I don't have any insider info for you though. There was nothing in the email about number of offers, wait list, etc.

I know that in past years they've had a wait list, and that they've drawn from it. Procedures everywhere tend to be pretty opaque, so I'd say don't jump to conclusions until you've heard something from the department.

I think it's always reasonable to expect that you're not likely to be admitted to any given school. Given that you're not a first round acceptance, it would be unreasonable for you to increase your confidence that you'll be admitted. So, given that you're not a first round acceptance, I think it's reasonable to continue to expect that you're not likely to be admitted (to Berkeley, or wherever, whoever you are).

If I were you, I would ask your philosophy of science professor for a letter. I don't think it will count against you that he is outside of your expressed area of interest. It's an awful situation to be in, and I doubt that bringing it up to the chair will help you much.

I find this claim hard to assess. People value their time differently, and it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that someone might count an extra two years spent doing an MA as a big deterrent. That said, I'd be interested in seeing some empirical data on how much longer it takes people that go the MA route to complete a PhD and find a job. It's plausible that it takes them longer because, as has been pointed out, completing an MA takes 2-3 years, and most of the credit doesn't transfer. But it also seems plausible to me that students entering PhD programs with an MA will be more focussed and determined to finish the PhD quickly. If MA holders are much less likely to languish as ABDs for many years, it could be that their average time to completion of the PhD is shorter than students who enter with BAs.